Administrator Password Security with Arellia Local Security Solution
Every machine has a local Administrator account and group that is created at the time the system is built. In many cases, the account name and password is usually the same on every system, in fact, it is a common practice to assign the same local administrator name and password to every workstation in a Window’s domain. This is especially true for environments that leverage any form of “image distribution” to provision their systems. If someone gains access to this common account’s password they would have full administrator access to all other machines in the organization with that same account.
Cracking the local administrator common password can be done in seconds using easily downloaded password cracking utilities. If all workstations and in some cases, servers, use the same built-in administrator account and password, once a single machine has been compromised, an ordinary user will now have unfettered access to all systems.
Local Security Solution from Arellia provides centralized management that quickly and easily provisions and manages local administrative users and groups within the environment. Local Security Solution’s automated policy enforcement of group membership and randomization of administrative passwords across systems secures the corporate network from malicious attacks. Local password management eradicates stale and duplicate passwords, maintains authorized local accounts, and randomizes passwords on each desktop to block anonymous data access and the ability to bypass access controls. Password randomization is important to having a secure environment after provisioning users and groups. All passwords on the client are encrypted using 128 bit encryption. This encryption is maintained throughout all client / server communications as well as during storage of the password in the database. The only time passwords are exposed in clear text is during the display of the password in the console using the “Show Managed Password” command. All “Show Managed Password” command requests are logged in the database for notification and reporting purposes.
This video demonstrates how randomization of local accounts with secure and audited disclosure can be accomplished. Arellia Local Security Solution is integrated with the Symantec Management Platform 7.1 and 7.0 and available from Symantec and Symantec sales partners.
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