Understanding PSM Safe Names in CyberArk: LiveSessions, Recordings, Sessions, and Unmanaged Session Accounts

Understanding the names tied to CyberArk’s PSM safes isn’t just about memorizing a list. It’s about recognizing how privileged sessions, recordings, and accounts are organized so security teams can act quickly when needed. Think of it like labeling boxes in a warehouse: good labels save time, reduce confusion, and make audits smoother. In CyberArk’s world, the right labels are PSM, PSMLiveSessions, PSMRecordings, PSMSessions, and PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts. Here’s why that lineup matters and how it shows up in day-to-day security operations.

The lineup you’ll see in practice

• PSM: This is the umbrella that covers the Privileged Session Manager itself. It’s the foundation—the control plane that governs how privileged access is requested, approved, and mediated. It’s the starting point for understanding where everything else fits.

• PSMLiveSessions: Think of this as the live data stream for active privileged sessions. When a user or admin initiates a session to a target system through PSM, the moment the session is live, its metadata and state live here. It’s the place you’d look for “what’s happening right now?” in terms of active activity.

• PSMRecordings: After a session wraps, you don’t just move on. You archive the session so there’s a complete, auditable trail of what happened. PSMRecordings houses those recorded interactions—significant for post-incident reviews, compliance reporting, and forensic investigations.

• PSMSessions: This is the broader catalog of sessions that have occurred or are in the process of being established. It’s more about the lifecycle metadata—who started the session, when, which target, and under what policy. It’s the structural ledger that helps you see the big picture of privileged activity over a given window.

• PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts: Not every account in a network gets the same level of supervision. Some accounts operate outside the standard session-management workflow. These are the “unmanaged” session accounts, and this safe is the designated home for them. It’s a reminder that coverage isn’t always perfect, and you need visibility and oversight even there.

Why these particular names are meaningful

• Clarity and separation of concerns: Each name identifies a distinct piece of the workflow. Live activity lives in PSMLiveSessions; once activities are captured, they move into PSMRecordings. The general session history is tracked in PSMSessions, while truly unmanaged accounts sit in PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts. This separation helps teams avoid cross-pollinating data and reduces the guesswork during investigations.

• Auditability and compliance: In regulated environments, you need precise labels so auditors can trace who did what and when. The terms “Live,” “Recordings,” and “Sessions” bake in a logical sequence that aligns with typical audit trails: live use, captured evidence, and summarized history, plus a careful note about accounts that don’t fit the standard workflow.

• Operational efficiency: When security engineers search logs or run reports, predictable names cut down on search friction. If you know exactly where to look for active activity versus archived events, you can respond faster—whether you’re blocking a session after a potential breach or verifying a routine compliance check.

How this naming scheme maps to real-world workflows

Let’s walk through a typical privileged session lifecycle and see where each safe fits.

• Initiation: A user requests access through PSM. A session is established, and data about that moment—who, when, which target, under what policy—lands in PSMLiveSessions. If you’re on the security desk and you need to see what’s currently happening, this is your go-to view.

• Live activity: While the session runs, PSMLiveSessions holds the live state. Operators and automated monitors can observe commands, access paths, or anomalies as they happen. Because this is real-time data, it’s essential for rapid containment or for validating policy enforcement in motion.

• Recording and retention: As soon as the session ends, a full recording gets created and stored in PSMRecordings. This archived material is the backbone of post-event analysis. It’s the kind of evidence you’d pull during a security review or a compliance audit.

• Comprehensive history: Beyond the live window, PSMSessions provides a higher-level ledger of sessions, including metadata such as user identity, target systems, session duration, and policy context. It offers a big-picture view that helps SOC analysts track trends or identify unusual patterns over time.

• Unmanaged accounts: Some accounts might be used in a way that doesn’t flow through the standard PSM chain—for example, service accounts or legacy accounts that aren’t fully integrated with the same session controls. PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts gives you a designated place to acknowledge and monitor these outliers, keeping them visible without pretending they’re fully managed. It’s a gentle reminder that visibility and governance need to cover all bases.

Common pitfalls and why mislabeling can bite you

Options that look similar can be tempting, especially when you’re skimming through configurations or vendor docs. But mislabeling isn’t just a minor mix-up—it can blur accountability and complicate investigations.

• Confusing live data with recordings: If you mistake PSMLiveSessions for PSMRecordings, you could miss crucial evidence when you need it. Always pair “live” with immediate context, and reserve “recordings” for the captured, review-ready material.

• Treating PSMSessions as raw logs: PSMSessions isn’t only “what happened now.” It’s the broader session history with context. If you ignore that nuance, you might overlook patterns that emerge only when you compare multiple sessions.

• Overlooking unmanaged accounts: Leaving unmanaged accounts out of sight creates a blind spot. The PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts safe isn’t about demonizing those accounts—it’s about ensuring governance coverage for everything that uses privileged access, even if it isn’t fully integrated yet.

• Mixing names across tools: CyberArk’s naming conventions are designed to fit a specific architecture. If you export data to a SIEM or a ticketing system, keep the same naming logic there too. It reduces confusion and makes cross-tool workflows more reliable.

Practical tips for teams working with these safes

• Document the policy language: Have a short, clear policy that explains what belongs in each safe and why. When questions come up—like whether a particular account should be classified as unmanaged—your policy acts as the referee.

• Regularly review mappings: Technology and workflows evolve. Schedule periodic reviews to ensure that new accounts, new targets, or new kinds of sessions still line up with the established safes.

• Use consistent labeling in dashboards: When you build dashboards for SOC or IT teams, reflect these names consistently. Consistency is a quiet productivity booster.

• Tie recordings to governance controls: Ensure that PSMRecordings retention meets your organization’s data retention and privacy rules. Document how long you keep recordings and who can access them.

• Elevate unmanaged accounts where feasible: If you find unmanaged accounts becoming a trend, plan a path to bring them under tighter control. The sooner you achieve broader coverage, the stronger your security posture becomes.

A broader perspective: why naming is a small lever with big impact

Names aren’t just labels; they shape how people think about risks and workflows. A clean, logical naming scheme helps new team members onboard faster, supports clearer incident response, and makes audits less painful. In the CyberArk world, it’s not about fancy jargon; it’s about practical governance that translates into safer systems and more confident operations.

If you’re digging into CyberArk’s Privileged Session Manager, you’ll notice that the safes aren’t just static buckets. They’re dynamic references to how access is requested, monitored, recorded, and reviewed. The specific set—PSM, PSMLiveSessions, PSMRecordings, PSMSessions, PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts—embodies a simple yet robust narrative: live activity, captured evidence, historical context, and the honest accounting of accounts that fall outside the standard flow.

Bringing it together with real-world practice

Security teams often juggle several threads at once: policy enforcement, incident response, compliance reporting, and continuous improvement. A well-structured naming scheme for PSM safes supports all of these threads without demanding heroic memory or heroic effort from staff. It’s a small design decision with real, daily payoff.

If you’re exploring CyberArk’s architecture, you’ll also encounter related components that complement this setup—things like how vaulting interacts with access controls, or how audit logs feed into a centralized security information and event management (SIEM) system. The common thread is clarity. When you can point to a safe and say, “Live sessions here, recordings there, sessions in this catalog, unmanaged accounts in that corner,” you reduce confusion, speed up investigations, and strengthen governance.

Final thoughts

Names matter because they shape behavior. In privileged access management, clear labels help security teams respond with precision, preserve a verifiable trail, and keep governance tight without choking everyday operations. The set of safes—PSM, PSMLiveSessions, PSMRecordings, PSMSessions, PSMUnmanagedSessionAccounts—reads like a concise map of how CyberArk handles privileged access in practice. It signals where to look for live activity, where to find evidence, how to understand the broader session history, and where to watch for gaps in control.

If you’re part of a team working with CyberArk, take a moment to walk through these names on your dashboards and in your policies. Ask: Do we have a clear home for unmanaged accounts? Is our live data clearly separated from recordings? Do our incident responders know exactly where to pull a session’s metadata versus its full recording? Small checks like these keep your security posture solid and your operations smooth.

And that’s the core idea: good naming isn’t flashy, but it’s fundamental. It’s the quiet backbone that helps you stay organized, compliant, and ready to respond—so you can focus on what matters most: keeping systems safe and teams confident. If you want to keep digging, look for the way these safes interlock with access requests, approvals, and the broader CyberArk ecosystem. You’ll start to see the pattern clearly, and every confirmation will feel a little more intuitive.