2-Dimensional Least Privilege Has Failed for Administration Let Alone Machine & AI Identity; What Comes Next?

Short answer: 3-dimensional least privilege. I’ll identify what those 2 dimensions are in classical least privilege and what the 3rd inevitable dimension is in a bit—but first, why do I say least privilege has failed when it comes to admin/system-level access?

Least Privilege is a valuable and irreplaceable principle of cybersecurity. Principles are particularly valuable because of their flexibility across different contexts. However, its efficacy varies greatly depending on context:

1. Admin/Machine/Agent Privilege – administrative and system access to operating systems, databases, applications, cloud platforms, identity systems, etc.
2. End-user/Business Privilege – access to unstructured data (document libraries, team sites), structured data (tables/rows/columns), and business transactions
3. Network Privilege – connectivity between systems (zero trust): which endpoints can communicate with which others, and on what ports

Least privilege has a proven track record reducing risk in #2 and #3. But it has been far less effective for administrative access.

Why?

For least privilege to materially reduce risk, there must be meaningful variation in the objects and permissions required across roles. Least privilege is not just about the level of access, but also which objects that access applies to.  (we’ll return to those to 2 scopes later when we get into 2D vs 3D)

Several factors limit least privilege’s efficacy for administrators:

• Quantity – There are far more end users than administrators, and far more network endpoints than privileged identities.
• Heterogeneity – End users represent a wide range of roles and job functions. Administrators, by contrast, are typically segmented by technology (OS, database, cloud, application), but within those domains they often retain full control over all systems they manage.
• Technology limitations – Much of our infrastructure still reflects a decades-old model: a system designed with strong separation for end users, but a monolithic “root” authority at the system level. Attempts to break up that authority are layered on afterward—and are difficult, costly, and often incomplete.
• Practical realities – Administrative work is inherently unpredictable. When something breaks, the privileges required to fix it don’t always align with predefined roles or boundaries.

There are additional reasons least privilege falls short for admin access.

System privilege is vastly more powerful than end-user or network access. A single compromise of administrative access is typically far more damaging than isolated failures in other control layers.

So, after implementing least privilege as best you can for admins, organizations layer on additional protections like MFA, EDR and PAM/PSM as well as tiered environments.

Time is the 3rd Dimension that Zero Standing Privilege Addresses

So even if you’ve done everything right—least privilege, PAM, MFA—why do privileged accounts still show up in so many breaches?

The problem is that least privilege controls how much access exists—but it does not control when that access exists.

In most environments, administrative privilege is still standing privilege—always present, always available, and therefore always exposed.  This is the gap that Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) addresses.

Classic least privilege operates in two dimensions:

• Which systems or objects
• What permissions on those objects

ZSP introduces a third dimension: time

In a ZSP model:

• No user—human or service—has permanent administrative rights
• Privileged access is granted only when needed
• That access is scoped to a specific task and time window
• And it is automatically removed when no longer required

This fundamentally changes the security model.

Instead of defending privileged accounts that always exist, you reduce risk by ensuring that privileged access does not exist until it is needed—and disappears immediately afterward.

The result is not just fewer privileges—but dramatically less exposure time.

In this real training for free event, we will examine:

• Why least privilege consistently falls short for administrative access
• How attackers exploit standing privilege in modern environments
• What Zero Standing Privilege looks like in practice
• How just-in-time access makes ZSP achievable
• The architectural and operational changes required to move in this direction
• Beyond admin authority:
  • Machine Identity
  • AI Agent Identity

Zero Standing Privilege is not built into operating systems or cloud platforms—it is an operational model that requires rethinking how privileged access is granted, controlled, and removed.

My sponsor for this real training for free event is Delinea and John Martinez, Technical Evangelist at Delinea, will explore how organizations can operationalize ZSP to provide real-time, just-in-time access across their infrastructure, cloud, and SaaS environments, including DevOps. The discussion will focus on the practical challenges of replacing persistent privileged access while balancing the need for developer productivity and operational continuity with the solutions from Delinea.

Please join us for this real training for free session.