Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 14 | Page 63

CASE STUDY the kingdom ’ – and monitors their use to detect suspicious behavior .
Universities are adopting privileged access management to improve cybersecurity because :
• It is a newer , more effective and generally less widely implemented strategy than many previously employed
• It is a key part of the Essential Eight cyber mitigation strategies which prevent the vast majority of cybersecurity incidents
• Universities need to demonstrate progress in adopting the Essential Eight , which privilege management allows them to do relatively easily
• Privilege management solutions like ThycoticCentrify ’ s are more mature , cost-effective , easier to adopt , and less disruptive to staff than many alternative solutions
When Nitin Singh , Director , VU Cyber for Victoria University , first evaluated strategies to improve VU ’ s security posture , he identified governance , management and visibility around privileged user and account management as key challenges . Historically , password and access management for privileged users across VU was manual , inconsistent and lacked oversight and audit controls . Singh also found that use of shared and default credentials across privileged accounts posed a significant risk , making VU an easy target for cyberthreats .
“ We ’ ve overcome these challenges by adopting a practical , rational and risk-based approach ,” said Singh . “ Our mantra of using fit-for-purpose technology solutions led us to Thycotic . We were able to start small , get our IT staff comfortable with the product and are now expanding use of Thycotic across our critical business applications .”

IT HAS BROUGHT IN MUCH NEEDED SIMPLIFICATION

AND CONSISTENCY , ALONG WITH STRENGTHENING

VU ’ S SECURITY POSTURE .

privileged accounts and , over time , restricting access to a minimum .”
Scott Hagenus , Senior Sales Manager for emt Distribution , a company , which manages ThycoticCentrify ’ s distribution channel in Australia and New Zealand , said : “ The Essential Eight and many if not all of the Australian Government Information Security Manual ’ s mitigation strategies are key to higher education institutions ensuring a consistent approach to threat mitigation .
“ ThycoticCentrify meets this challenge head on when it comes to privilege access and activity .”
Channel partner companies play a vital role in strengthening cybersecurity , said Hagenus .
“ The understanding and close connection with the various models our education institutions have – coupled with the incredibly strong backing ThycoticCentrify give their channel – perfectly places our partners to assist higher education get the best privilege access controls in place , that fit their needs ,” he said . p
Thycotic ’ s Secret Server solution has become much more than a privileged credential vault .
“ We are now planning to extend its use for access governance , session recording and integration with our Security Information and Event Management solutions ,” said Singh . “ It has brought in much needed simplification and consistency , along with strengthening VU ’ s security posture .”
“ Many Australian universities are now well down the privilege management path ,” said Andrew McAllister , the Adelaide-based VP for ThycoticCentrify Asia Pacific . “ Most start with the discovery of key accounts and password management – making sure credentials cannot be exposed to attackers . They quickly progress to monitoring suspicious use of
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