Centrify Encryption Service - Detailed Review
Privacy Tools
Centrify Encryption Service - Product Overview
The Product Overview
The product in question is not specifically called the “Centrify Encryption Service,” but rather, Centrify (now known as Delinea) offers a suite of solutions focused on privileged access management (PAM) and identity management.Primary Function
The primary function of Centrify’s solutions is to manage and secure privileged accounts and identities across various environments, including cloud, mobile, and data centers. This involves controlling access to sensitive resources, managing privileges, and ensuring compliance with security standards.Target Audience
The target audience for Centrify’s solutions includes IT organizations, particularly those in large enterprises, government agencies, and any entity that requires stringent security and access control. This includes IT administrators, security teams, and compliance officers who need to manage and secure privileged accounts and access to critical systems and applications.Key Features
Authentication and Identity Management
Centrify provides multi-factor authentication (MFA) and identity bridging capabilities, allowing businesses to integrate with Active Directory and manage local accounts, machine identities, and group policies.Privilege Elevation and Management
The solution enables just-in-time and just-enough privilege access, reducing the risk associated with shared privileged accounts. It also governs access to privileged roles and accounts through approval workflows.Auditing and Monitoring
Centrify offers real-time monitoring and recording of privileged sessions, as well as auditing capabilities to improve accountability and facilitate forensic investigations.Shared Account Password Management
The service includes secure storage and management of shared account passwords, using encryption and optionally integrating with hardware-based key management appliances like SafeNet KeySecure.Compliance and Security
Centrify helps organizations meet security and compliance requirements by providing features such as role-based access control, adaptive MFA, and secure remote access without the need for a VPN.Integration
The solutions integrate with various systems, including HashiCorp Vault, to provide role-based user authentication and access management.Conclusion
Overall, Centrify’s solutions are aimed at enhancing security, simplifying compliance, and improving the overall management of privileged identities within hybrid IT environments. Centrify Encryption Service - User Interface and Experience
User Interface
The user interface of Centrify’s services is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. For instance, the Secret Server, a key component of Centrify’s offerings, streamlines the connection process and secrets management. Users can launch an entire route from a single key, simplifying the process of accessing critical resources through jump boxes without the need to inject unique credentials at every connection point.
Ease of Use
Centrify’s solutions are built to reduce the workload on security administrators. Features like master encryption key rotation and automated AI credential rotation are implemented in a way that is simple to use, even for complex security tasks. This simplification helps in decreasing the steps required to safeguard secrets, making the overall experience more efficient.
User Experience
The user experience is enhanced through several key features:
- Passwordless Authentication: Centrify leverages the FIDO2 Web Authentication API to enable passwordless authentication using biometrics such as fingerprint or facial recognition. This provides a frictionless user experience while enhancing security.
- Centralized Management: The Centrify Privileged Access Service allows administrators to manage passwords, secrets, and encryption keys from a single point. This centralization improves visibility and streamlines ongoing administration.
- Just-in-Time Access: Centrify provides Just-in-Time (JIT) credential access, which ensures that users get the resources they need promptly without compromising security. Automated approvals and comprehensive documentation further support this agile and secure approach.
Overall, Centrify’s user interface is focused on simplicity and efficiency, making it easier for users to manage and secure their credentials and access without unnecessary complications. However, specific details about the user interface in the context of a “Privacy Tools AI-driven product category” are not available, as the provided sources do not explicitly address this category.
Centrify Encryption Service - Key Features and Functionality
The Centrify Privileged Access Service
While not specifically labeled as a ‘Centrify Encryption Service,’ it offers a range of features and functionalities that are crucial for managing and securing privileged access. Here are the key features and how they work:
Password and Secret Management
- Vaulting and Rotation: Centrify allows you to vault passwords, SSH keys, and other secrets, and automatically rotate these credentials on a schedule, based on events, or manually in bulk. This minimizes the risk of compromised passwords and ensures system availability by reconciling out-of-sync passwords.
Access Control and Policies
- Contextual and Risk-Based Policies: The service enables the creation of contextual and risk-based policies for checkouts and privileged sessions, which can invoke Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) as necessary. This ensures that access is granted based on the user’s context and risk profile.
- Role-Based Access Control: Access is governed through role-based permissions, ensuring that users, services, and applications have only the necessary access to privileged accounts.
Secure Remote Access
- Remote Login Without Password Reveal: Users can log in remotely via a built-in Web client or local clients like PuTTY and Microsoft Remote Desktop without disclosing passwords. This enhances security by preventing password exposure.
- VPN-less Privileged Remote Access: The service allows secure remote access to servers, network devices, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) without the need for a VPN.
Discovery and Inventory
- Active Directory and Network Scanning: Centrify can scan Active Directory or network ports to discover and vault local, domain, and service accounts associated with users, services, and applications.
Machine and Service Account Management
- Delegated Machine Credentials: This feature eliminates the need for hundreds or thousands of service accounts by giving machines unique identities and credentials. It brokers temporary access tokens between the Centrify client and target resources, reducing the attack surface.
Security and Compliance
- Encryption: Centrify uses AES 256-bit encryption keys for each tenant to encrypt individual passwords and secrets before storage. For additional security, secrets can be stored in hardware-based key management appliances like SafeNet KeySecure.
- MFA and OAuth2: The service supports MFA at login and on secrets, as well as OAuth2 for granting limited access to resources without exposing credentials.
Automation and Integration
- RESTful APIs, CLIs, and PowerShell: Applications and scripts can programmatically retrieve secrets via RESTful APIs, CLIs, or PowerShell cmdlets, which helps in automating credential management and reducing overhead.
- Integrations: Centrify offers hundreds of integrations, templates, and additional capabilities available in the Delinea Marketplace, enhancing its versatility and compatibility with various systems.
Auditing and Reporting
- Auditing & Reports: The service provides comprehensive auditing and reporting features, including session recording and storage, session monitoring, and custom reports. This helps in maintaining compliance and ensuring system security.
While the provided resources do not specifically mention AI integration in the Centrify Privileged Access Service, the features outlined above highlight a comprehensive approach to privileged access management that enhances security, compliance, and operational efficiency.
Centrify Encryption Service - Performance and Accuracy
Encryption Standards and Security
The Centrify Server Suite, which includes encryption services, has been enhanced to support strong encryption standards. For instance, the 2017 version of the Centrify Server Suite introduced support for Smart Cards using AES-256 encryption, which is a highly secure encryption algorithm. This indicates that the encryption service adheres to high security standards, ensuring data is protected with strong cryptographic methods.
Kerberos and Authentication
The service also includes upgrades to Kerberos libraries, such as the implementation of Flexible Authentication Secure Tunneling (FAST), also known as Kerberos armoring. This secures pre-authentication traffic and protects Key Distribution Centers (KDCs) from error spoofing, enhancing the overall security and accuracy of authentication processes.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
The Centrify Identity Service, which is part of the broader Centrify suite, ensures that MFA negotiations occur over SSL, requiring either an Enterprise CA, Public CA, or IWA root certificate trust. This adds an additional layer of security and accuracy to the authentication process.
Performance and Updates
The 2017 release of the Centrify Server Suite also improved the packaging of open-source components like OpenLDAP, cURL, and OpenSSL. These components can now be updated independently, allowing for faster responses to security vulnerabilities and improving overall system performance.
Limitations and Areas for Improvement
While the provided sources do not detail specific performance metrics or benchmarks for the Centrify Encryption Service, there are some general areas to consider:
- Compatibility and Integration: Ensuring that the encryption service is compatible with various systems and can integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure is crucial. For example, introducing newer domain controllers or changing the domain functional level can have side effects that need careful planning.
- User and Administrative Experience: The ease of use and administrative overhead can impact performance. For instance, the need to manage and update various components independently, while beneficial for security, may require additional administrative effort.
AI-Driven Enhancements
Although the Centrify Encryption Service itself is not explicitly described as AI-driven, Delinea’s broader identity security platform does incorporate AI capabilities for advanced session recording, auditing, and risk scoring. These AI features help in identifying and mitigating security threats more accurately and efficiently, which can indirectly benefit the overall security posture of the encryption service.
In summary, the Centrify Encryption Service, as part of the Centrify Server Suite, is built on strong security standards, supports advanced encryption algorithms, and benefits from regular updates and security enhancements. However, specific performance metrics and detailed AI-driven capabilities within the encryption service itself are not provided in the available sources.
Centrify Encryption Service - Pricing and Plans
Pricing Structure
The pricing for Centrify’s services, now part of Delinea, is not explicitly detailed in the sources provided, but here are some insights into what is available:Centrify Privileged Access Service (PAS)
- Free Tier: Centrify offers a free tier known as the “Free Tier Vault,” which is aimed at small businesses. This tier allows for the management of up to 50 registered systems and their associated service accounts. It includes features such as secure storage and management of secrets (e.g., IP addresses, API keys, SSH credentials), multi-factor authentication (MFA) for emergency access, and secure remote access to resources without a VPN.
- For detailed pricing on the paid tiers, including enterprise-level plans, you would need to request a quote directly from Delinea. The paid plans typically include more extensive features such as advanced privileged access management, service account management, endpoint management, and DevOps integration. These plans are competitively priced and designed for ease of deployment to make users self-sufficient quickly.
- The source providing a price list does not specifically categorize the prices under a “Privacy Tools AI-driven product category” but lists various components and services. For example, prices are given for auditing and monitoring services, admin user licenses, and different support and maintenance plans. However, these do not directly map to a simple tiered pricing structure for the Privileged Access Service.
- Encryption and Security: Centrify uses government-grade encryption, such as AES 256-bit encryption keys, to secure individual passwords and secrets before storage. Some organizations can also use SafeNet KeySecure™ appliances for hardware-based secrets storage.
- Access Management: Features include secure storage and management of passwords, MFA, secure remote access, and granular control over privileged access.
Paid Tiers
Specific Pricing
Features
Centrify Encryption Service - Integration and Compatibility
Integration with Other Tools
Identity and Access Management
The Centrify Encryption Service is tightly integrated with Delinea’s broader identity and access management solutions. For instance, it works seamlessly with the Delinea Platform, which centralizes control over privileged access, shared credentials, and identities across various infrastructures, including data, applications, cloud, and traditional systems.
Secret Server
The service integrates with Secret Server Cloud, allowing for unified administration and management of roles, permissions, and secrets. This integration ensures that all secrets, data, and permissions remain intact and accessible, with no disruption to service or workflows.
Compatibility Across Different Platforms and Devices
Operating Systems
The Centrify Encryption Service supports a wide range of operating systems, including Windows, Linux distributions (such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu), Unix systems (like Oracle Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX), and others. For example, it is compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0-5.11, 6.0-6.10, 7.0-7.7, and 8.0, as well as Oracle Solaris 10 and 11 on both SPARC and x86_64 architectures.
Hardware Platforms
The service can run on various hardware platforms, including Intel Core i7, Intel Xeon, IBM PowerPC Power7 Processor, and more. It has been tested on multi-chip standalone platforms such as Apple MacBook Pro, SuperMicro Intel Xeon E5520, HP Proliant Intel Xeon X5650, and IBM PowerPC Power7 Processor.
Cloud Environments
The Delinea Platform, which includes the Centrify Encryption Service, supports cloud-native architecture, making it compatible with hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures. This ensures that the service can be seamlessly adopted and managed across different cloud environments.
Additional Considerations
API and Interfaces
The Centrify Cryptographic Module, part of the encryption service, provides FIPS validated cryptographic functions through a C-language Application Programming Interface (API). This allows calling applications to utilize the module’s services efficiently.
Algorithm Support
The module supports a range of FIPS-approved algorithms, including AES, CCM, GCM, RSA, DSA, and ECDSA, ensuring compliance with security standards.
In summary, the Centrify Encryption Service is highly compatible with a broad spectrum of operating systems, hardware platforms, and cloud environments, and it integrates well with other identity and access management tools within the Delinea platform.
Centrify Encryption Service - Customer Support and Resources
For Customers Using the Centrify Encryption Service
Now part of Delinea, several support options and additional resources are available to ensure effective deployment and management.
Customer Support
- Centrify offers premium technical support, which includes 24x7x365 coverage for priority issues. This support is crucial for ensuring that any critical issues are addressed promptly, with a response time of 2 hours.
- The support team consists of experienced IT professionals who are exclusively focused on Centrify products, providing knowledgeable and timely assistance.
- Premium Support includes accelerated service levels and additional named contacts, enhancing the support experience.
Additional Resources
- Documentation and Guides: Centrify provides comprehensive documentation and guides to help customers deploy and manage their solutions efficiently. These resources include detailed instructions on setting up and using the Centrify Privileged Access Service.
- Centralized Management: The Centrify Privileged Access Service allows for centralized management of passwords, secrets, and credentials. This includes secure storage in a highly secure vault using government-grade encryption, such as AES 256-bit encryption keys.
- Training and Best Practices: While the specific AI-driven product category may not have unique training resources listed, the general support and documentation provided by Centrify include best practices for secure credential management, which can be applied to various use cases, including AI services.
Security and Compliance
- Centrify’s solutions are compliant with stringent security standards, such as FIPS 140-2, ensuring that the cryptographic module used meets high security requirements.
- The service also offers features like automated credential rotation, secure checkout of account passwords, and granular remote access control, all of which contribute to a secure and compliant environment.
Contacting Support
If you are looking for specific resources or support related to the AI-driven product category, it is recommended to contact Centrify’s support team directly, as the provided sources do not detail AI-specific support options explicitly. However, the general support structure and resources available should provide a solid foundation for managing and securing your environment effectively.
Centrify Encryption Service - Pros and Cons
Pros of Centrify Identity and Privileged Access Services
Comprehensive Identity Management
Centrify offers a unified identity management solution that covers end users and privileged users across cloud, mobile, and data center environments. This includes single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and enterprise mobility management, which enhance user productivity and security.
Cost Efficiency
Implementing Centrify can significantly reduce the total cost of identity management and compliance. Users have reported savings by decommissioning multiple on-prem MDM solutions and other identity management systems, and by including MDM licenses within user licenses.
Enhanced Security
Centrify provides strong security features such as privileged identity management, shared account password management, and multi-factor authentication for servers. This helps protect against cyberattacks by securing internal and external users as well as privileged accounts.
Streamlined Administration
The service streamlines ongoing administration by centrally managing passwords, secrets, and encryption keys. It also supports hardware-based secrets storage using SafeNet KeySecure key management appliances, which improves security and visibility.
Federated Privileged Access
Centrify is the first vendor to support federated privileged access across an organization’s entire security ecosystem, including secure outsourcing of IT and application development. This reduces the risk associated with traditional privileged identity management solutions.
Excellent Customer Support
Users have consistently praised Centrify’s proactive and responsive support team, which quickly resolves issues and often implements requested features.
Cons of Centrify Identity and Privileged Access Services
Mobile Device Issues
There have been some issues with mobile devices not updating their settings quickly, which can cause minor delays in configuration and management.
Android for Work Setup
The setup for Centrify MDM with Android for Work is not as streamlined as other features, such as Office 365 federation, which may be due to limitations imposed by Google.
Remote Access Experience
Some users have suggested improvements to the remote access experience, including the ability to easily adjust screen resolution and copy/paste functions.
Client-Side Application for FIDO Devices
There is a desire for a client-side application to support FIDO devices like YubiKey, which is currently not available.
Hosted SSLVPN Solution
Users have expressed a need for a hosted SSLVPN solution to replace dedicated on-prem SSLVPN appliances.
Overall, Centrify’s services are highly regarded for their comprehensive security features, cost efficiency, and excellent customer support, although there are some minor areas where improvements could be made.
Centrify Encryption Service - Comparison with Competitors
Centrify Privileged Access Service
- Key Features:
- Discovers and vaults privileged accounts, including local, domain, and service accounts across Windows, Linux, and UNIX servers, and network devices.
- Provides secure remote access without a VPN, using a built-in Web client or local clients like PuTTY and Microsoft Remote Desktop.
- Implements contextual and risk-based policies, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) for checkouts and privileged sessions.
- Automatically rotates passwords based on schedules, events, or manual bulk actions, and reconciles out-of-sync passwords.
- Manages application secrets, including IP addresses, SSH keys, and configuration settings, with options for federation technologies like OAuth2 and SAML tokens.
Alternatives and Comparisons
CyberArk
- Comparison:
- CyberArk is another prominent PAM solution that offers comprehensive privileged access management, but it may have a steeper learning curve and higher costs compared to Centrify.
- CyberArk is known for its strong focus on security and compliance, but it might not offer the same level of flexibility and ease of use as Centrify.
Delinea (Thycotic)
- Comparison:
- Delinea, which includes Thycotic and Centrify, offers a robust PAM solution with straightforward secrets management and effective session management features. However, it has limitations such as poor support for modern databases and limited third-party integrations.
Securiti AI
- Comparison in Data Privacy:
- While Securiti AI is primarily a data privacy and security platform, it does offer some overlapping features with PAM solutions. It provides automated sensitive data discovery, AI-powered risk assessments, and consent management. However, it is more focused on data governance and protection rather than privileged access management.
- Securiti AI is ideal for organizations needing a unified solution for data privacy, security, and compliance, but it may not replace the specific PAM functionalities offered by Centrify.
TrustArc
- Comparison in Data Privacy:
- TrustArc is another data privacy management platform that focuses on compliance and privacy tasks. It has an identity-centric approach and is good for managing data rights requests and privacy concerns. However, it does not offer the same level of privileged access management as Centrify.
Unique Features of Centrify
- Break-Glass Access: Allows emergency access to passwords, SSH keys, and secrets from a regular browser or a mobile app, which is a unique feature for urgent situations.
- Granular Remote Access: Provides secure, granular access to critical infrastructure resources without the need for a VPN, making it highly convenient for IT administration teams and third-party vendors.
- Centralized Secrets Management: Centrally manages secrets, including IP addresses, SSH keys, and configuration settings, which helps in reducing secrets sprawl and increasing security.
In summary, while Centrify Privileged Access Service stands out with its comprehensive PAM features, automated password rotation, and granular remote access, alternatives like CyberArk and Delinea offer different strengths and weaknesses. For data privacy-focused solutions, Securiti AI and TrustArc provide strong capabilities but are more aligned with data governance and compliance rather than privileged access management.
Centrify Encryption Service - Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions about the Centrify Privileged Access Service
Q: How does Centrify store and manage privileged account passwords and secrets?
Centrify stores and manages all user, resource, account, password, and secrets information in a highly secure vault that leverages government-grade AES 256-bit encryption. For organizations requiring hardware-based secrets storage, Centrify can also store these secrets in SafeNet KeySecure key management appliances.
Q: What are the key capabilities of the Centrify Privileged Access Service?
Key capabilities include scanning Active Directory or network ports to discover and vault accounts, enabling secure remote access to servers and network devices without a VPN, and providing contextual and risk-based policies for checkouts and privileged sessions. The service also supports multi-factor authentication (MFA), automatic password rotation, and reconciliation of out-of-sync passwords.
Q: How does Centrify handle emergency access to privileged accounts?
Centrify allows for emergency “break-glass” checkout of account passwords, SSH keys, and secrets from a regular browser or a Centrify mobile app. This feature ensures that critical access can be granted quickly and securely in emergency situations.
Q: Can Centrify manage application-to-application passwords and other automation secrets?
Yes, Centrify can vault additional secrets such as IP addresses, SSH keys, and configuration settings used in DevOps, application-to-application passwords, and other automation scenarios. Applications and scripts can retrieve these secrets programmatically via RESTful APIs, CLIs, or PowerShell cmdlets.
Q: How does Centrify ensure compliance and security for privileged access?
Centrify provides features to eliminate hard-coded passwords from scripts and applications, secure application access to privileged account credentials, and centrally manage secrets to reduce overhead and sprawl. The service also supports automatic password rotation and reconciliation of out-of-sync passwords to ensure system availability and compliance.
Q: Does Centrify support multi-factor authentication (MFA) for privileged access?
Yes, Centrify supports MFA for IT administrators accessing Linux systems and other resources. This includes a wide array of MFA choices to ensure compliance and protect against hackers using stolen passwords and credentials.
Q: How does Centrify facilitate secure remote access to infrastructure resources?
Centrify enables secure remote access to data center and cloud-based infrastructures without the need for a VPN. IT administration teams, outsourced IT, and third-party vendors can access critical infrastructure resources from any location, with granular access controls to specific resources.
Q: Can Centrify integrate with various directories and authentication protocols?
Yes, Centrify integrates with Active Directory, LDAP, and the Centrify Directory. It also supports OAuth 2 for confidential client authentication, SAML tokens for Web access, and OpenID Connect for client authentication.
Q: How does Centrify protect against workstation-related infections and malware?
Centrify provides secure, distributed jump box or bastion host capabilities to support privileged admin console activity across various private networks from a protected environment. This helps eliminate the potential for workstation-based infections or malware from accessing sensitive systems.
Q: Does Centrify offer a self-service privileged access request and approval workflow system?
Yes, Centrify includes a self-service privileged access request and approval workflow system. This allows users to request access to privileged accounts and resources, which can then be approved or denied based on predefined policies.