Jim Zierrich, of financialrisks.com, says The Goldilocks Principle is the Principle of Least Privileges because end users in a least privileges environment “are neither given too much, nor too little, but just enough to do their jobs well.”   Jim is referring to the access users are given within the workforce, that allows them to do what is required for the job.  It is important to remember that the Principle of Least Privileges is not limiting access but rather it is managing the access to approved IT systems and applications on the basis of employee roles and their requirements to fulfill their job duties.

The added layer of protection offered through least privileges further protects companies from unwanted incidents. Companies are turning to Viewfinity for a privilege management solution that creates a least privileges environment, adding an extra layer of IT security protection. Our privilege management and default-deny application control helps with the practice of enforcing consistent policies for endpoint access to enterprise applications and desktop functions by controlling user rights on PCs.  Our solution manages and executes an end-to-end automated and non-disruptive move to least privileges through a series of automated processes.  You can read more about this on our website.

“Cloud Computing Reality Check,” lands as number three in a recent round-up of the Top five themes from Gartner Security Summit 2011 by Eric Parizo, Senior Site Editor for SearchSecurity.com.

 Eric discusses the off the charts hype around cloud computing is now being replaced with confidence amongst information security pros.  Per Eric, the transition is a result of an understanding that the “vast majority of today’s enterprises cloud computing is SaaS (Software as a Service) and not the more complex platform or infrastructure variations that surrender a lot more control to third-party providers.” 

Viewfinity is pleased to report we are the only vendor who provides a privilege management solution via SaaS because our expert team of engineers fully grasp the technology behind it.  This year we’re seeing a trend in the market related to the adoption by enterprise-level organization of our SaaS-based product, with more than 50 percent opting to implement our SaaS version.  With IT security professionals being more confident with cloud computing, they are able to implement solutions faster allowing them to be more agile in their response for the ever-increasing need to add layers of security to their IT environments.   

Take a test drive of our award winning privilege management solution today. 

Lathrop & Gage LLP is a prestigious law firm with over 700 desktops and laptops running 400 plus applications.  As any IT team can imagine, this poses many challenges, especially related to its staff that works in various remote locations. So what steps did Lathrop take to secure its distributed computing environment?  

Lathrop made the decision to move to a least privileges PC environment.  With this decision, Lathrop decided that Viewfinity’s Privilege Management solution was the best solution for their needs because of its ability to manage and control mobile endpoints over a secure internet connection.  Among the challenges, IT needed a way to efficiently and immediately install custom applications needed by an attorney at a remote site.  The Lathrop IT team is able to push a policy that is immediately propagated on the endpoint (no logoff/logon cycle is needed), elevating privileges for the specific application requested by the attorney, allowing it to be installed and executed, without having to invoke a remote terminal session and use a RUNAS function. Thus the attorney’s focus is on the client’s requirements instead of having to take on the role of an IT support person. With Viewfinity, Lathrop has been able to manage user access privileges effectively and efficiently. 

Ben Weinberger, CIO, of Lathrop & Gage said, “With Viewfinity, we have a method for securing the endpoint client by elevating privileges on the application level, or for desktop functions, rather than providing blanket administrative permissions at the end user level. Being able to control lockdown policies and elevate privileges on the fly, regardless of the end user’s location, and do that cleanly, is very powerful. This has proactively alleviated many IT concerns.” 

Read the full Lathrop & Gage Case Study

“Sony on Monday said that it expects the cleanup cost from the data breaches it's suffered to cost at least $171 million,” reported by Mathew J. Schwartz of InformationWeek. 

$171 Million. Think about it. And there are the public relations clean-up costs as well. 

Loading up your network with multiple layers of security protection is of paramount importance if you want to do all you can to prevent a costly data breach. The money a company invests in securing their network is inexpensive compared to the cleanup costs and tarnished brand that could occur as a result of a breach.  Moving to a least privileges environment is a best practice to be highly considered.  As noted in Neil MacDonald’s recent blog post, “One of the top recommendations I made to increase your security “bang for the buck” in 2011 was to increase the percentage of users that run without administrative access.”

Removing administrator rights from the end users significantly reduces the number of malware introduced they will not have permissions to download or install unapproved software that could corrupt your endpoints.  After removing administrator rights, IT can utilize privilege management and application control software to enforce consistent policies for endpoint access to enterprise applications and desktop functions by controlling user rights for desktops and mobile users.   

Do you know the cost of a data breach?

Viewfinity’s Privilege Management solution integrates directly with SCCM to provide extended visibility into privilege management policy usage status and information regarding privilege requests from end users. 

Many organizations use Microsoft SCCM for centralized PC life cycle management (deployment, inventory, and software management functions) but SCCM features do not provide application level privilege elevation controls, which are required in locked down environments.   

Viewfinity recognized the need to close the gap between desktop management and endpoint security through policy management.  Desktop administrators that are already using SCCM for desktop and systems management functions are able to leverage their existing SCCM infrastructure for privilege management reporting from one management console.  Using Viewfinity, IT Administrators are able to create detailed policies that control when and how least privilege users access applications and desktop functions. The integration allows IT Administrators to monitor the privilege policies in addition to the base configuration management features that are provided in SCCM. These SCCM reporting capabilities are beneficial for tracking which policies are active, which applications are running with elevated rights, which are blocked, and for applications that users are requesting additional permissions. 

Viewfinity’s Privilege Management solution integrates directly with SCCM to provide extended visibility into privilege management policy usage status and information regarding privilege requests from end users. 

Read more on the solution by following the link below:

http://www.viewfinity.com/Products/PrivilegeManagement/SCCM.aspx

Download the software for evaluation and testing in your environment.

Interesting results in this CIO Insight survey:  The top 10 highlights from 300 IT decision-makers, results reveal an increased focus on endpoint security.   

“Don Reisinger on 2011-04-11 We know you're always thinking about ways in which you can best safeguard your company’s important data. Most likely, you’re wondering about the latest ways malicious hackers can break into your network. And, chances are, you're concerned that employees aren't engaging in the safest practices to ensure sensitive information isn’t leaked out. As we watch the fallout from Epsilon data breach we're all facing questions about what more can be done to safeguard sensitive information. Of course, strong enterprise security is an expensive proposition. A recent report from IBM reveals that many IT decision-makers are focusing on increasing their investments in endpoint security. The survey features responses from 300 IT decision-makers.” 

Full survey results can be found on CIOinsight.com: http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Security/Strong-Information-Security-Starts-at-Endpoints-663080/  

Let’s face it- more layers of IT security protection provides more secure endpoints. This equates to less vulnerability to hackers, malware, and embarrassing security breaches that could prove costly to your company’s bottom line.  An added layer of protection, such as locking down desktops and managing user permissions through policies, further protects companies from these unwanted incidents. Companies are turning to Viewfinity for a privilege management solution that adds that extra layer of IT security protection.  

Download our free Local Admin Discovery Tool that analyzes your Active Directory domain and discovers user accounts that have local administrator rights.  Once the analysis has been run, you can take action by removing the users or suspicious groups from the Administrators group.