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.

Are you attending next week’s Infosec World Conference or the DoDIIS Worldwide Conference?  If so, make sure to pre-register with Viewfinity for a one-on-one demonstration of our Privilege Management solution using the links below for each show. 

Viewfinity will be exhibiting in the Carahsoft Pavilion at the DoDIIS show in booth 425 and will be exhibiting in booth 213 at the Infosec show.

Pre-register for a demo at InfoSec

Pre-register for a demo at DoDIIS

In an article featured on InfoTech Spotlight titled “Viewfinity Provides Holistic View for Privilege Management,” Senior Editor, Peter Bernstein said “The subject that few enterprises like to talk about in public, but which is top of mind when IT professionals gather, is security.”

Viewfinity takes IT security seriously.  Being the leader in the privilege management space, Viewfinity hosted a webinar on March 13, 2012 to educate IT professionals about Using Group Policy to Manage Administrator Accounts.  Alex Shoykhet, VP of Product Management at Viewfinity discussed in detail the security risks and vulnerabilities that exist when end users are granted with full administrator rights.  A crucial fundamental step in securing the endpoint is removing these administrator rights and managing them with a privilege management solution. Alex demonstrated Viewfinity’s method for leveraging Group Policy to elevate privileges for standard users, how to block applications and toolbars, and custom configure security messages to end users.

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