NCC Group and Delinea Team Up to Bring Cloud-Native Privileged Access Security to the Front Lines of Zero Trust

As identity becomes the primary control plane for modern enterprises, privileged access is emerging as one of the most fragile and frequently exploited layers of security. That reality is driving a new partnership between NCC Group and Delinea, aimed at delivering cloud-native privileged access management services designed for hybrid, AI-enabled environments.

The collaboration brings Delinea’s privileged access management technology into NCC Group’s Unified Digital Identity Framework, a managed approach to identity security built around real-world attacker behavior. The goal is straightforward but increasingly difficult to execute: reduce the blast radius of credential theft and prevent attackers from turning a single compromised account into full control of critical systems.

Privileged credentials remain one of the most reliable paths attackers use to move laterally inside organizations. Once elevated access is obtained, traditional perimeter controls offer little resistance. PAM systems are meant to act as guardrails by centralizing credentials, limiting standing privileges, and closely governing how sensitive access is granted and monitored. Yet many organizations still struggle to deploy PAM in a way that scales across cloud workloads, DevOps pipelines, and non-human identities.

That challenge is becoming more urgent as companies adopt AI-driven tools and automation that rely heavily on machine identities and service accounts. Each new identity expands the attack surface, often faster than security teams can inventory or govern it. Delinea’s platform is designed to continuously discover identities, assign access dynamically, and respond to suspicious behavior in real time, aligning with Zero Trust principles that assume no identity should be implicitly trusted.

NCC Group positions the partnership as a response to what it sees on the front lines of incident response. The firm’s consultants regularly trace breaches back to mismanaged privileged access, where credentials were either over-permissioned or left standing long after they were needed. By embedding PAM as a foundational layer of its digital identity framework, NCC Group aims to move customers away from fragmented identity tooling toward a more operationally resilient model.

Derek Gordon, digital identity practice lead at NCC Group, said the company’s perspective is shaped by daily exposure to attacker tactics. “We’re on the frontline of cyber defence, providing deep insight into attack paths and adversary strategies. Our unified digital identity framework offers fully managed and integrated Cyber services, including PAM, that aim to mitigate risk, support compliance, and enhance user experience,” he said.

He added that the partnership extends beyond access control into how organizations secure emerging AI use cases. “Securing identity doesn’t stop at the point of entry. With Delinea’s software and NCC Group’s expertise, we’re delivering real-time PAM services, empowering our clients to implement Zero Trust and secure AI usage.”

From Delinea’s perspective, the deal reflects a broader shift in how enterprises want to consume identity security. Rather than deploying complex platforms on their own, many organizations are looking for managed services that reduce operational overhead while still enforcing strong controls. The partnership emphasizes rapid deployment, automation, and flexible licensing as ways to lower total cost of ownership without weakening security posture.

Chris Kelly, President at Delinea, framed the collaboration as a response to the accelerating pace of identity-based attacks. “As AI-driven identity-based threats and attacks continue to evolve, businesses are seeking partners that can help them stay ahead, protect their critical assets, and realise the value of their cybersecurity investments more efficiently,” he said. “By selecting Delinea as its strategic provider of PAM solutions, NCC Group is leading the way in helping our joint customers deploy quickly, augment staff, and offer managed service options to allow for continuous identity discovery, protection, and governance.”

The partnership highlights a growing consensus in the security industry: identity is no longer just an access problem but an operational discipline. As organizations balance compliance demands, AI adoption, and increasingly sophisticated adversaries, privileged access management is shifting from a niche security control to a core requirement for digital resilience.