Why NetWrix is #1 for Change Auditing

These days, IT departments can't just focus on keeping servers up and running, getting users the access they need, and bringing new services online to benefit the business. IT is, unfortunately, also the last line of defense in an organization's security and compliance efforts. Whether a given organization needs to meet external legislative or industry rules, or simply have a strict internal set of security policies, making sure they are compliant is an absolute requirement of the modern IT environment; and with good reason: failing to enforce those security policies can result in significant damage, such as costly security breaches, failed compliance audits, and much more.

Compliance requirements must be enforced to ensure adherence to the laws and regulations mandated by various industry committees and government institutions. To be "in compliance" is not a one-time event, but requires a continuous, and often costly effort. In addition, without proper IT infrastructure auditing, IT administrators lack the internal visibility necessary to prevent unauthorized changes that can result in harmful security infringements.

In order to prevent serious security breaches that result from lacking control over the IT environment, or failed compliance audits that can result in stiff penalties, loss of company credibility, or even jail time, accurate and efficient IT infrastructure change auditing is a must. When IT departments can't trace significant actions back to an individual, the lacking accountability can result in unauthorized (either malicious or accidental) activity that opens the door for data theft, viruses, and all sorts of internal attacks. In addition, very specific compliance regulations require accurate, automated and archived IT infrastructure change auditing records that chronicle everything from log events to user right changes. Failing to provide auditors with the records that demonstrate these types of auditing activities can result in a failed audit.

"It can be difficult to know what changed, when it changed, and who changed it. Add the dimension of time and it can be a full-time job for one admin. Add regulatory compliance and you'll need to hire a full crew to keep up the changes over time." – Michael Domingo, Executive Editor of MCPmag.com

More and more companies are making the switch to automated change auditing solutions that provide the IT infrastructure visibility and mechanized audit trail that both their IT departments and compliance auditors are in need of.

In fact, a recent market survey conducted by NetWrix indicates that 67 percent of IT administrators not currently auditing IT infrastructure changes with an automated auditing solution would prefer to begin doing so.

Significant changes that can have serious impacts on any given IT environment occur every day. Whether someone has made even a simple change to group memberships, Group Policy Objects, domain trusts, FSMO roles or any other type of object, they can quickly leave an entire organization at risk for security breaches or failed audits. Most organizations don't have the time, resources, or desire to monitor these IT infrastructure changes with native Windows auditing or homegrown tools which often lack necessary functionality anyway.

That is why many organizations have already begun automating IT infrastructure change auditing with third-party solutions to ensure security, compliance and peace of mind.

Download NetWrix Change Reporter Suite to automate IT infrastructure auditing, prevent security breaches and failed compliance audits.