CyberArk PAM-DEF - CyberArk Defender - PAM

According to the web search results, a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) integration is critical for monitoring Vault activity and facilitating workflow processes, such as Dual Control. SMTP is a protocol that enables the sending and receiving of email messages. By integrating SMTP with CyberArk Defender PAM, the Event Notification Engine (ENE) can automatically send email notifications about PAM activities to predefined users1. For example, the ENE can notify users about password requests, password confirmations, password changes, password verifications, password reconciliations, password access, password usage, password expiration, and password violations1. The ENE can also notify users about system events, such as Vault backup, Vault restore, Vault shutdown, Vault startup, and Vault license expiration1. These notifications help to monitor the Vault activity and ensure compliance with the security policies.

SMTP integration is also essential for facilitating workflow processes, such as Dual Control. Dual Control is a feature that enables authorized Safe owners to either grant or deny requests to access accounts. This feature adds an additional measure of protection, in that it enables you to see who wants to access the information in the Safe, when, and for what purpose. The Master Policy enables organizations to ensure that passwords can only be retrieved after permission or ‘confirmation’ has been granted from an authorized Safe Owner(s). This is known as Dual Control2. SMTP integration enables the ENE to send email notifications to the requesters and the confirmers about the status of the password requests. The ENE can also send reminders to the confirmers if they have not responded to the requests within a specified time period2. These notifications help to streamline the workflow process and ensure timely and secure access to the accounts.

References:

Email notifications - CyberArk

Dual Control - CyberArk

The minvalidity parameter on a platform policy in CyberArk determines the minimum amount of time that must pass between the retrieval of a password and when the account becomes eligible for a password change. This parameter ensures that a user has a guaranteed period to use the password before it is changed again, providing stability and predictability in password management1. References: The information provided is based on general knowledge of CyberArk PAM best practices and the functionality of the minvalidity parameter as outlined in CyberArk’s official documentation

When using PVWA bulk-upload to add multiple accounts from a file, the minimum permissions required are to add accounts, update account content, and update account properties. These permissions ensure that the user has the ability to create new accounts in the Vault, modify the content of the accounts, and change their properties as necessary during the bulk-upload process1.

References:

CyberArk Docs - Add multiple accounts from a file in V10 Interface

 To ensure that each component server is operational, you can log on to the Privileged Vault Web Access (PVWA) with the version 10 user interface, navigate to the Healthcheck section, and validate that each component server is connected to the Vault. The System Health dashboard in PVWA provides a high-level visual representation of the health status of the different CyberArk components, including whether the Vault service is up and whether the component servers are connected1.

References:

CyberArk Docs - Monitor system health

Users can be restricted to using certain CyberArk interfaces (e.g. PVWA or PACLI) by using the User Type property. The User Type property is a parameter that can be configured in the User Management settings for each user. The User Type property defines which interfaces the user can access the Vault through, such as PVWA, PrivateArk Client, PACLI, PSM, etc. The User Type property is determined by the CyberArk license and can be assigned to users when they are added to the Vault or when their properties are updated. For example, if a user is assigned the User Type of EPVUser, they can access the Vault through PVWA, PrivateArk Client, PrivateArk Webclient, PACLI, and PIMSU. However, if a user is assigned the User Type of BizUser, they can only access the Vault through PVWA1. Therefore, by using the User Type property, administrators can control and restrict which CyberArk interfaces the users can use. References:

1: Manage users, Types of users subsection

The user that is automatically added to all Safes and cannot be removed is the Master user. The Master user is a predefined user that is created during the Vault installation and has full permissions on all Safes and accounts. The Master user is the only user that can perform certain tasks, such as creating other predefined users, managing the Vault configuration, and restoring the Vault from a backup. The Master user cannot be deleted or modified by any other user, and is always a member of every Safe12. References:

Predefined users and groups - CyberArk, section “Master”

Safes and Safe members - CyberArk, section “Safe members overview”

The platform configuration defines the password management settings for each type of account, such as the password complexity, rotation frequency, verification method, and reconciliation options. You can set the regulatory requirement for password rotation in the platform configuration by specifying the number of days in the Password Change Interval parameter. This parameter determines how often the CPM will change the passwords of the accounts that are associated with the platform. For example, if you set the Password Change Interval to 90, the CPM will change the passwords every 90 days. References: Credentials Rotation - CyberArk, How do I manage or change passwords stored in CyberArk?

The ‘Connect’ button is a feature of the PVWA that allows users to initiate a privileged session to a target system through PSM without revealing the account credentials. The ‘Connect’ button can be used to initiate an SSH connection, as root, to a Unix system when SSH access for root is denied, but only if a logon account is associated with the root account and the user connects through the PSM-SSH connection component. A logon account is a linked account that contains the password required to log on to a remote machine in order to perform a task using the regular account. A common use case for using a logon account is managing root accounts on a Unix system. The best practice for Unix systems is to disallow the root user from logging in using SSH. However, SSH is what the PSM uses to sign in to a system to manage the password. To manage the root password without violating this practice, the PSM establishes the session with a non-root account and then SUs to root (the target account). This is done using a linked account called a logon account. The PSM-SSH connection component is a predefined connection component that enables users to connect to Unix systems through PSM using SSH. The PSM-SSH connection component supports the use of logon accounts to access root accounts on Unix systems1.

The other options are not correct, because:

A. Yes, when using the connect button, CyberArk uses the PMTerminal.exe process which bypasses the root SSH restriction. This is not correct, because PMTerminal.exe is a process that is used by the PSM-RDP connection component, not the PSM-SSH connection component. PMTerminal.exe is a terminal emulator that enables users to connect to Windows systems through PSM using RDP. PMTerminal.exe does not bypass the root SSH restriction, but rather uses the credentials stored in the Vault to authenticate to the target system2.

C. Yes, if a logon account is associated with the root account. This is not correct, because a logon account alone is not sufficient to initiate an SSH connection, as root, to a Unix system when SSH access for root is denied. The user also needs to connect through the PSM-SSH connection component, which supports the use of logon accounts to access root accounts on Unix systems1.

D. No, it is not possible. This is not correct, because it is possible to initiate an SSH connection, as root, to a Unix system when SSH access for root is denied, as explained in option B.

References:

1: Logon Accounts for SSH and Telnet Connections

2: Connect through PSM for SSH

Add To Pending: Unmanaged privileged account

Rotate Credentials: Suspected credential theft

Reconcile Credentials: Suspicious password change

Comprehensive Explanation: In CyberArk’s Privileged Threat Analytics (PTA), automatic remediations are actions that can be configured to respond to specific security events. For the event of an unmanaged privileged account, the remediation “Add To Pending” is used to add the account to the pending accounts queue. When there is a suspected credential theft, “Rotate Credentials” is the remediation that initiates a password change. Lastly, for a suspicious password change event, “Reconcile Credentials” is the remediation that ensures the credentials are correct and valid1.

References:

CyberArk Docs: Configure security events

According to the CyberArk Defender PAM documentation1, the Vault administrator can apply a new license file by uploading the license.xml file to the Vault Internal Safe and restarting the PrivateArk Server service. The Vault Internal Safe is a special Safe that contains the Vault configuration files, including the license file. The Vault administrator can access this Safe from the PrivateArk Client and replace the existing license file with the new one. After that, the Vault administrator must restart the PrivateArk Server service for the changes to take effect. This procedure can be done either from the Vault machine or from a remote machine. References:

Manage the CyberArk License - CyberArk