Organizations often fall into the trap of assuming that if security systems and processes are in place, those systems and their sensitive data are safe. Unfortunately, that’s a dangerous assumption, and one that’s far from accurate.

Persons with administrative access capabilities can do many things. Often referred to as the “keys to the kingdom”, administrators can, for example, grant themselves or another user permission to read email or access file folders, review sensitive content, then remove the unauthorized permissions. Without something creating an audit trail, actions of this sort can be undertaken quickly and quietly leaving little or no trace.

When multiple administrators possess credentials, establishing accountability can be difficult, if not impossible when a breach of security event is discovered.

Security audit utilities give organizations visibility into their networks, systems, and data, providing:

• • A deep understanding of where data is stored – on premise or in the cloud – who has access to that data, who is making changes and when, and whether those changes are authorized
  • Details to help establish accountability for privileged users, and identify actions that violate security policies
  • Reports to help streamline compliance audit preparation
  • Alerts and dashboards to reveal critical changes to data, and help identify unusual spokes in user activity