Centrify Is the First to Integrate More Than 100 Versions of Unix, Linux and Mac With Microsoft Active Directory

San Francisco, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/07/2007 -- LinuxWorld 2007 - August 6, 2007 - Centrify Corporation, a leading provider of Microsoft Active Directory-based auditing, access control and identity management solutions for non-Microsoft platforms, today announced that it is delivering the first solution to offer Microsoft Active Directory-based authentication and access control to over 100 versions of UNIX, Linux and Mac platforms. The latest release of Centrify DirectControl adds over 25 new supported versions of UNIX and Linux, includes enhanced Group Policy-based Apple Mac OS X desktop lockdown capabilities, and delivers the industry's first solution to leverage Group Policy to enable bulk configuration of distributed OpenSSH deployments. These new capabilities further enhance Centrify customers' ability to secure and streamline their heterogeneous environments by centralizing identity and policy management within their existing Microsoft Active Directory infrastructure.

"By extending its authentication and access control to the widest range of non-Microsoft operating systems, Centrify has made Microsoft Active Directory an appealing directory in which to centralize identity management in a multi-platform environment," said Jon Oltsik, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group.

Centrify DirectControl effectively turns a non-Microsoft server, workstation or device into an Active Directory client, enabling an organization to secure that system using the same authentication, access control and Group Policy services currently deployed for its Windows systems. Centrify DirectControl supports popular Linux distributions such Red Hat Linux, Novell SUSE Linux, Fedora Core and Debian Linux, as well as popular UNIX platforms such as Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, HP HP-UX, and Silicon Graphics IRIX, plus VMware ESX and Mac OS X. The latest release of DirectControl has extended the industry's broadest list to additional flavors and versions of UNIX and Linux, including:

-- Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server 6.06 and 7.04
-- CentOS 2.1, 3.8 and 4.4
-- Oracle Enterprise Linux 4
-- Debian 4
-- Scientific Linux 3.0.8 and 4.4
-- Fedora Core 5, 6 and 7
-- OpenSUSE 10.1 and 10.2

With this release, Centrify also further extends DirectControl's industry-leading support for Active Directory Group Policy, with well over 200 out-of-the-box policies that enable organizations to globally apply consistent security and configuration settings for UNIX, Linux and Mac computers and users. DirectControl is the first and only solution generally available on the market today to offer Group Policy support for Mac OS X systems as well as UNIX and Linux systems. This release now also makes Centrify DirectControl the first solution that lets security personnel leverage Group Policy to centrally configure the security settings of the popular OpenSSH open source network connectivity tool running on UNIX and Linux systems. Examples of new OpenSSH Group Policies include: controlling who is allowed to SSH to a set of computers; controlling the time allowed for a successful login; displaying a security notice at login; and preventing root user login via SSH. DirectControl also adds Group Policies for the PuTTY open source SSH ("Secure Shell") client for Microsoft Windows. New policies have also been added for the Mac OS platform, including the ability to control login and logout scripts with Group Policy as well as improved mobile user configuration management capabilities.

This new release of DirectControl also offers enhanced integration with Apple Remote Desktop Administrator as well as Workgroup Manager.

"We are pleased to support all these new Linux distributions that our customers have been asking us to include," said David McNeely, director of product management at Centrify. "Not only does Centrify lead in the number of platforms we extend Active Directory to, but we also offer the broadest and deepest set of Group Policies for non-Microsoft platforms and applications in the market today."

Centrify Speakers at LinuxWorld

Centrify CEO Paul Moore is a featured speaker at this year's LinuxWorld conference. In his Wednesday, August 9, presentation, "Authentication in an Heterogeneous Environment," Moore will examine the technical challenges as well as the compliance and efficiency benefits of centralizing UNIX/Linux identity management within Microsoft Active Directory. CEO Tom Kemp will also participate in the panel discussion "Real-World Interoperability in Heterogeneous Environments" on Tuesday, August 7.

Availability

DirectControl's new platform and Group Policy support is being released on August 15, 2007. See www.centrify.com/platforms for a complete list of platforms supported by DirectControl (www.centrify.com/directcontrol).

About Centrify

Centrify is a leading provider of auditing, access control and identity management solutions that centrally secure an organization's heterogeneous systems, web applications, databases and storage systems using Microsoft Active Directory. Centrify DirectControl (www.centrify.com/directcontrol) secures an organization's non-Microsoft platforms using the same authentication, authorization and Group Policy services deployed for its Windows environment. Centrify DirectAudit (www.centrify.com/directaudit) complements DirectControl by delivering auditing, logging and real-time monitoring of user activity on non-Microsoft systems. Together, they help organizations improve IT efficiency, better comply with regulatory requirements, and move toward a more secure, connected infrastructure for their heterogeneous computing environment. For more information about Centrify and its DirectControl and DirectAudit solutions, call +1 650-961-1100 or visit www.centrify.com

Centrify is a registered trademark, and DirectControl and DirectAudit are trademarks of Centrify Corporation.
Other names used in this document are trademarks of their respective companies.