Symark Software Introduces PowerADvantage® to Extend Active Directory Functionality to UNIX and Linux Systems

Business Wire, Sept 17, 2007

New Integrated Authentication and Configuration Solution Reduces Administrative Costs, Improves Security and Simplifies Compliance Across Heterogeneous IT Environments

SAN FRANCISCO -- Symark Software, the leading provider of information security solutions for managing privileged account access, today announced PowerADvantage, a new integrated authentication and configuration solution. PowerADvantage extends Active Directory's centralized authentication, authorization, account access, policy enforcement and infrastructure management functionality to UNIX and Linux systems. PowerADvantage reduces administration costs, improves security and supports compliance efforts by centrally managing user identifications, authentication, security policies and automatic deployment of configuration settings across heterogeneous UNIX and Linux environments.

"While Symark prides itself on being the industry's leading provider of solutions for managing privileged access within heterogeneous IT environments, we are constantly working with our customers to improve their overall identity and access management programs," said Robert H. Farber, chief operating officer at Symark Software. "PowerADvantage represents a tremendous opportunity for us by extending Active Directory's excellent authentication, authorization and policy enforcement functionality to Linux and UNIX systems. Our extensive experience with Linux and UNIX security administration technology is incorporated into the product, which not only makes it a stronger offering, but is something other vendors do not bring to the table."

How PowerADvantage Works

PowerADvantage implements an agent on UNIX and Linux machines that communicates with Active Directory's domain controllers. During the installation of the PowerADvantage agent, the UNIX and Linux host is joined to the domain and the host is configured to route authentication requests through the PowerADvantage agent. This allows the PowerADvantage agent to communicate with the Active Directory domain controllers to process authentication requests and access the Group Policy Objects used for configuration management.

After installation, the computer object for each UNIX and Linux host can be moved to different organizational units in the Active Directory hierarchy, changing which set of Group Policy Objects apply to that host. The PowerADvantage Context of each host can also be changed, which will immediately change the login configuration for all Active Directory-based users logging in to that host. Both of these changes can be performed without re-booting the host or re-starting the PowerADvantage agent. Additionally, the PowerADvantage agent is configured by Group Policy, so any changes in the configuration of the agents can be performed through Group Policy without the need to visit each individual host.

"The IT environments at many of today's global enterprises consist of literally hundreds or thousands of servers, all running a diverse mix of operating systems. This can create an administrative and security nightmare, increasing the need for more effective identity and access management solutions," said Jon Oltsik, senior analyst, information security at Enterprise Strategy Group. "Symark's PowerADvantage addresses this concern by extending Active Directory's robust feature set to various versions of UNIX and Linux systems. By integrating PowerADvantage with Symark's PowerBroker--the company's solution for controlling privileged account access--organizations will be equipped with a cost-effective, comprehensive identity and access management solution that incorporates the UNIX and Linux systems running within their IT infrastructure."

PowerADvantage Key Features

PowerADvantage delivers a single, centralized management solution that reduces costs, administrative overhead and training requirements while helping organizations strengthen their corporate security policies, increasing productivity and simplifying compliance reporting requirements. Features of PowerADvantage include:

* Cross-platform Unified Login--Users are provided with a single login and password for all UNIX, Linux and Windows machines, eliminating the need to establish separate access credentials for varying systems. This increases efficiency and boosts productivity for end users while reducing calls to the help desk related to misplaced passwords.

* Simple Installation Process--Administrators can deploy PowerADvantage in a matter of minutes without making any irreversible changes to Active Directory schema. PowerADvantage's simple agent installation process joins the host to Active Directory and implements the unified login function, eliminating any complex, time consuming configuration changes. Additionally, PowerADvantage's intelligent import wizard streamlines and simplifies the importing and mapping of current UNIX and Linux user information directly into Active Directory.

* Comprehensive Centralized Storage--All user and group information is centrally stored within Active Directory, reducing infrastructure costs by eliminating redundant identity stores--including legacy directories, unsecured NIS servers and locally managed files. Storing information within Active Directory, along with integrated use of existing Windows administration tools, enables IT managers to utilize applications with familiar interfaces. This eliminates the need to license third-party synchronization products or to build and maintain in-house solutions. Operations, training and processes for provisioning, account maintenance and other administrative tasks are streamlined by standardizing on a single set of Active Directory-based tools.