Why do organizations aim for Zero Standing Privileges?

Organizations pursue Zero Standing Privileges to minimize the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. If an account with standing privileges is compromised, attackers can access all associated resources. By adopting ZSP, companies reduce the attack surface and improve compliance and security posture.

How is Just-in-Time (JIT) Access related to Zero Standing Privileges?

Just-in-Time (JIT) Access is a method for achieving Zero Standing Privileges. JIT grants temporary, sanctioned access based on user roles, tasks, and required resources, ensuring that access is only available when necessary. This approach automates access provisioning and revocation, supporting ZSP while maintaining productivity.

What are the best practices for achieving Zero Standing Privileges?

Best practices for achieving ZSP include: 1) Identifying accounts with standing privileges, 2) Preventing the creation of new standing privileges and revoking existing ones, and 3) Adopting Just-in-Time Access protocols to grant only the minimal access for the minimal time required.

How does Zero Standing Privileges help prevent data breaches?

By eliminating permanent access rights, ZSP ensures that even if credentials are compromised, attackers cannot access resources without explicit, time-limited approval. This significantly reduces the risk and impact of data breaches.

What is the principle of least privilege and how does it relate to ZSP?

The principle of least privilege is a cybersecurity practice where users are granted only the access necessary to perform their current tasks. ZSP is an extension of this principle, ensuring that no standing privileges exist and access is always temporary and minimal.

What challenges do organizations face when implementing ZSP?

Organizations often struggle with identifying all accounts with standing privileges, changing established access practices, and automating access provisioning. Dedicated platforms like Akeyless can help address these challenges by centralizing secrets management and automating Just-in-Time Access.

How does Akeyless support Zero Standing Privileges?

Akeyless supports ZSP by providing Zero Trust Access, Just-in-Time access provisioning, and granular permissions. These features ensure that access is only granted when needed and for the minimum time required, reducing standing privileges and associated risks.

Why is Just-in-Time Access important for DevOps teams?

Just-in-Time Access enables DevOps teams to receive the access they need for specific tasks without waiting for manual approvals or risking excessive privileges. This boosts productivity while maintaining strong security controls.

How can organizations start their Zero Standing Privileges initiative?

Organizations can start by identifying accounts with standing privileges, banning the creation of new standing privileges, revoking existing ones, and adopting Just-in-Time Access protocols. Using a dedicated secrets management platform like Akeyless can streamline this process.

What features does Akeyless offer for secrets management and access control?

Akeyless offers centralized secrets management, Zero Trust Access, Universal Identity, automated credential rotation, Just-in-Time access, and out-of-the-box integrations with tools like AWS IAM, Azure AD, Jenkins, Kubernetes, and Terraform. These features help organizations secure sensitive data and streamline operations.

Does Akeyless support automated credential rotation?

Yes, Akeyless automates credential rotation, ensuring that secrets are always up-to-date and reducing the risk of breaches due to stale or hardcoded credentials.

What is Universal Identity and how does it help with ZSP?

Universal Identity is an Akeyless feature that enables secure authentication without storing initial access credentials, solving the Secret Zero Problem. This eliminates hardcoded secrets and supports Zero Standing Privileges by ensuring access is only granted when needed.

How does Akeyless's vaultless architecture benefit organizations?

Akeyless's vaultless architecture eliminates the need for heavy infrastructure, reducing costs, complexity, and operational overhead. This makes it easier for organizations to scale and maintain strong security controls.

What integrations does Akeyless support?

Akeyless supports integrations with Redis, Redshift, Snowflake, SAP HANA, TeamCity, Terraform, Steampipe, Splunk, Sumo Logic, Syslog, Venafi, Sectigo, ZeroSSL, ServiceNow, Slack, and SDKs for Ruby, Python, and Node.js. It also integrates with Kubernetes platforms like OpenShift and Rancher.

Does Akeyless provide an API?

Yes, Akeyless provides a comprehensive API for its platform, with documentation available at docs.akeyless.io/docs. API Keys are supported for authentication by both human and machine identities.

What compliance certifications does Akeyless hold?

Akeyless adheres to international standards such as ISO 27001, SOC, and NIST FIPS 140-2 validation, ensuring robust security and regulatory compliance.

Where can I find technical documentation and tutorials for Akeyless?

Technical documentation is available at docs.akeyless.io and tutorials can be found at tutorials.akeyless.io/docs. These resources provide detailed guides for implementation and troubleshooting.

What problems does Akeyless solve for organizations?

Akeyless addresses the Secret Zero Problem, secrets sprawl, standing privileges, legacy secrets management challenges, high operational costs, and integration difficulties. It centralizes secrets management, automates credential rotation, and enforces Zero Trust Access to enhance security and efficiency.

Who can benefit from using Akeyless?

IT security professionals, DevOps engineers, compliance officers, and platform engineers in industries such as technology, marketing, manufacturing, software development, banking, healthcare, and retail can benefit from Akeyless. Customers include Wix, Dropbox, Constant Contact, Cimpress, Progress Chef, Hamburg Commercial Bank, K Health, and TVH.

What business impact can customers expect from using Akeyless?

Customers can expect enhanced security, operational efficiency, cost savings (up to 70% reduction in maintenance and provisioning time), scalability, improved compliance, and better collaboration between teams.

How quickly can Akeyless be implemented?

Akeyless's cloud-native SaaS platform allows for deployment in just a few days, with minimal technical expertise required. Comprehensive onboarding resources and proactive support ensure a smooth implementation.

What feedback have customers given about Akeyless's ease of use?

Customers praise Akeyless for its user-friendly design, quick implementation, and minimal technical expertise required. Cimpress reported a 270% increase in user adoption, and Constant Contact highlighted improved team productivity.

Can you share specific case studies or success stories?

Yes. Wix enhanced security and efficiency with Akeyless; Constant Contact eliminated hardcoded secrets; Cimpress improved operational efficiency after switching from Hashi Vault; Progress saved 70% in maintenance time.

What industries are represented in Akeyless's customer base?

Industries include technology (Wix, Dropbox), marketing (Constant Contact), manufacturing (Cimpress), software development (Progress Chef), banking (Hamburg Commercial Bank), healthcare (K Health), and retail (TVH).

What are common pain points Akeyless addresses?

Common pain points include the Secret Zero Problem, legacy secrets management inefficiencies, secrets sprawl, excessive standing privileges, high operational costs, and integration challenges. Akeyless provides centralized management, automation, and seamless integrations to address these issues.

How does Akeyless compare to HashiCorp Vault?

Akeyless uses a vaultless, cloud-native SaaS architecture, eliminating the need for heavy infrastructure. This results in faster deployment, lower costs (up to 70% savings), and advanced features like Universal Identity and Zero Trust Access.

How does Akeyless compare to AWS Secrets Manager?

Akeyless supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, offers better integration across diverse platforms, and provides advanced features like automated secrets rotation and Zero Trust Access. AWS Secrets Manager is limited to AWS environments.

How does Akeyless compare to CyberArk Conjur?

Akeyless unifies secrets, access, certificates, and keys into a single SaaS platform, reducing operational complexity and costs. It also offers seamless integration with DevOps tools and a cloud-native architecture for scalability.

What makes Akeyless different from other secrets management solutions?

Akeyless stands out with its vaultless architecture, Universal Identity, Zero Trust Access, automated credential rotation, cloud-native SaaS model, and extensive integrations. These features provide scalability, cost savings, and enhanced security compared to traditional solutions.

Why should a customer choose Akeyless over alternatives?

Customers should choose Akeyless for its simplified infrastructure, advanced security features, cost-effectiveness, and seamless integration with existing tools. It addresses unique needs across industries and roles, ensuring enhanced security and operational efficiency.

What are the advantages of Akeyless for different user segments?

IT security professionals benefit from Zero Trust Access and compliance; DevOps engineers gain centralized management and automation; compliance officers get detailed audit logs; platform engineers enjoy reduced infrastructure complexity and operational costs.

What technical resources are available for onboarding and support?

Akeyless provides platform demos, self-guided product tours, tutorials, technical documentation, 24/7 support, and a Slack support channel to assist with onboarding and troubleshooting.

How easy is it to start using Akeyless?

Akeyless is designed for quick and easy onboarding, with an intuitive interface and pre-configured workflows. Most teams can get started without extensive technical expertise, and proactive support is available throughout the process.

Does Akeyless offer a free trial?

Yes, Akeyless offers a free trial so users can explore the platform hands-on before making a commitment.

How does Akeyless ensure compliance and audit readiness?

Akeyless adheres to standards like ISO 27001 and SOC, provides detailed audit logs, and supports regulatory compliance for industries with strict requirements.

What support channels are available for Akeyless customers?

Customers have access to 24/7 support, a dedicated Slack support channel, and comprehensive online resources including documentation and tutorials.

When was this page last updated?

This page wast last updated on 12/12/2025 .

Zero Standing Privileges - Definition

April 5, 2021

What Are Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP)?

In the age of digital attacks against organizations of all sizes and industries, we need to put cybersecurity at a high priority. We can’t focus purely on incident prevention; thinking about disaster response and recovery matters just as much. The problem with standing privileges is that it runs against the principle of least privilege, the cybersecurity practice of allowing users access to only what they need to complete current tasks. Zero Standing Privileges rejects the use of standing privileges for this purpose.

What happens when a cybercriminal gains unauthorized access to one of your accounts? If that account had standing privileges, the hacker would have access to all the associated resources. Reducing the risk of data breaches is a key reason why enterprises aim for ZSP.

You can consider ZSP as a method to minimize the risk of stolen credentials, data loss, and non-compliance.

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How Is Just-in-Time (JIT) Access Related To ZSP?

If you can’t use standing privileges, how can you ensure that the accounts in your business have the right access they need to do their tasks? Just-In-Time Access is the common solution, where temporary, sanctioned access is granted based on factors like the roles of the account, the task to be done, and the resources that the user must access for it.

JIT, as its name suggests, is the partly automated practice of giving the right amount of access to individual accounts without having to go through a lengthy manual approval process. Enterprise tools that offer JIT and other ZSP-related features boost company security without compromising on employee productivity.

Achieving Zero Standing Privileges One Step at a Time

If your business fails to address standing privileges now, the problem will only get worse over time. Stop the bleeding by starting your ZSP initiative today with these 3 best practices.

Find the problem. Where are administrative accounts with standing privileges located in your company? Search through your workstations and servers to find out the problematic accounts first.
Take preventative measures. Ban the creation of new standing privileges, no matter what system or access type they belong to. Whether it’s local or group access, it must never be permanent. Revoke any current standing privileges as well.
Change your practices. Switch to a Just-in-Time Access DevOps protocol as mentioned before. Only allow the minimal amount of access for the minimal amount of time for maximum security.

Preventing data breaches and other incidents with ZSP not only benefits your organization but also your clients and business partners.

Empowering Your Secrets Management

Traditional methods of handling privileged access are no longer sufficient for today’s competitive enterprise market. To protect your critical assets without sacrificing workflow efficiency, you need a proper system or tool in place for the job.

Companies today deal with more than just passwords and credentials; they use tokens, SSH keys, and various other methods of ensuring authorized access. We call these tools “secrets,” and secrets management has become a field in business all by itself.

Handling the tens of hundreds of accounts, temporary access instances, and secrets is far too difficult to do manually. While it may be tempting to turn to standing access to avoid all the administrative headache, businesses must still keep the focus on cybersecurity and turn to dedicated platforms that hold up the principles of Zero Standing Privileges.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) & Just-in-Time Access

What are Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP)?