Identity Management

Consolidate disparate UNIX and Linux identity stores into Active Directory to streamline operations and enforce separation of duties

The Challenge

Managing user identities in a cross-platform environment is a complex and frequently inefficient task whose security risks are of increasing concern to organizations. Within the Windows environment, Active Directory provides a single, central point of administration. Within UNIX and Linux environments, user identities may reside in multiple identity silos such as NIS, LDAP databases, or platform-specific proprietary directories, or they may be managed locally system by system. In addition, administrative users frequently have access to root logins or to service accounts that give them privileges on business-critical systems that go well beyond what they need to perform their jobs.

The Centrify Solution

The Centrify Suite simplifies and streamlines your IT infrastructure by centralizing identity and access management for Linux, UNIX and Mac systems and applications within Microsoft Active Directory. With the Centrify Suite you can:

• Consolidate all identity stores in Active Directory, enabling you to streamline IT processes, standardize on a single set of Active Directory tools, and eliminate the security risks posed by orphan accounts
• Provide end-users with single sign-on
• Centrally enforce consistent account and password policies across all systems
• Associate all access rights and privileges to individual Active Directory accounts, enabling centralized reporting on who has access to what systems
• Enforce separation of duties by using Centrify's unique Zone-based access controls to define logical sets of systems that can have their own authorized users, administrators, and security policies
• Limit superuser privileges to just the set of commands they need to perform their jobs

Learn More

Next Steps

3-Part Webinar Series What Gartner Says About Using Active Directory for Centralized Authentication, Auditing and SSO

Even though desktop and server management via Group Policy started as a Windows concept, solutions such as DirectControl enable customers a way to achieve better interoperability between both Windows and Linux systems.

Jeremy Moskowitz
GPanswers.com
Author of "Group Policy, Profiles and IntelliMirror" and Group Policy Evangelist
GPTF.org