What is Privileged Identity Management?

Definition

Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is the just-in-time (JIT) elevation service for privileged roles in Microsoft Entra ID and Azure. It allows administrators to be eligible for a role rather than holding it permanently — activating only when needed, for a limited time, with optional MFA, justification, and approval requirements.

PIM is Microsoft's primary tool for moving from standing privilege to zero standing privilege.

In simple terms:

PIM lets you say "you can become Global Admin when you need to, but you're not Global Admin right now."

---

Why PIM Matters

• Standing privilege is one of the largest contributors to identity blast radius.
• JIT activation dramatically reduces the window of opportunity for attackers.
• Activation logs provide visibility and audit trail.
• Approvals add human review for the most sensitive actions.
• PIM aligns with Zero Trust and least privilege principles.

---

What PIM Covers

Entra ID Roles

• Global Administrator, User Administrator, Application Administrator, Conditional Access Administrator, Authentication Administrator, etc.

Azure Resources

• Owner, Contributor, User Access Administrator, custom roles at any scope (management group, subscription, RG, resource).

PIM for Groups

• Eligibility for membership of role-assignable security and Microsoft 365 groups.

---

Eligibility vs Active

• Eligible — user can activate the role; not currently holding it.
• Active — role is currently assigned (either standing or via PIM activation).

PIM tracks both states and the transition between them.

---

Activation Settings

For each role, PIM allows policy:

• Activation maximum duration (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8 hours).
• Require MFA on activation.
• Require justification (free text).
• Require ticket information (incident/change ticket).
• Require approval with named approvers.
• Notifications to admins and approvers.
• Acknowledgment of activation.

---

How a PIM Activation Works

1. User goes to PIM blade and selects a role they're eligible for.
2. Provides justification (and ticket if required).
3. Performs MFA challenge.
4. If approval required, request goes to approvers.
5. Approver reviews and approves/denies.
6. On approval, role becomes active for the requested time.
7. Notifications sent.
8. After expiration, role automatically deactivates.

All steps are logged.

---

Common Pitfalls

• PIM enabled but standing assignments still exist. PIM only helps when you remove standing.
• Long activation windows (8+ hours) reduce JIT benefit.
• No MFA on activation. Defeats main purpose.
• No approval on Global Admin / Privileged Role Admin.
• No monitoring of PIM activations.
• Break-glass accounts in PIM. Should usually be standing GA.
• PIM available but not licensed (Entra ID P2).

---

Real-World Examples

1. Standing GA Compromised

A standing Global Admin account is phished. Attacker has full tenant access immediately. With PIM-eligible-only, the attacker needs to also pass MFA and possibly approval to activate.

2. Insider Risk

A disgruntled admin tries to escalate. PIM activation requires approval from manager. Suspicious activation pattern alerts InfoSec; access denied.

3. Audit Trail

After incident, PIM activation logs show exactly who activated which role at which time, with which justification — critical forensic information.

4. Reducing Standing GA from 30 to 3

Customer reduces standing GAs from 30 (where 27 rarely used the role) to 3 break-glass + 27 PIM-eligible. Average standing privileged user count drops from 30 to 3 immediately.

---

PIM Best Practices

Configuration

1. Make every privileged role PIM-eligible by default.
2. Eliminate standing assignments for everything except 2 break-glass GAs.
3. Activation duration: start with 4 hours, target 1–2 hours where workflows allow.
4. Require MFA on every activation.
5. Require justification with sufficient detail.
6. Require approval for Global Admin, Privileged Role Admin, Application Admin.
7. Notify admins and approvers on activation and approval.

Roles to Protect

8. Global Admin — strictest settings.
9. Privileged Role Admin / Privileged Authentication Admin.
10. Application Admin / Cloud Application Admin.
11. Authentication Policy Admin.
12. Conditional Access Admin.
13. Helpdesk / User Admin — moderate.
14. Azure RBAC Owner / User Access Admin at high scopes.

Monitoring

15. Stream PIM events to SIEM.
16. Alert on: activations outside business hours, multiple activations in short window, activations from unusual locations, denied activations.

Hybrid

17. PAM products for on-premises AD complement PIM for cloud.
18. Apply tiered admin model consistently.

---

PIM Checklist

• PIM (Entra ID P2) licensed?
• All privileged roles available via PIM eligibility?
• Standing assignments reduced to break-glass + minimum?
• Activation requires MFA + justification?
• Approval required for top roles?
• Activation duration ≤ 4 hours (preferably ≤ 2)?
• Notifications enabled?
• PIM activation logs streamed to SIEM with detections?
• PIM for Groups used for role-assignable groups?
• PIM for Azure Resources used at high-impact scopes?
• Quarterly access reviews on eligible assignments?

---

How Forestall Helps

Forestall analyzes PIM posture across your tenant:

• Counts standing vs eligible assignments per role.
• Identifies privileged roles not in PIM.
• Flags weak activation settings (no MFA, long duration, no approval).
• Surfaces stale PIM-eligible assignments (never activated, role no longer needed).
• Tracks privilege reduction over time.

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need Entra ID P2 for PIM?

Yes — PIM requires Entra ID P2 licenses for users using PIM features.

Does PIM cover Azure RBAC?

Yes — PIM for Azure Resources covers Azure subscriptions, resource groups, and resources.

Should break-glass accounts be in PIM?

Usually no — they should be standing GA so they're available when other systems are unavailable. But protect them with hardware MFA and strict monitoring.

What's the ideal activation duration?

Match real workflow needs. 1–2 hours is ideal; 8 hours is too long for most cases.

Can PIM require ticket numbers?

Yes — ticket information can be required and used to correlate activations with change records.

---

Conclusion

Privileged Identity Management is the easiest, highest-impact way to reduce standing privilege in Microsoft Entra ID. Eligible-only assignments + MFA + justification + approval + short activations + monitoring transform the privileged plane from a permanent target into a brief, deliberate, audited activity. Combined with the elimination of unnecessary standing assignments, PIM is foundational to Zero Trust identity and dramatically reduces the blast radius of any single account compromise.