Account Lockout Troubleshooting and Two New Password Management Solutions from NetWrix Corporation
Written by oneself on 6:45 AM*** Account Lockout Examiner - New Release and New Licensing Terms
Last week we published a new release of NetWrix Account Lockout Examiner, which is basically reduced version of the product (without web interface) intended for customers who don't need ongoing usage of the product by helpdesk staff in order to do proactive resolution of account lockouts. If you want to quickly resolve some annoying account lockout incidents from time to time, then this is probably the best product to choose for account lockout troubleshooting. As soon as some critical service account gets locked out, administrator launches the product, performs quick examination, fixes the reason and closes it until next issue arises. New version also includes improved account lockout troubleshooting engine covering 90% of possible reasons for account lockouts.
New pricing terms look really attractive - it's only $299 per installation of the product (not per user account as it used to be), so each administrator can manage virtually unlimited number of user accounts and organizations don't have to pay for every managed user. Access to product administrative console is limited - only local connections are supported, but in most cases it works fine as soon as infrequent examination of critical account lockouts is considered. It is recommended to deploy single instance of Account Lockout Examiner into every AD site (usually a branch office) to minimize network traffic and provide quick access to system administrators working in remote locations.
Order the product online: http://www.netwrix.com/alockout_order.html
Obtain free of charge evaluation: http://www.netwrix.com/requeste.html?product=ale
*** Dealing with Password Management Issues - Self-service Password Reset
Password management is the most common IT support issue bringing most helpdesk workload in many organizations. Password complexity and expiration policy requirements lead to frequently forgotten passwords and account lockouts, increasing overall administrative burden.
Two weeks ago we released new product - NetWrix Password Manager - which gives end users ability to securely manage their passwords and resolve account lockout incidents in a self-service fashion without involvement of helpdesk personnel. Password Manager is a simple and cost effective solution that allows users to reset forgotten passwords, troubleshoot account lockouts and unlock their locked accounts manually, through convenient web-based self-service portal and integration with standard Windows logon procedure.
The product uses the question and answer security system for user authentication. First, users enroll by creating their profile. Once the profile is established, the user can manage their password and account manually by simply supplying the answers from profile. The product supports Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains and all Windows client operating systems. All account operations are logged for regulatory compliance and easy access by IT personnel interested in monitoring of password management activity.
Request a quote for your organization: http://www.netwrix.com/requestq.html?product=prm
Free of charge evaluation: http://www.netwrix.com/requeste.html?product=prm
*** Addressing Password Management Challenges in Loosely Connected and non-Domain Environments
Loosely connected environment is a one which has computers not permanently wired to corporate network, for example laptops used during business trips and remote employees' computers connected over VPNs. Password management is such environments introduces many challenges and can compromise enterprise security if managed in a wrong way. Imagine the situation when users forget passwords or get their accounts locked out while being out of office for business trip, e.g. on-site customer visit. Well, user can call helpdesk and ask for password reset, or use automated self-service password reset solution, like mentioned above, but to log on locally after password reset the computer must be connected to network, otherwise only cached logon information can be used and this obviously will not work. If he or she can't connect to organization's domain (quite usual situation on customer site, for example), but need to use laptop immediately, to conduct presentation to important customer?
Probably not the best but simplest way to get around situations like described above is to use local, non-domain accounts. As soon as local account becomes locked out or password needs to be reset, laptop user can call helpdesk, ask for local Administrator password, log on and fix local account themselves (unlock or reset), bingo! But most organizations restrict privileged access to their computers and users don't know local Administrator password for security reasons and this is actually a very good practice. The drawback here is that whenever local account becomes locked, only authorized computer administrator can login and resolve the issue. But when users are out of office, nobody can help them except for giving privileged access to system (like saying local admin password by phone), thus violating security and compromising company's business assets.
Newly released Desktop Password Reset product is the answer to this problem. Now users can securely resolve password issues and account lockouts on their computers without gaining privileged access to the system and it will not require any assistance from administrators and IT helpdesk. The product uses the question and answer security system for local user authentication: users register their secret answers at first successful logon and then can manage their passwords and unlock accounts without any network access using extended Windows logon prompt by supplying previously entered answers.
Request a quote for your organization: http://www.netwrix.com/requestq.html?product=dpr
Free of charge evaluation: http://www.netwrix.com/requeste.html?product=dpr
Established in 2006, NetWrix Corporation is a leader in providing cost-effective products that simplify the management of Windows networks. With in-depth knowledge and experience managing Windows environments ranging from 50 to 100,000 computers, NetWrix Corporation develops products that are designed with IT administrators in mind. The Company's solutions take the cost and complexity out of infrastructure maintenance for growing business demands
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