Privileged accounts 'can be big threat' in wrong hands

2009-07-08

Privileged accounts can represent the biggest threat to a company for numerous reasons, it has been claimed.

In the wrong hands, such accounts can be used for a personal data breach, carry out unauthorised transactions and hide activity by deleting audit data, according to Mark Diodati, writing for SearchSecurity.com.

While privileged accounts are important, they are particularly tricky to secure as they do not belong to real users and are normally shared by numerous administrators, Mr Diodati said.

It is now more important than ever to have a system to control privileged access, he commented.

Mr Diodati explained that this is because a weak economy means that there is a greater risk of unsettled employees, who could carry out an IT intrusion.

He also noted that privileged accounts are needed for certain platforms to operate.

In other account-based news, vice-president of innovation and technology at Verizon Business Peter Tippett told Carolyn Duffy Marsan of Network World that every day he sees companies that have not changed their default passwords.

Read more security news.