Auditors ask tough questions. Security teams juggle compliance and risk. Business owners demand efficiency. Traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM) makes all of this harder with static entitlements, endless access reviews, and lingering security gaps.
Zero-Standing Privilege (ZSP) flips the script. Instead of relying on role assignments and periodic reviews, ZSP grants access dynamically—only when needed, only under defined policies, and always with a real-time audit trail.
The problem with traditional PAM
For years, organizations have relied on a model where privileged users receive standing access to sensitive systems, whether they need it at a given time or not. The reasoning was simple: convenience. But convenience comes at a cost—excessive privilege, higher risk, and compliance headaches.
Auditors reviewing PAM implementations focus on role-based entitlements, access reviews, and approval workflows. However, this model assumes that periodic validation of group memberships equates to security. In reality, it leaves gaps that attackers exploit—compromised credentials, overprivileged accounts, and stale entitlements that linger far beyond their necessity.
ZSP: a smarter approach to privileged access
ZSP is fundamentally different. Instead of pre-assigning privileged access, ZSP promotes the concept of granting access dynamically based on policies, real-time conditions, and business needs. This approach eliminates the risk of standing privileges and ensures that access is granted only when necessary and revoked when no longer required.
A few key benefits of ZSP:
- Real-time enforcement: Access is no longer a static entitlement but a real-time decision based on policies that align with business workflows.
- Stronger security: Removing persistent privileged accounts significantly reduces the attack surface, making it harder for bad actors to gain unauthorized access.
- Audit-friendly transparency: Every access event is logged with clear evidence, making compliance reviews more efficient and less prone to human error.
What’s in the white paper?
- Stronger audit evidence: Read how to provide auditors with real-time logs of access decisions instead of relying on outdated group memberships.
- Less review effort: Learn how ZSP reduces the scope of access reviews by eliminating standing privileges.
- Improved security and compliance: See how enforcing dynamic access policies strengthens security while simplifying compliance.
- Clear policy-driven access: IDiscover how defining explicit access policies aligned with business logic replaces complex entitlement management.
Why now?
Security and compliance challenges are only growing. Cyberattacks continue to rise, regulatory scrutiny is increasing, and organizations are under pressure to improve access governance while reducing operational overhead. The traditional PAM model no longer scales.
ZSP is the logical next step. It enforces least privilege by design, aligns with zero trust principles, and simplifies access management in an era where identity threats are a constant concern.
The future of access control
Organizations investing in ZSP today aren’t just improving security; they’re future-proofing their access control strategy. As more enterprises shift away from static entitlement models, those who adopt ZSP early will gain a competitive edge—stronger security, streamlined compliance, and reduced administrative burden.
If your team is still dealing with quarterly access reviews, static entitlements, and the constant risk of overprivileged accounts, it’s time for a change.
Read the white paper to learn how to explain ZSP to your auditors and demonstrate its security and compliance advantages.