TECH TALK
4. Ignorance: Two-thirds say managing
least privilege for Unix/Linux servers
is somewhat to extremely important.
One popular option is Sudo. However,
just 29% say Sudo meets their
needs. The most commonly cited
problems with Sudo include being
time-consuming to use (32%),
complexity (31%) and poor version
control (29%). Despite this, the
typical respondent runs Sudo on 40
workstations and 25 servers.
5. Envy: Enterprises are rushing to
embrace cloud computing. Yet,
more than a third report they are
not involved in protecting SaaS
applications from abuse.
There are steps any organisation can
take to address the Five Deadly Sins of
Privileged Access Management:
• Deploy enterprise password
management globally across all
data centres, virtual and cloud. A
centralised password management
solution that includes built-in session
monitoring will ensure that both
important capabilities are met with
strong workflow and ease of use.
• Remove local admin rights from
ALL Windows and MacOS end users
immediately. 94% of Microsoft
system vulnerabilities in 2016 can be
attributed to users with admin rights.
Once all users are standard users, IT
teams can elevate a user’s access
to specific applications to perform
whatever action is necessary as part
of their role without elevating the
entire user on the machine.
• Prioritise and patch vulnerabilities.
Better prioritisation and patching of
vulnerabilities provides IT with better
insight into whether to delegate
privileges to an asset or application.
The result is better intelligence and
less risk of unknowns.
• Replace Sudo for complete protection
of Unix/Linux servers. With pressure
on budgets, organisations may have
to use Sudo, but it doesn’t offer the
industrial-strength capabilities that
today’s security needs.
• Unify privileged access management
– on-premise, in the cloud – into
a single console for management,
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INTELLIGENTCIO
policy, reporting and analytics. As
organisations race to adopt SaaS/
PaaS/IaaS to keep pace with business
demands, IT must provide the same
level of protection to cloud-based
systems as for on-premise systems.
This includes capabilities such as
enabling automation for DevOps;
finding, grouping and scanning
cloud assets; protecting virtual and
cloud management consoles and
instances; using a cloud access
service broker to enable third-party
access; and performing vulnerability
assessments for hybrid and public
cloud infrastructures. n
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