PAM Solution: The Foundation of Cybersecurity in Critical IT & OT Environments

Why a PAM solution is no longer optional but a strategic necessity

In today’s hyperconnected digital world, a PAM solution is essential to secure remote access and defend against the rising wave of targeted attacks on IT and industrial systems, particularly those involving critical infrastructure. Controlling privileged access has become a strategic necessity.

According to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2024, 80% of cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure involve the exploitation of privileged accounts. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report 2025 further reveals that over 70% of breaches involve the use of valid credentials, reinforcing the fact that privileged access remains one of the most common attack vectors. A PAM solution plays a vital role in mitigating these risks by securing and monitoring privileged credentials.

Adding to this is the tightening of regulations: the European NIS2 Directive, effective from October 2024, requires essential service operators (ESOs) to implement access management policies aligned with the highest cybersecurity standards. A robust PAM solution is key to meeting these compliance requirements efficiently and effectively.

In this context, a PAM solution stands as a fundamental tool for controlling privileged access, ensuring security, traceability, and compliance all at once.

What is a PAM solution?

A PAM solution acts as an intermediary between users, whether internal or external, and critical systems. It serves as a mandatory gateway for administrators, subcontractors, service providers, or operators accessing sensitive resources. This solution enables the control, filtering, monitoring, and securing of privileged access (administrators, contractors, business experts) without directly exposing sensitive assets.

Key Functions of a PAM Solution:

Strong authentication (MFA, certificates, biometrics, SSO)
Session isolation: no direct access to target systems
Real-time activity control: session takeover and blocking capabilities
Session recording: full audit trail of privileged activities
Credential vaulting: protects authentication secrets by preventing disclosure to users
Audit and compliance: comprehensive logs to meet NIS2, ISO 27001, LPM, and other regulatory requirements

Why a PAM Solution Is Essential in a Zero Trust Model

A PAM solution is a native pillar of any Zero Trust architecture, which has become the dominant approach in modern cybersecurity. In a Zero Trust model, every access request is treated as potentially risky, regardless of the user’s identity or location.

The PAM solution therefore acts as a centralized control point, ensuring that:

The user is authenticated and authorized
Access is granted only to the necessary resources (least privilege principle)
User actions are monitored and traceable
There is no persistent or unauthorized access (on-demand sessions, automatic revocation)

This approach drastically limits lateral movement, which is a major cause of cyberattack propagation within networks.

Success story: securing access to industrial systems for a major player in the agri-food sector

One of our clients, a leading European agri-food industrial group managing over 30 factories across 8 countries, turned to cyberelements to address an increasingly critical challenge: the convergence of IT and OT systems and the need to control remote access for technical service providers (OT, automation, industrial maintenance) while complying with regulatory requirements such as the NIS Directive, ANSSI standards, ISO 27001, and IEC 62443. Our PAM solution provided the necessary control and security to meet these demands.

Challenges:

Increase in unsecured remote interventions (generic VPNs, screen sharing)
Lack of traceability for critical operations
Complexity in managing shared credentials and privileged accounts
ANSSI audit scheduled within the year

Our response:

Deployment of cyberelements Zero Trust PAM solution in SaaS mode, with no on-premises installation required
Implementation of conditional access control (time, context, geographic location, session type)
Automatic recording of OT sessions in a video format
Strict separation of IT and OT environments
Secure web access, agentless, with no direct exposure of systems
Integration with Active Directory and centralization of technical accounts
Four-hands principle functionality enabling collaboration between administrators or remote supervision

Results:

100% of privileged access industrialized and secured
Compliance achieved for the ANSSI audit
Average access time to an OT system reduced by half

Why choose cyberelements as your PAM solution?

At cyberelements, we designed a Zero Trust PAM solution specifically for critical environments. Unlike traditional solutions that are complex to deploy, we take a modern, seamless approach (cloud-native or on-premises) with:

A simple web interface with no VPN and no agent required
Deployment completed within hours
A PAM solution “as a Service” or deployable on-premises
Centralized identity and access management
Compatibility with both IT and OT environments
Advanced audit, session review, and behavioral analytics features
Native compliance with NIS2, LPM, ISO 27001, and ANSSI standards

We are trusted by several government ministries, critical operators, and industrial companies across France and Europe. Our solution has also been awarded the label “Used by the French Armed Forces.”

A concrete, fast, and secure solution: the cyberelements PAM solution

The PAM solution is no longer just a technical requirement; it is a strategic pillar of access governance within a modern Zero Trust architecture. It also serves as a key driver for compliance, resilience, and operational efficiency.

The sophistication of attacks, the complexity of hybrid infrastructures, and regulatory pressure today demand a solution that is: