This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by CloudDefense.AI
In the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, organizations are increasingly evaluating the differences between Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM). While both solutions aim to strengthen access control, they operate in distinct areas and can work together to create a more comprehensive security framework. CIEM specializes in securing cloud identities and entitlements, ensuring that only the right users and services have appropriate access to cloud resources. On the other hand, PAM focuses on controlling and protecting privileged accounts across both cloud and on-premises environments, safeguarding sensitive systems from insider threats and unauthorized access.
What is CIEM?
CIEM is designed for cloud-first environments, managing identities, roles, and permissions to prevent excessive or unnecessary privileges. It offers granular policy control, continuous monitoring, automated compliance checks, and real-time adjustments to enforce the principle of least privilege. With enhanced visibility into all entities and their access levels, CIEM helps reduce the risk of privilege escalation and cloud misconfigurations, ensuring a stronger overall cloud security posture.
What is PAM?
PAM provides a robust approach to securing privileged accounts such as admin, root, and service accounts across an organization’s IT infrastructure. Its key capabilities include credential vaulting, password rotation, session recording, and strict access controls. By enforcing measures like multi-factor authentication and real-time monitoring of privileged user activities, PAM minimizes the risk of insider threats, credential theft, and compliance violations. It is particularly valuable in environments where privileged users have broad access to critical systems and sensitive data.
Key Differences
The primary distinction between CIEM and PAM lies in their focus areas. CIEM is cloud-centric, managing entitlements and permissions to protect cloud resources, while PAM operates across both on-premise and cloud environments, managing privileged account credentials. CIEM’s visibility is centered around cloud configurations and permissions, whereas PAM records and monitors privileged sessions in real time. While CIEM is typically used by cloud security teams and DevOps, PAM caters more to IT administrators, security teams, and compliance officers.
When to Use Each
CIEM is most effective for organizations operating in cloud-native or multi-cloud environments where managing complex entitlements is essential. It is ideal for enforcing least-privilege policies, preventing privilege escalation, and achieving cloud compliance. PAM, on the other hand, is best suited for securing privileged accounts across hybrid environments, controlling access to sensitive systems, and maintaining detailed audit trails for compliance.
Better Together
When integrated, CIEM and PAM provide a unified approach to access management, offering comprehensive oversight of both cloud-specific entitlements and privileged accounts. This integration enhances security monitoring, simplifies compliance reporting, and strengthens an organization’s defense against evolving threats.
CloudDefense.AI Advantage
CloudDefense.AI’s CIEM solution seamlessly integrates with third-party PAM tools, enabling synchronized access controls, real-time threat detection, and consolidated auditing. This approach ensures end-to-end protection for both cloud and traditional IT infrastructures, reducing security gaps and creating a stronger security posture overall.
Bottom Line
Rather than being competing solutions, CIEM and PAM complement each other by addressing different layers of access security. When deployed together, they provide a multi-layered defense that protects critical assets, enforces best practices, and builds resilience against modern cyber threats.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by CloudDefense.AI