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Lieberman Software Extends the Power of Microsoft Systems Center Service Manager to Automatically Close Privileged Account Security Holes

Controling access to Privileged Credentials, Ensuring that Only Authorized Staff can Access Sensitive Systems

(22.11.10) - Lieberman Software Corporation, the Pioneers of Privileged Identity ManagementSM, announced deep, out-of-the-box integration between the company’s privileged identity management (PIM) solutions and Microsoft System Center Service Manager (SCSM). This integration is to extend the management workflows of Microsoft SCSM to control and audit privileged accounts, the powerful "keys to the kingdom of IT".

Left unmanaged, privileged accounts provide anonymous, unaudited access to configuration settings and all sensitive data present on every server, workstation, network appliance and business application on the network. The new Lieberman Software integration extends Microsoft SCSM by enabling IT staff to:

·         More quickly resolve IT service issues by getting fast, privileged access to systems and applications through the SCSM interface;

·         Receive privileged access only to the extent needed to resolve each IT service issue, and only if properly authorized through SCSM;

·         View complete, authoritative documentation of each privileged password check out request including each requester and IP address, time stamps, and the reason for each request.

This two-way integration is designed to save IT staff time by more quickly granting access to IT assets whenever service is required, and by eliminating the time-consuming manual tasks of obtaining approvals, documenting each access and reporting the results. Together SCSM and Lieberman Software’s privileged identity management products also provide enhanced oversight to help organizations meet their Service Level Agreement (SLA) and regulatory compliance requirements, continuously auditing IT staff access to privileged accounts and providing authoritative records to prove compliance.

"For our customers, reducing the time it takes to resolve IT service problems is absolutely key," said Paul Ross, Group Product Marketing Manager, Microsoft. "By integrating Lieberman Software’s privileged identity management solutions with Service Manager the resolution of issues related to these critical accounts is accelerated. Delivering this directly within the Service Manager environment also further lowers the cost of IT meeting their compliance requirements."

The Lieberman Software – Microsoft SCSM Integration

Lieberman Software’s Enterprise Random Password Manager (ERPM) and Random Password Manager (RPM) control access to privileged credentials, ensuring that only authorized staff can access sensitive systems, with an approved purpose, for a limited amount of time. Once the password check-out time has been completed, or the administrator checks the password back in, it’s automatically randomized and all dependent services are updated with the new password.

The integrations ensure that only those systems and applications that are relevant to each SCSM incident can be reached through privileged credentials for service and repair, and only by appropriate personnel. All password checkout/check-in transactions become part of the trouble ticket record, are audited and are available for review by IT management and auditors.

ERPM and RPM are the first privileged identity management solutions capable of verifying trouble ticket information so that only those users who provide valid ticket data can access sensitive systems. The Lieberman Software solutions do so by confirming that each open ticket is valid, has been requested by an authorized user, and corresponds to the correct system prior to releasing each password. In doing so ERPM and RPM help organizations comply with regulatory mandates requiring that they resolve open security management events.

"Microsoft SCSM is a visionary product for automating IT service management and is being rapidly adopted in the enterprise as a logical replacement for legacy trouble ticket systems," said Philip Lieberman, president and CEO of Lieberman Software. "We decided to integrate our privileged identity management solutions with SCSM because it represents an important new technology for trouble ticket and configuration control management."

Lieberman Software is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in the ISV category and a Microsoft System Center Alliance Partner. ERPM and RPM are already integrated with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), making comprehensive privileged identity management a simple snap-in for an organization’s existing enterprise management console. (Lieberman: ma)