BeyondTrust introduces first commercial least privilege solution for Apple desktops in the enterprise

BeyondTrus has released PowerBroker for Mac to address security and compliance concerns among the increasing share of Apple desktops in the enterprise. PowerBroker for Mac is the first solution made commercially available to establish and enforce least privilege on the OS X platform. With the addition of PowerBroker for Mac, BeyondTrust is the first security solutions provider to offer privileged account management solutions for Unix, Linux, Windows and OS X platforms in the enterprise.

  • 8 years ago Posted in

Apple’s growth in the enterprise is evident in the company’s overall sales. In Apple’s third-quarter earnings report released on July 21, 2015, Mac sales grew 9 percent from a year-ago quarter. The results are notable by taking into account that, according to research firm IDC, the PC market has contracted 12 percent to the same period last year.


"With the role Apple computers play in the enterprise, they have become one of the major targets of attackers,” said Martin Kuppinger, founder and principal analyst, KuppingerCole. “Thus, it is time to apply the same advanced security approaches to the Mac platform as well." As Apple desktops continue to enter the enterprise mainstream, PowerBroker for Mac will address the growing need for privileged account management capabilities on OS X. In late June alone, Apple released patches for several high-profile privilege escalation vulnerabilities, including the ones known as rootpipe, Dark Jedi, Masque, and Rowhammer. At the time, the company fixed nearly 80 security bugs with the release of OS X 10.10.4.


“Since 1985 with least privilege for Unix, BeyondTrust has led the way to ensure privileged rights can be managed for users, critical infrastructure and devices,” said Brad Hibbert, CTO, BeyondTrust. “PowerBroker for Mac continues the company’s tradition of innovation by providing leading privileged account management solutions for the latest technologies. BeyondTrust is now the first and only security solutions provider to offer least privilege solutions across all major enterprise platforms: Unix, Linux, Windows, and OS X.”


BeyondTrust PowerBroker for Mac reduces security risks by allowing standard users on OS X to perform approved administrative tasks without entering additional credentials. This capability empowers Mac users to manage system preferences, run installs/updates and applications without the need for administrator credentials or a second account that has administrative access.


PowerBroker for Mac is the industry’s first and only solution with a graphic interface to properly enable least privilege on OS X Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan. Using the BeyondInsight Risk Management Platform, you can centrally manage least privilege policies for Mac and Windows.


With PowerBroker for Mac, customers can also:
· Match applications to least privilege rules automatically.
· Allow management of installation and ongoing usability of a wide variety of applications.
· Log all privileged events automatically for complete visibility and reporting through web services hosted on the BeyondInsight IT Risk Management platform.
· Centralize policy management for both PowerBroker for Windows and PowerBroker for Mac.


Regulations and the auditors who enforce them require much more than just removing administrator privileges from endpoints. PowerBroker for Mac is fully integrated in the BeyondInsight IT Risk Management Platform, providing a single platform for policy, reporting, analytics and management of least privilege across heterogeneous environments including Unix, Linux, Windows, and OS X. This capability grants visibility into and control over-privileged activity and usage patterns, helping IT and security teams close security gaps and achieve their compliance requirements fast.

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