Lieberman Software Randomizes Remote Access Account Passwords on Cisco Routers and Firewalls

Telepresence and Holography / Holograms - November 2008

Editor’s viewpoint on their differences, likenesses and future...

We all just recently viewed an historic CNN holographic interview on an historic Election Night. CNN stated this type of imaging has never been done before on National TV and I believe that. I haven’t seen anything like it. The live interview caught me by surprise and sure had the “wow” factor attached to it didn’t it? Here’s a link to the actual interview.

CNN Hologram Video

The question now has to be asked. Is it Telepresence?

I’m no expert on the subject but I’m going to throw my hat into the ring, go out on a limb and say yes, I believe it is. Although I know many video conferencing purists are rolling their eyes and grabbing their guns right about now with my statement.

While I do know that Telepresence still hasn’t been universally defined (Houston, we have a problem), here’s how I see it…. Broken down to its simplest form - “tele” (through electronic means) and “presence” (present). This is how I’m justifying my opinion by lumping holography and Telepresence together. Just as Telepresence is surely an offshoot of video conferencing, holographic imaging (like we viewed on CNN) surely has to be considered an offshoot of Telepresence. The interviewer was “telepresent” from Chicago and beamed into the CNN Election Headquarters. She was most assuredly - “telepresent”. There was negligible latency, the imaging was fantastic and both interviewers were rehearsed on what they would say. I’ve just recently read that CNN actually “downgraded” the experience to make it “movie” quality and not as good as it could have been. Maybe they thought us mere mortals would be shocked if they showed their complete hand. I have a feeling it was so big to them, they didn’t want it to get upstaged by the historic election. I’m willing to bet we’ll see the “true” power of this technology in the upcoming weeks and months when they can put the pedal to the medal and show it off without having it sidetracked.

What an amazing time for this technology (all differences and opinions aside). Telepresence Doctors, nurses, teachers, schools and healthcare (healthpresence) will benefit from the recent gains in this state-of-the-art industry whether holograms, Telepresence or holography. Airlines also have to see the threat to a portion of their business travel. Hell, who wants go through security and fly to Miami for a two-hour conference when you can look them in the eye via Telepresence?

Beam me up Scotty! Simply amazing…!

Visit the free Telepresence Forum for more information and discussion

Your Editor and Administrator - L II
"Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" TM

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) November 14, 2007 -- Lieberman Software's Random Password Manager (http://www.liebsoft.com/index.cfm/products?id=270) can now secure Cisco IOS network devices by randomizing the passwords of their remote access accounts. The company made the announcement at the Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit where Lieberman Software is a Silver Sponsor and an exhibitor at booth II.

"Most organizations that have a distributed architecture of Cisco routers and firewalls set all of the remote access accounts to the same username and password," said Chris Stoneff, product manager at Lieberman Software. "By not maintaining frequently updated, unique credentials these organizations are at risk from disgruntled current or former IT employees, as well as anyone with physical access to a Cisco device who can extract the common password using tools that are readily available on the Internet. Security best practices dictate that each Cisco device should be set to a unique set of credentials, and that these credentials should be changed immediately after the current set has been disclosed."

Random Password Manager is a standalone application that periodically verifies the current built-in password on servers, workstations, databases, and network devices, and changes it to a new, cryptographically complex, and unique value. By randomizing account passwords on Cisco routers and firewalls, the product prevents an unauthorized user from compromising one password and gaining full access to every network device.

According to Gartner, "Shared accounts with superuser privileges, or other high-level access pose a significant risk in all organizations? High risk stem from passwords becoming known to others, as well as the lack of individual accountability."1

Random Password Manager can remotely set every Cisco IOS device to different password, and can recover the current password for each device using a secure web interface. After a temporary period of time the recovered password is automatically checked back in and re-randomized. This is accomplished without requiring the time-consuming creation of complex scripts, which are limited by a lack of support, documentation, troubleshooting, and reporting capabilities.

About Random Password Manager (http://www.liebsoft.com/index.cfm/products?id=272) Random Password Manager automatically randomizes local administrator and root account passwords on systems throughout the enterprise, and enables temporary recovery of current passwords via a secure and audited web interface. Randomization can be conducted from a single console for all managed systems according to schedules established by the administrator. This multi-threaded solution enables delegated control over which local administrator accounts a user can access and for what time period. It does not require agents to be installed on client systems and does not require the purchase of additional hardware, such as network appliances.

Random Password Manager is certified for Microsoft Windows Vista, and also supports Windows NT/2000/XP/Server 2003, Linux, UNIX, and SQL Server accounts, in addition to the new Cisco IOS functionality. Forthcoming versions of Random Password Manager will include support for Oracle databases and RSA SecurID. The web interface supports all standard web browsers on all platforms as well most mobile devices, such as Microsoft Pocket PC and other PDAs. It runs on Windows Server 2003 and utilizes Microsoft SQL Server 2005 as its backend database. Security is ensured through SSL encryption of data to the browser, AES-256 bit encryption of data in the database, and full auditing of all transactions.

Licensing and Availability (http://www.liebsoft.com/index.cfm/products?id=778) Random Password Manager is licensed by node and available now. A free evaluation version of the product is available at www.liebsoft.com/index.cfm/products?id=270. The evaluation allows for the randomization of up to 10 systems for 30 days, with free installation and operating support provided by Lieberman Software.

About Lieberman Software (http://www.liebsoft.com) Corporation

Lieberman Software Corporation provides advanced security and systems management solutions that reduce the cost and complexity of administering the cross-platform enterprise. By automating time intensive systems administration tasks, Lieberman Software increases control over the IT infrastructure, delivering improved productivity, performance, and audit-ready security. With products that simultaneously administer thousands of systems from a single console, Lieberman Software ensures that even the largest corporate, educational, and government enterprises remain managed, secure, and compliant. The company is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, with an additional office in Austin, TX. For more information, please visit www.liebsoft.com.

Gartner, Inc., "Toolkit: Password Management Tools for Shared Accounts and Service Accounts", Ant Allan, 11 January 2007.

Product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

For more information, please contact:

Kevin Franks

Marketing Communications Manager

Lieberman Software Corporation

1-800-829-6263

310.300.3562

www.liebsoft.com

kfranks(at)liebsoft.com

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To learn more about Telepresence, the revolutionary new style of immersive video conferencing; visit these websites:

Telepresence - "Ride on the Next Plane of Existence" - Telepresence
Telepresence Web Portal - Telepresence Internet web portal
Telepresence Report - 24/7 breaking Telepresence related news and information
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Telepresence Today - Telepresence information and editor qualified headline news
Telepresence Resource Directory - Telepresence web resource directory
Telepresence Tube - Telepresence videos, pictures and more