Why Customers Choose PowerBroker: Better Security Context

Editors note: This is the third in a series of blogs summarizing why customers choose PowerBroker to solve their privileged account management challenges, stemming from the study of our customer base that BeyondTrust commissioned in early 2015. The previous blogs focused on flexible deployment options and low total cost of ownership. This week, we focus on security context. Watch for more in this series.

Silos. The bane of every IT security organization. When teams are focused on their silo – and only their silo – they’re not sharing information with other teams monitoring other, perhaps related, systems. What’s the result of a siloed approach to IT security? Threat information isn’t shared as often as it should, leading to gaps, greater risk or worse. That’s why we believe the last thing you need is another siloed security point solution. You need context. And that is what BeyondTrust delivers.

In a survey of more than 100 customers, those customers indicated that BeyondTrust’s better security context was a competitive differentiator versus other options in the privileged account management market.

This differentiator was important to Ameritas Life Insurance Corp, who was looking to reduce risk from security breaches and meet compliance regulations including HIPAA. They turned to BeyondTrust. In the words of Jeff Hoyle, IT Manager, "[PowerBroker] gives us data we did not have before."

Examples of how context helps: Least privilege and password management

Let me give you two examples that illustrate how gaining greater context reduces risk: in the granting of least privilege, and in password management. First, in a least privilege scenario, why would an IT organization elevate an application if it has known vulnerabilities that could open up that organization to exposure or possible damage? BeyondTrust has solved this problem with a patented solution called Vulnerability-Based Application Management (VBAM). Unique integration between the PowerBroker privileged account management and Retina enterprise vulnerability management product portfolios has resulted in this solution whereby PowerBroker can automatically scan applications for vulnerabilities at run time. This new level of context helps make decisions on whether to elevate that application’s privileges, thereby reducing risk and closing a potential security gap.

A second example of greater context comes in the form of newly-released capability in PowerBroker Password Safe called Advanced Workflow Control. With this new capability Password Safe considers the day, date, time and location when a user accesses resources to determine their ability to access those systems, effectively enabling the dynamic assignment of just-in-time privileges. Having this capability ensures that users have the right access according to the context of their request, thereby minimizing opportunities for exploiting privileged credentials.

Both of these use cases are available to customers today, and are the result of our single, integrated risk management platform that spans both the privileged account management and enterprise vulnerability management solution families. BeyondTrust provides a complete understanding of the modern threat landscape across both internal and external risk.

Our solutions incorporate relevant security data – available exploits, risky privileged activity, vulnerable systems and applications, compliance requirements, mitigations etc. – to help you drive better, more informed security decisions. Interested in learning more about how PowerBroker can meet the requirements of your privileged account management project? Contact us today. If you are interested in learning more about all of the PowerBroker differences, check out the free white paper.