Eric B. Rux of Windows IT Pro published a recent product review recognizing common challenges  IT adminstrators encounter with software deployment, permission policy, time management and supporting end user requirements.

Eric stated “Viewfinity Privilege Management takes the work out of discovering the permissions that each application needs to function correctly. It also gives you the option of letting users install software on their own, while you still maintain control -- all from an easy-to-manage console.”

Rux’s overview and product summary as cited below:

For the most part, the GPO Editor and SaaS editions of Privilege Management function identically. They divide the applications that your users need to run into two groups:

• Applications that are currently installed; these applications are managed with applied policies
• Applications that your users will likely want to use in the future; these applications are managed with a feature named Policy Automation

• Available in local GPO Editor or SaaS edition
• Seamless integration with Windows 7
• SaaS edition shines for mobile workforce

Read more of Rux’s in-depth review… “It also gives you the option of letting users install software on their own, while you still maintain control -- all from an easy-to-manage console.”

Sean Martin, founder of imsmartin consulting, spoke to many individuals at the recent RSA 2012 conference.  Sean mentioned in his recent article titled “Are security basics getting lost under the cover of cloud and mobile?” that there were numerous topics discussed but he noticed three topics being raised more than others: passwords, identities, and privileges.

“Most organizations take steps to remove admin-level access and elevated privileges from standard user accounts. But admin privileges often get granted to additional users over time as a way to allow them to install printer drivers, launch system-level applications, and perform other business-enabling actions on their own without IT help desk involvement,” said Sean Martin.

Viewfinity is seeing that most organizations are victims of “privilege creep” – a situation where privileges are locked down initially and are increased over time. Businesses should follow the basics of managing account privileges on a granular level, controlling access based on need, time, application, location and more.

Viewfinity will be exhibiting in booth 610 at the 2012 Microsoft Management Summit next week! We will be showing live demos of our Privilege Management solution.  We hope to see you there!

To schedule a one-on-one demo at MMS 2012, click here.

In every organization there exists a somewhat buried but very dangerous loophole: the presence of local administrator accounts. Local administrator accounts are often times created directly by users and are hidden from the IT manager’s standard tracked list of administrative accounts managed by Active Directory. These accounts can be used by malware to install malicious software on local computers through the administrator account. Further penetration into the IT environment is then accessible through this loophole.  

Bob Gourley, editor of CTOvision.com and founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Crucial Point LLC, will present the layers of endpoint protection necessary to ensure IT security and operations managers have a method for mitigating critical IT security risk. He will explain how each tool protects the endpoint, and how they work together to prevent breaches.

Next, Viewfinity will demonstrate a method for removing admin rights and managing privileges for standard users through policies, including how to:

• Discover user accounts that have local administrative rights
• Remove users or suspicious groups from the administrators group
• Control user permissions/privilege elevation via granular level policies

At the recent RSA Conference in San Francisco, David Larson of NetHawk TV interviewed Gil Rapaport on how careful control of administrator rights is the very foundation of IT security because when users have widespread administrator rights; this opens the network to a variety of security risks.  Where antivirus solutions will stop known threats, least privilege -- through the removal of administrative privileges -- can help to combat risks that are presently unknown to antivirus software.  Users do not need to have full administrator rights to accomplish daily tasks, and privileged users should have restricted access to tasks related to their role/responsibilities only.  Viewfinity Privilege Management solution controls end user and privileged user rights for applications and systems which require elevated permissions and helps solve these organizational challenges.

The number one challenge is that people are not really aware that there is the option to make endpoints more secure while at the same time keeping end-users happy and productive. Everyone is aware of the problem that you don't want to give admin rights to end-users, but at the same time IT is afraid to take away those rights. With Viewfinity you can balance between security and operational needs.

Watch the full discussion by following the link: RSA 2012 – Viewfinity’s Gil Rapaport On End User Application Management Driven By Productivity