In at the moment’s hybrid IT environments, it is extra necessary than ever to have a unified safety technique. With customers and functions unfold throughout on-premises and cloud environments, it may be tough to maintain observe of who has entry to what and preserve all techniques correctly configured.
That is the place Lively Listing (AD) bridging is available in. AD bridging is a expertise that lets you prolong the attain of your AD area to non-Home windows techniques, akin to Linux and Unix servers. This offers you a single level of management for person authentication, authorization, and coverage enforcement throughout your total IT setting.
For instance, say you could have an organization with 100 Linux servers on-premises and also you’re planning to maneuver 50 of these servers to the cloud. You may manually configure the safety settings on every server, however that might be a time-consuming and error-prone course of. With AD bridging, you’ll be able to automate the configuration of safety settings throughout all your servers, each on-premises and within the cloud. This may prevent money and time, and it’ll enable you to preserve your safety settings constant throughout your total IT setting.
Advantages of AD Bridging
There are lots of advantages to utilizing AD bridging, together with:
- Centralized safety: With AD bridging, you’ll be able to centralize person authentication, authorization, and coverage enforcement throughout your total IT setting. This makes it simpler to handle safety and preserve compliance with laws.
- Single sign-on: AD bridging permits customers to sign up to all of their gadgets and functions with a single set of credentials. This makes it simpler for customers to get to work and reduces the chance of password fatigue.
- Lowered prices: AD bridging may help you cut back prices by eliminating the necessity to handle a number of safety instruments and options.
- Elevated safety: AD bridging may help you enhance your safety posture by implementing constant safety insurance policies throughout your total IT setting.
- Improved person expertise: AD bridging could make it simpler for customers to entry assets by permitting them to sign up to all of their gadgets and functions with a single set of credentials.
- Lowered complexity: AD bridging may help cut back the complexity of your IT setting by offering a single level of management for person authentication, authorization, and coverage enforcement.
- Improved visibility: AD bridging may help enhance your visibility into your IT setting by offering a central view of person exercise and entry permissions.
- Enhanced compliance: AD bridging may help you meet regulatory compliance necessities by offering a centralized technique to handle safety settings and implement entry management insurance policies.
AD Bridging and Regulatory Compliance
In at the moment’s world, organizations are topic to a variety of regulatory compliance necessities. These necessities can differ relying on the trade and the dimensions and site of the group.
One of the vital frequent regulatory compliance necessities is the necessity to implement sturdy safety controls. That is very true for organizations that deal with delicate information, akin to monetary or buyer information.
Listed here are some examples of how AD bridging may help organizations meet regulatory compliance necessities:
- To assist meet NIST SP 800-53 necessities, AD bridging supplies a centralized technique to management entry to techniques and information.
- For HIPAA, AD bridging supplies a centralized technique to handle safety settings on techniques which have well being info.
- For PCI, AD bridging may help organizations by offering a centralized technique to management entry to techniques with bank card information.
AD Bridging and Scripting
AD bridging will also be a precious device for organizations that use scripting to handle their Linux and Unix servers. By integrating with scripting instruments, AD bridging may help automate configuration of safety settings and cut back the chance of human error.
For instance, say you could have a script to configure the safety settings in your Linux servers. With AD bridging, you’ll be able to combine this script with AD in order that the safety settings are robotically utilized at any time when a brand new person is created or a person’s password is modified. This may enable you to preserve your safety settings frequently updated and utilized persistently throughout all of your servers.
AD Bridging: A Worthwhile Software for Hybrid IT Environments
AD bridging is a precious device for securing your hybrid IT setting. By extending the attain of your AD area to non-Home windows techniques, you’ll be able to centralize safety, enhance compliance, and cut back prices. In case you’re not already utilizing AD bridging, I encourage you to contemplate it to enhance the safety of your IT setting.
Concerning the Writer
Wealthy Farrell is the CEO and a founding member of Full Armor Corp. Wealthy is accountable for driving the corporate’s path and enterprise technique. With a background that features taking varied software program merchandise from idea to distribution by way of direct and asset gross sales to massive, public firms together with Microsoft, Citrix, Dell (Quest), NetIQ, and others. Wealthy units the corporate’s objectives and empowers the Full Armor staff to realize them. He began the corporate as a scholar at Cornell College, the place he earned his B.S. in advertising.
