University of Central Florida Strengthens Privileged Account Security to Protect Student, Donor and Alumni Data

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Thycotic, a provider of smart and effective privileged account management solutions for global organizations, today announced that the University of Central Florida (UCF) has deployed Thycotic Secret Server to securely manage privileged account passwords, restricting access to the sensitive data of its 60,000 students, as well as faculty, alumni and donors.

Founded in 1963 and located in Orlando, Florida, UCF is the second-largest university in the nation. UCF and its 12 colleges have more than 200 degree programs. It also has a hospitality campus, health sciences campus and 10 regional locations. In order to enhance its efforts in complying with federal and state regulations such as HIPAA and FERPA, the university turned to Thycotic to help better secure important account information and restrict access to its privileged accounts.

"Privileged account management is one of our top priorities because of the types of data these accounts can access," explained Matthew Fitzgerald, senior security analyst at UCF. "We knew we needed to invest in an enterprise-class solution that we could quickly deploy in order to protect these sensitive data sets. Thycotic's Secret Server offered many features we were looking for."

Before deploying Secret Server, Fitzgerald said the IT department used an encrypted web page to store privileged account passwords. Today, the university can quickly store privileged account credentials as the IT department scales to support multiple new campuses and infrastructure.

"We have over 1,000 virtual machines, as well as 300+ physical machines all within central IT. With this large infrastructure, we needed to ensure that all accounts used to log into the system are protected," said Chris Vakhordjian, chief information security officer with UCF. "Secret Server is the governance tool we required to make certain that we are following best practices in the proper storage and security of passwords to meet the compliance mandates of the various regulations around student, faculty and donor data."

Hackers and insiders are increasingly exploiting privileged accounts to gain entry to networks. When left unchecked, these unmanaged accounts allow hackers to move laterally through systems with unfettered access to sensitive corporate data and personally identifiable information. Thycotic's Secret Server empowers IT departments to make it harder for hackers or insiders to access privileged accounts by automating the regular changing of default passwords, using unique administrative passwords on each system. Users can also carry out regular, recurrent "housekeeping" of privileged assets and how they are accessed, creating an audit trail to demonstrate regulatory compliance to auditors.

"Colleges and universities face unique challenges when it comes to the information security realm due to the transparent and collaborative nature of most research and education environments," said Jonathan Cogley, founder and CEO of Thycotic. "To avoid becoming the next data breach headline, they must take proactive measures, starting with the university IT organization and branching out to other departments, regarding proper storage, rotation and maintenance of passwords. Enterprise-grade password management solutions are a key ingredient in any university's overall strategy for securing student, parent, faculty and donor data."

America's Partnership University: The University of Central Florida, the nation's second-largest university with more than 60,000 students, has grown in size, quality, diversity and reputation in its first 50 years. Today, the university offers more than 200 degree programs at its main campus in Orlando and more than a dozen other locations. UCF is an economic engine attracting and supporting industries vital to the region's future while providing students with real-world experiences that help them succeed after graduation. For more information, visit http://today.ucf.edu. 

About Thycotic

Thycotic IT security and password management solutions empower companies to remove the complexities associated with proper access control and management of privileged accounts. An Inc. 5000 company, Thycotic is trusted by more than 3,000 customers worldwide – including members of the Fortune 500, enterprises, government agencies, technology firms, universities, non-profits and managed service providers. To learn more, please visit thycotic.com.

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