Common PAW Mistakes

Good intentions, poor execution

PAW deployments often start well but fail in practice. The concept is understood, but implementation shortcuts, exceptions, and operational gaps erode the security value.

Here are the most common mistakes.

1. Treating a hardened laptop as a PAW

Applying extra security policies to a standard corporate device does not make it a PAW. If the device is still used for email, browsing, or general work, it is not isolated. The core requirement of a PAW is separation of privileged activity from user activity.

Fix: Ensure the PAW is used exclusively for admin tasks. No email. No Teams. No browsing beyond admin portals.

2. Not enforcing PAW use through Conditional Access

Deploying PAWs but not requiring their use means admins can still access admin portals from their regular devices. The PAW becomes optional — and optional security controls are bypassed.

Fix: Use Conditional Access device filters to block admin portal access from non-PAW devices. Enforce this without exceptions.

3. Granting admin accounts access to the PAW for daily use

If the admin signs into the PAW with their daily-use identity, or uses the PAW for non-admin tasks, the isolation boundary is broken.

Fix: Only admin accounts should sign into the PAW. Daily-use identities should have no access to the PAW environment.

4. Ignoring the user experience

If the PAW experience is painful, admins will find workarounds. Remote access latency, missing tools, clunky workflows — all lead to shadow admin practices.

Fix: Invest in the admin experience. Ensure required tools are available. Optimise performance. Make the PAW the path of least resistance for admin work.

5. No monitoring or compliance validation

Deploying PAWs without monitoring whether they are actually being used correctly provides no assurance. You need evidence that admin access consistently originates from PAW devices.

Fix: Monitor sign-in logs for admin accounts. Alert on admin portal access from non-PAW devices. Include PAW compliance in regular reviews.

6. Excluding break glass from the PAW model

Break glass accounts are often excluded from Conditional Access policies that enforce PAW use. This means the most powerful accounts in your environment can be used from any device.

Fix: Design break glass processes that account for PAW requirements. If break glass must bypass device requirements, ensure strong compensating controls (immediate alerting, location restrictions, credential splitting).

7. Deploying PAWs without addressing foundations

PAWs deployed on top of poor identity hygiene, unclear role definitions, or inconsistent governance will be undermined by the same structural problems.

Fix: Address Foundation pillar requirements before or alongside PAW deployment. Clean up accounts, roles, and governance first.

The pattern

Most PAW failures share a common theme: the organisation deployed the technology but did not commit to the operational discipline required to make it effective.

A PAW is not a device. It is a commitment to isolated privileged access.