Reality of Insider Threats Pushes Password Management into the Mainstream
Cloakware Inc., the provider of proven software solutions for securing mission-critical information assets, reports that demand for solutions that guard against insider threats has surged in the past six months. Following recent major security breaches, ongoing corporate layoffs and new industry regulations, password management has been thrust into the spotlight as corporations begin to realize the threat that lies within their own walls.
Once considered the exclusive worry of large enterprises, the proliferation of security incidents is requiring small to mid-sized businesses to address access vulnerabilities as well. According to Gartner's June 16, 2009 report by Ant Allan and Perry Carpenter, "MarketScope for Shared-Account/Software-Account Password Management," "these changes underscore Gartner's long-standing observation that SAPM tools address a compelling need for customers of all sizes." In the report, which evaluated vendor solutions on areas such as core goods and services offered and approach to product strategy, Cloakware's solution received a "Promising" rating.
"Many companies today take tremendous risks operating without adequate security procedures in place to protect their critical data and manage privileged access," said Tom Pak, vice president of datacenter solutions at Cloakware. "Cloakware is focused on providing its customers with a proven solution to meet the challenges of the evolving global landscape and prevent costly and dangerous security breaches."
According to the Gartner MarketScope report, the password management market "has shown strong growth during the period from 2006 through 2008, with customer numbers increasing year over year by about 50 percent and revenue by over 60 percent." This growth shows no sign of slowing as companies become increasingly vigilant to the dangers of leaving critical data unprotected.
Steve Coplan, senior analyst, enterprise security, The 451 Group agrees, "More and more organizations are recognizing the serious potential for data breaches and the likelihood of compliance audit failures, which arise from subpar access controls for sensitive resources." Coplan continued, "This recognition has in turn driven adoption of privileged identity management technologies. Solutions, like Cloakware's Password Authority, that offer systematic, policy-driven approaches to monitor, manage and audit access to business-critical information and sensitive resources are becoming a crucial component of an enterprise-wide identity and access management system."
Enterprise software leaders such as Oracle have teamed with Cloakware to leverage Password Authority, providing companies with an automated privileged password management solution that ensures the security of mission-critical data and IT infrastructures. By eliminating error-prone, manual processes commonly associated with managing passwords, the solution helps companies meet their audit requirements by automatically updating privileged passwords to maintain operational efficiency with virtually no down time, protecting them from evolving insider attacks.