Least Privilege Management and a Look Ahead to 2018

Call it the gift that keeps on giving, but unwrapping a big box of data breach wasn't on my holiday list, and I’m guessing not on yours, either. And now, here we are again, in a new year. While some will miss the past year – others can’t wait to start anew. Let's look back at 2017 and consider how well you protected your organization is from data breaches... Were there privilege management projects that went astray? Were there projects that executed just right, but still didn’t address the problem? Maybe with a new year, comes a new budget and you’re eager to get moving on them. Or maybe 2018 will be the year all our security issues will be fixed. While it’s a nice thought, next year, like the many before it, is going to bring some challenges. And our job next year, like the many before it, will be to meet those challenges. Whether we see a new scam or hack around crypto currencies, exploitation of old and new vulnerabilities, or a good ole phishing attack, we’ll need to be prepared. For that, we need to understand the main cause, the reason this works so well — privileges. When it comes to granting privileged access to users, giving too much or too little can result in an issue. There is a balance though, a way to protect users and assets…and give them access to just enough buttons. The concept of least privilege isn’t new. I’ve been preaching it for over a decade here at BeyondTrust, Microsoft was calling it out in the 80s, and gradually, the industry took notice. PowerBroker for Windows and PowerBroker for Mac provide the ability to control application privilege levels based on user, computer, or combination thereof. If you need some applications to run with a higher set of rights than the logged-on user can give it, BeyondTrust PowerBroker for Windows can help. Likewise, if you need to block an application from running, or from upsetting the integrity of the file system, PowerBroker for Windows can do that as well. If you have already moved to a least privilege model, or are currently in a roll out, well done. If you are looking at ways to solve, not mask security issues, I encourage you to look at the PowerBroker Endpoint Privilege Management solution. Feel free to contact us and get a head start on making it a great 2018.