Zero Trust & PAM for 250K Devices
🗓️ Published: July 20, 2025
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✍️ Author: Ajaz Ahmed
Lessons from deploying EPM and Administrator Protection across a global enterprise, with dashboards and automation.
The Problem
Managing local admin privileges at scale is one of the most difficult challenges in enterprise security. Excessive admin rights on endpoints increase the risk of lateral movement, malware persistence, and insider threats. With 250,000+ endpoints across multiple geographies, we needed a strategy that reduced risk without slowing down the business.
The Approach: Zero Trust Meets Endpoint Privilege Management
1. Deploying Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM)
We implemented Microsoft’s Endpoint Privilege Management (EPM) to eliminate persistent local admin rights. Using elevation rules, we granted users temporary permissions to perform approved tasks — based on identity, device trust, and conditional logic.
2. Administrator Protection via Policy Enforcement
Administrator Protection was applied through Intune and GPOs. Key policies included blocking built-in admin use, enforcing secure elevation flows, and restricting legacy tools. These controls ensured that even if elevation occurred, it was logged, scoped, and governed.
3. Dashboards and Automation
All elevation requests and actions were fed into centralized dashboards using Microsoft Defender, Azure Log Analytics, and Power BI. This provided real-time insight into privilege usage, elevation failures, and potential abuse patterns. Automated alerts and remediation actions further closed the loop.
Results
- Reduced persistent local admin rights by 95%
- Enabled just-in-time privilege elevation across 250K endpoints
- Achieved global policy coverage using Intune + GPO hybrid model
- Improved visibility into privilege elevation through dashboards and logs
đź’ˇ Final Thoughts
Zero Trust is more than a buzzword, it requires foundational changes in how we manage privileges. By combining EPM, admin protection, and continuous visibility, we were able to reduce risk, improve compliance, and empower users — without granting standing admin rights.
