Just-in-Time Access: A CISO's Guide to Reducing Standing Privilege
TechTarget, Thursday, October 22nd, 2026
How to use just-in-time access to cut standing privilege, where it fits with PAM and zero trust, and when not to deploy it.
Damon Garn explains that just-in-time access changes the default from always-available privilege to privilege granted when justified, using time-bound, purpose-specific, approval-based or auto-revoked access.
JIT is a subset of PAM and complements zero trust, so existing PAM tools may already support it.
He recommends starting with high-impact, low-frequency access such as production admin, sensitive databases, cloud control planes, emergency and third-party admin accounts.
Leaders should plan for emergency access, avoid approval bottlenecks that breed workarounds, and measure success by fewer standing privileges and exceptions rather than adoption volume.