Privileged access management has long been treated as a credential-based process. Lock down passwords, rotate secrets, and store everything in a vault — that's how you do, or did, it.
But attackers have evolved beyond the prevailing model. Today, account compromise rarely hinges on stealing a password from storage, Instead, it happens after credentials have been used, or when access has been granted and left unchecked.
At the same time, the number of privileged identities has exploded, especially with service accounts, APIs, and AI agents. There's now a widening gap between what organizations think they've secured and what is truly exposed. We need to move beyond
PAM and vaults and implement vault-less privileged access security (PAS).
"Identity is both the first and last line of defense, and it demands its own dedicated security layer," says Yaron Kassner, Silverfort Co-Founder and CTO, in a recent
blog post. "Protecting identities requires an end-to-end platform — one that offers unified visibility, intelligent insights, and inline protection"
How vault-based privileged access management falls short
PAM focuses on safeguarding credentials but not controlling access itself. Once a credential is retrieved from a vault, it can be reused, intercepted, or abused without further oversight. This is a blind spot because the moment of access when risk is highest is often the least protected.
"Once a user retrieves the credential, the vault's protections end," says Kassner. "That password can be stolen from memory, logged by
malware, misused by insiders, or intercepted in a man-in-the-middle attack."
Operational complexity makes things worse. PAM deployments can be notoriously hard to implement and maintain, requiring extensive onboarding, manual discovery of privileged accounts, and constant integration.
"Changing how users log into systems," says Kassner, "often requires training, workarounds, or exceptions."
Because of this, most organizations never reach full PAM coverage.
According to a Silverfort white paper, only about 10% reach comprehensive protection of all privileged accounts, leaving most access paths exposed.
Even when PAM is fully and properly deployed, it may introduce new risks. Administrators can bypass controls by checking out credentials and logging in directly, while the PAM system itself becomes a high-value target for attackers. Many privileged accounts, especially service accounts, cannot easily be managed through password rotation without disrupting critical processes.
Why the future of privileged access is identity-centric
The shortfalls of vault-based models reflect a deeper issue. Privileged access is not just about secrets, but also about
identity. Modern environments require continuous verification of who is accessing what, when, and under what conditions.
An identity-centric approach like PAS shifts the focus from static credentials to dynamic access control. Instead of standing privileges being granted, access requests are evaluated in real time based on context, including user identity, device posture, location, and behavioral signals.
This enables a just-in-time (JIT) access process, in which privileges are activated only when needed and revoked immediately afterward.
As Kassner points out, this model removes permanent credentials, ensures no user login disruptions, and ties access to identity.
"We're witnessing the beginning of a transformation," he says, "a future where securing privileged access will no longer revolve around a vault."
PAS also addresses the growing dominance of non-human identities (NHIs). Service accounts, machine identities, and AI agents now outnumber human users and often retain persistent, high-level access.
Traditional PAM struggles to manage NHIs, but identity-centric controls can govern them uniformly by applying policy at the authentication layer rather than relying on credential storage.
As Silverfort's white paper states, effective privileged access security requires continuous monitoring, real-time enforcement, and full visibility across all identities, human and non-human alike. Adding these capabilities transforms privileged access from a static configuration problem into a dynamic security discipline.
How the vault-free approach enables zero-trust security
The vault-free PAS model represents a natural evolution toward zero trust. Instead of distributing and protecting secrets, it enforces access decisions at the moment of authentication and throughout the session. This eliminates the need for credential retrieval, reducing the attack surface and removing a key vector for compromise.
A zero-trust privileged access framework typically includes several layers. As the Silverfort white paper points out, organizations can apply least-privilege "virtual fencing," just-in-time activation of administrative accounts, and step-up authentication such as
MFA for sensitive access requests. These controls ensure that access is tightly scoped, continuously verified, and never assumed.
This approach is also more scalable than traditional PAM. By integrating directly with Active Directory,
cloud identity providers, and SaaS platforms, organizations using PAS can enforce consistent policies across hybrid environments without a heavy operational burden. Complexity is reduced while resilience improves, freeing up security teams to focus on risk rather than maintenance.
The vault, once the centerpiece of PAM, is no longer sufficient in a world defined by identity sprawl, non-human users, and real-time threats. The future lies in identity-aware, context-driven controls like PAS that govern access continuously rather than protecting it statically.
"Vaults will no longer be the primary way organizations secure privileged access," says Kassner. "Instead, the center of gravity will shift to real-time, identity-aware controls — a model that doesn't rely on handing users credentials and doesn't require those credentials to exist in the first place."
