Centrify - Experts & Thought Leaders

Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of business decision makers are anticipating Covid-themed phishing attacks targeting their companies to increase in 2021, according to new research from Centrify, a globally renowned provider of identity-centric privileged access management solutions. Phishing attacks research The research was conducted by independent polling agency, Censuswide and obtained via a survey of 200 business decision makers in large- and medium-sized enterprises in the UK. The data also revealed that more than half (52 per cent) of business decision makers have anticipated an increase in cyber-attacks facing their organisations, as triggered by the most recent national lockdown in the United Kingdom, which ended on the 2nd of December, 2020. Security awareness training for employees To protect their organisations, IT security processionals should take proactive measures To protect their organisations, IT security processionals should take proactive measures, including security awareness training for employees, restricting VPN connections, increasing the use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever available, and applying least privilege access controls.  Despite these concerns, 37 per cent of respondents admitted that they currently have no plans to train new employees on data management policies and cyber security risks specific to Covid-related disruption. Furthermore, 37 per cent also stated that they do not have sufficient systems in place to verify employee identities and credentials, when accessing company data. Rise in Covid-themed email, SMS and phishing attacks Howard Greenfield, Chief Revenue Officer at Centrify, commented, “Covid-themed email, SMS and web-based phishing attacks have not been uncommon over the last year, and so far we’ve seen cyber-attack campaigns using the guise of charity, government financial aid initiatives, and business support schemes already lure thousands of victims into leaking sensitive information, such as log-in credentials and payment details.” He adds, “In fact, these phishing campaigns have been so sophisticated and widespread in 2020 that business leaders can only reasonably assume that a colleague or employee has already fallen victim to one, especially if they have been working remotely this year for the first time in their career.” Adopting a zero trust approach Howard continues, “Therefore, it is absolutely imperative for companies to adopt a zero trust approach enforced by least privilege access, which will only grant access to certain applications and data once a user’s identity has been verified. This will ensure that leaked log-in credentials do not necessarily translate to a breach of data.”

Centrify, globally renowned Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) solutions provider, announced it is spinning out its IDaaS business as a standalone company named Idaptive. Centrify is sharpening its strategic focus on redefining the legacy approach to Privileged Access Management with cloud-architected Zero Trust Privilege to stop the leading cause of breaches — privileged access abuse. Idaptive will deliver Next-Gen Access to protect employees, partners and customers with their market-leading IDaaS solution. Identity & access management Tim Steinkopf, Chief Financial Officer, has been named CEO of Centrify effective January 1, 2019 Tim Steinkopf, Chief Financial Officer, has been named CEO of Centrify effective January 1, 2019. During his seven years as CFO at Centrify, the company has evolved to become a leading global supplier of Zero Trust Security solutions for Identity & Access Management, and he was named the 2016 CFO of the Year by Silicon Valley Business Journal. Danny Kibel, who currently leads development of Centrify’s IDaaS solutions as Vice President of Engineering and Operations, will assume the CEO role at Idaptive effective January 1, 2019. The executive leadership teams for both companies will be comprised of existing Centrify executives to take each business forward with consistency and ensure a seamless transition for customers. “The more we looked at our business, the clearer it became that a huge opportunity existed to create two organisations that can each better focus on innovation, accelerate their respective roadmaps, and ensure customer success,” said Steinkopf. “Our new relationship with PE firm Thoma Bravo gives us the flexibility to execute this strategy and positions both companies for organic and inorganic growth to strengthen their market positions and offer even better PAM and IDaaS solutions, respectively, to secure the enterprise.” Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Tom Kemp, who is transitioning out of the role of CEO as part of this evolution, co-founded Centrify 14 years ago and has led the company through a number of industry milestones, such as combining Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) and Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) as a unified service and pioneering Privilege-as-a-Service. Kemp will transition to an active strategic advisory role. “We saw a tremendous opportunity for both Centrify and Idaptive to drive core product focus in each of their respective markets, while continuing to fulfill the mission of Zero Trust and Next-Gen Access,” said A.J. Rohde, a partner at Thoma Bravo. “Customers will become the major beneficiaries by having two companies with distinct and already well-known leadership, capital for rapid expansion, and accelerated investments in product and support. We share the companies’ collective vision for this, and we are very excited to be a part of it.” Centrify Zero Trust Privilege Centrify is redefining the legacy approach to Privileged Access Management by delivering cloud-architected Zero Trust Privilege Centrify is redefining the legacy approach to Privileged Access Management by delivering cloud-architected Zero Trust Privilege to secure access to infrastructure, DevOps, cloud, containers, Big Data and other modern enterprise use cases. Organisations may consider approaching Privileged Access Management by solely implementing password vaults, but this is simply not enough for today’s modern threatscape. Centrify Zero Trust Privilege goes beyond password vaulting to help customers grant least privilege through Zero Trust Privilege, verifying who is requesting access, understanding the context of the request, and assessing the risk of the access environment. This approach minimises the attack surface, improves audit and compliance visibility, and reduces risk, complexity and costs for the modern, hybrid enterprise. “As traditional network perimeters dissolve, organisations must discard the old model of ‘trust but verify’ that relied on well-defined boundaries,” said Steinkopf. “Zero Trust mandates a ‘never trust, always verify, enforce least privilege’ approach to privileged access, from inside or outside the network. This model, which we call Zero Trust Privilege, will be Centrify’s singular focus, leveraging years of innovation and leadership to secure the ‘keys to the kingdom’ for our customers.” Idaptive Next-Gen Access Idaptive delivers Next-Gen Access, protecting organisations from data breaches through a Zero Trust approach Idaptive delivers Next-Gen Access, protecting organisations from data breaches through a Zero Trust approach. Organisations may consider approaching Zero Trust by implementing Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), and User Behaviour Analytics (UBA) from separate vendors, but disparate solutions leave security and performance gaps, and are difficult to integrate and maintain. Idaptive is better equipped to enable a Zero Trust approach to security, with advanced capabilities that intelligently determine the authenticity of a digital user and their device, govern access across an organisation’s resources, and react when risky behaviour is detected. With Idaptive, an organisation’s security posture is not only bolstered, but end user experiences are improved making everyone more productive — all without sacrificing best-of-breed features. “Companies require intelligent access platforms that not only verify users and validate devices, but constantly learn to make smarter, faster decisions about granting user access. Without intelligent access, companies risk poor security postures, data breaches and frustrated customers,” said Kibel. “At Idaptive, we’re building this platform we call “Next-Gen Access,” ushering in a new generation of access technology that not only protects companies, but also leads to improved customer satisfaction. We have built a talented team with proven technology and are looking forward to revealing more on our roadmap, use cases and success stories in the months to come.”