This is the moment you realize a bastion host isn’t enough. You built it to secure SSH and database access, but the perimeter is too wide and the keys too powerful. A single compromised account can pierce the whole thing.
A better path exists. Replace the bastion host with a system that gives row-level security directly at the data layer. Instead of guarding the gate, enforce permissions where the data lives. You don’t need all-or-nothing access. You decide who can see what—down to a single row in a table—without relying on static firewall rules, shared accounts, or manual session auditing.
Bastion host alternatives work by eliminating jump servers entirely. Users connect through identity-aware gateways linked to your authentication provider. Every query, every request, is checked against row-level rules that you control. No VPN sprawl. No permanent keys. No insider free passes.
Row-level security transforms your security model. You don’t have to grant engineers, contractors, or partners blanket network access just to get them to the right data. You can give them a narrow view: one tenant, one region, one customer—applied automatically at query time. This closure of the attack surface is sharper and cheaper than maintaining bastions that still trust wide network zones.