What is Temporary Access

Temporary Access is when access (permissions or privileges) is granted to a user, system, or application for a limited and specific period of time, rather than offering permanent or standing access. Temporary access is analogous to a visitor needing a badge to enter a building, but the badge expires automatically at the end of the day. Temporary access operates similarly in the digital landscape.

Temporary access is a key foundation for today's cybersecurity, primarily due to its alignment with Least Privilege Access (LPA). Rather than providing someone ongoing access to sensitive systems or data, you provide someone with precisely what they need, only for the duration they need, in order to accomplish a specific task. When that time expires, or the task is complete, the access is then automatically revoked. This greatly reduces the opportunity for misuse or compromise.

Characteristics and Benefits of Temporary Access:

• Time-constrained Access: Organizations define the timeframe, for example, one hour, one day, one week; then the access expires automatically.

• Specific Scope of Access: Permissions are narrowly defined only for the intent of the immediate task - this helps avoid over-privileging.

• Reduced Attack Surface: Less 'time' equals less 'attack surface' - the time a user or system holds elevated permissions is reduced, thus the opportunity for an attacker to use those permissions is greatly diminished.

• Enhanced Security: It limits the impact of compromised user's credentials or insiders' access, as unauthorized access would be minimal/short-lived.

• Improved Compliance: May help with regulatory compliance (e.g., SOX, HIPAA, GDPR, DPDPA, FedRAMP, SOC 2) that do not permit excessive access or require strict controls over access, and auditability.

• Better Auditing: Temporary access can be recorded and logged for any and every request that was acted upon with full visibility of who accessed what, when, and for how long.

• Supports Zero Trust: A basis of a Zero Trust architecture is that access is not assumed, and it is verified, and access is also constrained by time.

• Especially useful for: Outside contractors, third-party vendors, emergency access to the system for IT support, or one-off administrative tasks.

ReShield's Identity Security Platform is optimized to enable Temporary Access. Our powerful Identity and Access Management (IAM) and Privileged Access Management (PAM) capabilities enable organizations to grant Just-in-Time (JIT) Access and permissions in defined windows of time. This guarantees that users (human identities and machines) will have only the permissions they need for the time they need to perform a task, followed by automatic revocation. ReShield applies the Reduced Attack Surface leveraging Least Privilege Access (LPA) and ensures a full audit trail, resulting in better security and improved compliance with government regulatory frameworks.