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Administrative access control

This page describes how the internal Sally team gains privileged access to the production environment and how that access is secured. Administrative access is the sharpest tool in the toolbox and the one that gets locked away the hardest. Only a small group of authorised Aliru staff can access, exclusively from centrally managed corporate devices, exclusively through authenticated and encrypted channels, and every action is logged.

Access channel
VPN + MFA
Endpoint model
Managed only
Authorisation
RBAC + Least Privilege
Break-glass
Entra ID, isolated

What "administrative" covers​

Production application components, infrastructure and cloud resources, admin UIs and configuration interfaces, monitoring and logging systems, databases and storage, and any security-relevant admin interface.

Privileged access protection​

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VPN for administrative remote access
Remote admin traffic is tunneled through the corporate VPN. Direct exposure of admin surfaces to the public internet is not allowed.
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Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA is mandatory for every administrative and system-side login.
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Role-based access control (RBAC)
Rights are granted by role and limited to the minimum needed for the task.
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Need-to-know and Least Privilege
Access to production systems is granted only to explicitly authorised individuals under least-privilege rules.
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Managed endpoints
All workstations are centrally managed via Microsoft Intune. Non-corporate or non-compliant devices are excluded.
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Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Advanced threat detection and response is active on every managed device, alongside Defender Antivirus.
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Conditional Access
Administrative access is restricted to compliant devices and the correct access conditions via Entra Conditional Access.
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Comprehensive logging
Administrative activity is logged via Entra ID sign-in and audit logs, Microsoft 365 unified audit log, Intune audit logs, Defender security logs, and platform-specific event logs.

The administrative entry path​

Today's path to production admin: VPN plus MFA plus RBAC on a managed and compliant corporate device. That combination authenticates the person, encrypts the channel, restricts the endpoint, and enforces the correct posture through Conditional Access.

We are transparent about what is not yet in place: a dedicated bastion or jump host and a physically separate management network are not implemented today. In their absence, the layered controls above (VPN, MFA, RBAC, managed endpoints with Intune and Defender, Conditional Access, and full audit logging) are the guardrails around privileged access.

Break-glass accounts​

For emergency scenarios (regular admin accounts unavailable, MFA provider outage), dedicated break-glass accounts exist inside Microsoft Entra ID. They are separately protected, restricted to a very small authorised group, are not used in normal operations, and every sign-in and use is logged via Entra ID sign-in and audit logs. Their permissions, credentials and function are reviewed regularly.

Granting and revoking privileges​

Technical leadership approves administrative rights and also revokes them, in particular on staff departure, role change, or when the authorisation is no longer required. Because administrative activity is continuously monitored and logged, no separate cyclical review process for privileged accounts runs today.