Centrify launches cloud-based privileged identity service

At RSA Conference 2015 Centrify Corporation announced the launch of Centrify Privilege Service (CPS), a cloud-based identity management solution that addresses today’s growing gap in security, visibility and control over privileged accounts.

Essentially “the keys to the kingdom,” privileged accounts provide elevated access to an organization’s most critical data, applications, systems and network devices. And as more enterprises embrace the cloud, privileged accounts increasingly lie outside the corporate perimeter and are frequently shared by both internal IT and often remote third parties such as contractors and vendors. Therefore it is no surprise that privileged accounts are top targets for hackers and malicious insiders alike.

CPS complements and extends the broad set of capabilities for identity consolidation, privilege management and privileged session auditing found in the flagship Centrify Server Suite by providing shared account password management for servers, network devices and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

In addition, CPS addresses security and audit requirements for the management of both cloud-based and on-premises access to critical production systems and applications by remote employees and third parties ― all without the hassle of a VPN. The net result is a comprehensive and tightly integrated privileged identity management solution that not only increases security and simplifies compliance, but is also built to span both cloud and data center infrastructure.

CPS offers numerous security capabilities:

• Centrally manage emergency access to all servers and network devices in break-glass scenarios
• Grant secure, cloud-based access for remote and outsourced IT staff to servers and network devices, without giving VPN access to the full data center
• Secure access to on-premises servers, network devices and Infrastructure-as-a-Service via best-in-class resource management, shared password management and privileged session monitoring capabilities.

CPS is delivered as a multi-tenant cloud service, available in 15 languages from 10 data centers across the world and with rich support for mobile devices. CPS is built on the Centrify Identity Platform. CPS also complements the Centrify Server Suite.

“Identity and privileged accounts are at the center of today’s ever-growing string of cyberattacks,” said Tom Kemp, CEO and founder of Centrify. “Centrify’s modern approach to managing and securing privileged accounts is in stark contrast to legacy privileged identity management software offerings that do not address increasingly hybrid IT environments of on-premises and cloud-based systems. These products also fail to secure and manage third-party access and utilize cumbersome on-premises architectures that require expensive perpetual license purchases and months of professional services. Analysts have been asking when will the privileged identity management market be disrupted by the cloud, and we believe CPS is the answer.”