Privileged Task Automation is a critical component in Privileged Access Management, which helps in automating the execution of repetitive tasks that require higher privileges to run. The tasks are executed by authenticating and interacting with the target applications while keeping the credentials hidden.
In an enterprise with large amounts of data and complex applications, privileged tasks such as user provisioning, cloud resource management, patch deployment, etc. need to be performed regularly and might include daily monitoring by IT Admins. However, taking care of all these changes physically on a regular basis would slow down the productivity of the IT team in the long run. Many problems arise in managing the infrastructure manually, such as:
To eliminate the errors and mitigate the risks, the tasks can be automated.
Several tasks and commands can be automated, managed and carried out securely in any environment. By automating the IT processes, the burden on the admin could be lightened. Task automation streamlines processes and avoids bottlenecks.
A non-privileged user can perform the task without knowing the encrypted privileged credentials. The users do not require any technical knowledge to carry out the tasks. Users can automate the execution of privileged tasks through the Securden proxy server, thereby reducing the risk to critical systems.
Securden also keeps track of the input values passed on to carry out the tasks, ensuring that they meet the compliance standards. The automation is scalable in accordance with the organization's needs.
You can create the custom task template in accordance with your needs and perform multiple tasks consecutively. The tasks can be executed by methods including API, Scripts and Command Sequence. You can perform a set of tasks on multiple assets by selecting the required assets at once.
In certain cases, the process would prompt you to fill in the input fields according to the task. The details can be provided either by mapping the data, which is already stored in the solution or manually, resulting in interactive progress.
You can create policies to prevent the users from performing certain actions. As the commands are already predefined while creating the task, there is no scope left to modify the details, which prevents malicious activities.
Securden Unified PAM allows you to automate many routine and repetitive tasks such as:
The automation of tasks in Unified PAM can be done by using any one of the 3 methods mentioned below:
The task would require authentication token such as API keys to be passed in the header, and endpoint URLs. It executes based on the specific “Request Type”, which includes GET, PUT, POST, and DELETE.
The API parameters are used to provide the input values. An example depicting the parameter values for deleting an account are given below.
Parameter Name
account_ids
Parameter Value
[{%ACCOUNT_IDS%}]
A file is selected with the necessary code in it to run the task in any programming language and parameters are given.
The script code to copy a file in Python is given below as a sample.
import sys
import shutil
def copy_file(source, destination):
"""Copies the content of the source file to the destination file."""
shutil.copyfile(source, destination)
print(f"Copied contents from {source} to {destination}.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
# Ensure the script has exactly 3 arguments (script name, source, destination)
source_path = sys.argv[1]
destination_path = sys.argv[2]
copy_file(source_path, destination_path)
A sequence of commands is given, each with specified run time along with additional placeholders to get a specific output.
rm -rf {%FILE_NAME%}
touch {%FILE_NAME%}
echo "{%FILE_CONTENT%}" >> {%FILE_NAME%}
The above commands can be used to create a new file by giving them in sequence.