Break Glass Accounts: Necessary, but Dangerous
Every organization needs a backup plan for access. When identity services are down, MFA is broken, or the regular admins are locked out, break glass accounts are how the company gets back in. The same accounts are also a dream target for attackers, which is why they need strong credentials, safe storage, limited ownership, monitoring, alerts on use, and a real review cadence, not a sticky note in a drawer.
Every organization needs a backup plan for access.
- What happens if identity services are down?
- What happens if MFA is broken?
- What happens if the main admin accounts are locked out during an emergency?
This is why break glass accounts exist.
A break glass account is an emergency account used only when normal access methods are not available. It can help the organization recover control during a serious incident.
But this type of account is also dangerous.
Because it is powerful, attackers would love to find it. If it is not protected correctly, it can become the easiest way into the environment.
- A break glass account should not be used for daily work.
- It should not be shared casually.
- It should not have a weak password.
- It should not be ignored after it is created.
It needs clear rules.
- A strong password and a strict storage process.
- Limited ownership, only a few named people.
- Monitoring on the account itself.
- An immediate alert any time it is used.
- Every use logged and investigated.
- Regular review on a fixed cadence.
Some organizations also keep more than one emergency account, stored and monitored separately, so they are not dependent on a single point of failure.
The goal is simple.
Break glass accounts should be available when everything goes wrong, but protected so well that nobody uses them unless it is truly necessary.
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