Centrify Ships DirectControl 4; Further Extends the Power of Microsoft Active Directory to Manage and Secure Heterogeneous Environments


Centrify DirectControl continues to set the standard for cross-platform identity management by adding a unique web management console and support for new platforms, including Citrix XenServer and Security-Enhanced Linux variants

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 6 / / -- Centrify Corporation, a leading provider of Microsoft Active Directory-based auditing, access control and identity management solutions for non-Microsoft platforms, today announced the general availability of Centrify DirectControl 4, which delivers customer- driven features that help organizations secure more of their enterprise using Microsoft Active Directory, better manage cross-platform environments, and strengthen IT security and compliance efforts.

DirectControl 4 extends Centrify's industry-leading support for UNIX, Linux, VMware and Mac OS X by adding over 10 new platform versions-including unique support for the Citrix XenServer product family and Security-Enhanced Linux variants such as SELinux from Red Hat and AppArmor from Novell-to bring the total number of UNIX platforms secured under the Active Directory umbrella by DirectControl to over 110. DirectControl 4 also introduces a unique, web- based management console as a complement to its Windows-based console, and an enhanced command-line interface (CLI) gives administrators even more flexibility to administer accounts and work with UNIX identity data that DirectControl stores inside Active Directory. The new version also offers significant enhancements in its compliance reporting as well as advanced cross-platform Group Policy features that further IT managers' ability to apply security policies across their heterogeneous environment.

"DirectControl has simplified our administration and increased our security by letting us eliminate redundant directories," said Magnus Luebeck, Director of IT Operations at Accarda, a card transaction company near Zurich Switzerland. "The new secure web management console will make it easier to manage the UNIX identities on our systems from any workstation. We expect the new reporting to make it still easier to generate the who-has-access-to-what reports that are important for security and compliance to regulations."

"Standardizing on a single directory for cross-platform administration and authentication is technically sound and can provide real benefits for end- users, such as simplifying the user sign-on experience," said John Enck, research Vice President for Gartner. "It also benefits administrators by reducing the complexity associated with managing multiple identity repositories."

Extending the Reach of Active Directory

Centrify DirectControl effectively turns a non-Microsoft server, workstation or device into an Active Directory client, enabling an organization to secure that system using the same authentication, access control and Group Policy services currently deployed for its Windows systems. Centrify DirectControl supports popular Linux distributions such Red Hat Linux, Novell SUSE Linux, Fedora Core, Ubuntu, Oracle Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Debian Linux, as well as popular UNIX platforms such as Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, HP HP-UX, and Silicon Graphics IRIX, plus VMware ESX Server and Mac OS X.

The latest release of DirectControl has extended the industry's broadest list of supported platforms to additional versions of UNIX and Linux, including:

o Citrix XenServer 4.0.1 Express, Standard and Enterprise editions
o HP-UX 11i v3 (PA-RISC and Itanium, as well as both 32- and 64-bit
support and Trusted Mode)
o Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 (32- and 64-bit support)
o VMware ESX Server 3.0.2
o Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 on Itanium and PowerPC processor

DirectControl now also fully supports Linux distributions running SE Linux, including Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 onward, Fedora 3 onward, CentOS 4 onward, Scientific Linux 4 onward, and Oracle Linux 4 onward. It also supports AppArmor for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 and openSuSE 10.1 onward. Unlike other identity management solutions, DirectControl does not require these Security Enhanced capabilities of the Linux system to be disabled. For a complete list of the over 110+ supported UNIX systems, please visit www.centrify.com/platforms.

DirectControl also enables Kerberos- and Active Directory Federation Services-based authentication to the most popular J2EE and web application servers, including Apache, JBoss, Tomcat, BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere as well as Kerberos-based authentication to databases such as IBM DB2.

DirectControl 4 further extends the reach of Active Directory by offering a new LDAP Proxy that enables LDAP-aware applications to securely communicate with Active Directory. In addition, the DirectControl NIS Server now supports existing NIS clients without any client modification, enabling full replacement of existing NIS servers with a secure, centralized Active Directory-integrated solution.

Improving Cross-Platform Manageability

Centrify has built a rich ecosystem of management tools around DirectControl, including native Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-ins and an Administrator Console for Windows-based IT staff, and command-line interfaces (CLIs) and an industry-leading set of DirectControl-enabled remote access tools, such as OpenSSH, for UNIX administrators. In Version 4, DirectControl adds a web-based Administrator Console and an enhanced set of CLIs designed at the request of UNIX administrators. Additional improvements to Centrify's Windows-based administration tools and new deployment features mean DirectControl delivers the most extensive and easy-to-use array of management tools for both Windows and UNIX IT staff.

Strengthening IT Security and Compliance Efforts

With DirectControl 4, Centrify further enhances the industry's most comprehensive solution for extending Group Policy to non-Windows systems, giving administrators finer-grained control over SSH and Sudo rights, along with enhanced file copy capabilities. When coupled with expanded reporting as part of the new DirectControl Reporting Center, DirectControl 4 provides IT auditors a comprehensive view of the access controls in place and verification that they are working as expected.

"DirectControl 4 is the culmination of listening and working closely with our over 300 customers-including 30% of the Fortune 50-to deliver hundreds of new feature enhancements that add up to the industry's most quick-to-deploy, easy-to-manage solution for extending Active Directory to non-Microsoft platforms," said David McNeely, director of product management, Centrify.

Price and Availability

Centrify DirectControl 4 is available now, and is licensed beginning at $60 per workstation and $350 per server. To receive an evaluation copy of DirectControl 4, email info@centrify.com, call (650) 961-1100 or visit www.centrify.com/eval.

About Centrify

Centrify is the leading provider of auditing, access control and identity management solutions that centrally secure an organization's cross-platform environment using Microsoft Active Directory. More than 300 enterprise customers, including over 30% of the Fortune 50, have selected Centrify for its quick-to-deploy, easy-to-manage Active Directory interoperability solutions for UNIX, Linux, and Mac systems, web applications, databases and storage systems. Centrify DirectControl secures an organization's non- Microsoft platforms using the same authentication, authorization and Group Policy services deployed for its Windows environment. Centrify DirectAudit complements DirectControl by delivering auditing, logging and real-time monitoring of user activity on non-Microsoft systems. Together, they help organizations improve IT efficiency, better comply with regulatory requirements, and move toward a more secure, connected infrastructure for their cross-platform computing environment. For more information about Centrify and its DirectControl and DirectAudit solutions, call +1 650-961-1100 or visit www.centrify.com.

Centrify is a registered trademark, and DirectControl and DirectAudit are trademarks of Centrify Corporation. Other names used in this document are trademarks of their respective companies.

Source: Centrify Corporation

CONTACT: Tom Cromelin of Centrify Corporation, +1-925-997-8459, Tom.Cromelin@centrify.com

Web site: www.centrify.com/

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