The key handed over during a fire
Admin rights granted during an emergency three years ago were never taken back.
(Illustrative scenario, not a real incident)
One weekend three years ago,production went down.The engineer on call didn’t have access,so his manager, in a hurry,granted him admin rights.
The problem was fixed, everyone breathed again,and then forgot to take the rights back.
This fifty-person online course platformwas preparing for a security certification.While reviewing cloud permissions, they foundtwice as many people with admin rightsas they had expected.
Asked why each one needed it,the most common answers were:“It was opened when I was handling something.”“Not sure, but I think I’ve used it.”
Two of themhad long since moved to non-technical departments.
I used to think that trusting someonemeant giving them a master key.Later I learnedstanding privileges are standing risks.The moment an account is stolen,the attacker gets everything.
The job changed; the access didn’t.What was given in a fire was never collected afterward.
When firefighters finish,they roll the hoses back up.
Make admin access just-in-time: requested when needed, revoked automatically when time is up. Log every use, so you can say who, when, and why.