White Papers

Download the following white papers to learn about different aspects of systems management and see how NetWrix solutions can help organizations to manage IT infrastructure more efficiently and stay compliant. Most white papers are written in the unbiased style with only last section referring to the actual NetWrix solution, so they are good for general research and can be used to evaluate different vendors.

• The Audit Zone — Five Stories of Suspense and Security - Don Jones tells 5 appalling horror stories based on real-life examples of how lack of auditing can result in significant damage. In a way, that’s what IT security all comes down to, really: Auditing. Keeping track of what’s in place, what’s changing, and what’s happening. Failure to do auditing can put you in a serious trouble and even jeopardize your job.



• How to Effectively Audit Your IT Infrastructure - Nowadays, IT operations are required to run on a tight budget and under constant watch. Compliance, security and mobile innovation are making proper auditing of IT systems absolutely necessary. Knowing the most fundamental facts, like who changed what, when, and where, will save hours of troubleshooting, satisfy compliance needs, and secure the environment. This white paper shows a methodical approach to IT infrastructure auditing. That includes proper planning, estimation of time needed to implement an effective IT auditing solution, and critical resources.



• Active Directory Change Auditing in the Enterprise - Changes can introduce untested conditions, or produce unpredictable errors and problems. Change auditing is a means whereby both IT administrators and management can readily distribute, secure and manage resources to ensure accountability and operational stability. This white paper explains why change auditing is important and covers features required for Active Directory change auditing.



• Better Active Directory Auditing Less Overhead More Power - Today´s organizations, faced with stricter internal security policies and multiple regulatory compliance requirements, continue to struggle in their efforts to make Active Directory auditing simpler and more adept at fulfilling their needs. Native Windows auditing mechanisms don´t meet the demands of modern businesses, and administrators are often left in the dark about significant and potentially harmful Active Directory changes. Learn how to easily improve native Active Directory auditing without making dramatic changes to your IT infrastructure in this eye-opening white paper written by renowned industry expert, Don Jones.



• Self-Service Password Management - Password practices that improve security are by their nature burdensome to the user. Industry analysts find that 30% of all IT help desk calls are about password issues, at a cost averaging $30 to $60 per call. The solution that has evolved for this problem is called the Self-service Password Reset. The white paper below describes the common benefits and must-have features of the self-service password management solutions available on the market today.



• Auditing Active Directory Changes Efficiently - Change auditing is one of the key processes that must be implemented in Active Directory in order to get control of changes done by multiple IT administrators with delegated permissions. One single change can put your organization at risk, introducing security breaches and compliance issues, therefore 100% of changes must be tracked and carefully reviewed for possible violations. This white paper describes different approaches to change auditing in Active Directory, talks about their pros and cons.



• Auditing SQL Server for Change Tracking and Compliance - Database servers are typically managed by DBAs, but as long as they support line of business applications, such as CRM and ERP systems, they are frequently touched by application administrators, who change settings, database structure, and perform other tasks DBAs may not be aware of, bringing the question of auditing and compliance to the table of many organizations relying on database servers. This white paper describes the importance of auditing in MS SQL Server environments and suggests different ways of implementation.



• Automate Deactivation of Graduates´ User Accounts - At the end of an academic year, the whole fraction of students permanently leave a school or university system. Once these users graduate, IT administrators are left with a huge number of accounts that must be marked as inactive and then dealt with according to system policies. An automated solution can do this tedious job for you and automatically disable those accounts to avoid associated security issues.



• Extending Change Auditing to Exchange Server - Microsoft Exchange Server, being one of the most important production systems in many organizations is a system consisting of many moving parts that need thorough and secure maintenance. In most companies groups of two or significantly more IT professionals manage the Exchange organization configuration and without detailed auditing of who did what, where, and when it is impossible to detect inadvertent, unauthorized or sometimes accidental changes done by mistake. The white paper describes different approaches to regular and consistent auditing of changes to Exchange server configuration and permissions.



• Gaining Control of Server Configurations - Failure to maintain change documentation for managed servers is one of the worst things IT professionals can do. Even minor server reconfigurations can potentially impact users and cause major disruptions to business processes. Every time a change is made it must be properly documented for compliance purposes and communicated to all team members to ensure manageability. This white paper outlines major challenges related to management of changes in server configurations and summarizes possible solutions.



• Practical Change Auditing for Virtual Environments - Virtualization brings great advantages to all organizations but just like any other infrastructure component it must be properly secured and audited for increased control and compliance. This white paper gives overview of auditing in virtualization environments, such as VMware Virtual Center and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and introduces several auditing solutions.



• Preventing Password Expiration Proactively - Password expiration is a well-known pain for IT help desk personnel. Requests to reset expired passwords can build up to a sizable portion of the total help desk workload. This whitepaper describes how to prevent password expiration issues proactively.



• Staying Abreast of Group Policy Changes - Windows Group Policy controls essential security and operational aspects of most enterprises that rely on Microsoft-based infrastructure. Without fine-grained auditing of Group Policy, IT departments risk missing major changes that can adversely impact security and business continuity. This white paper describes the topic of auditing in detail and introduces several technologies that can help to overcome the challenge.



• The Business Case for Account Lockout Management - On the one hand, account lockouts provide a good base for implementing secure password policies. On the other hand, they cause a lot of burden to the IT help desk. The white paper covers the account lockout management process and introduces new cost-effective workflows of account lockout resolution, describing significant ROI enterprises can achieve through the use of the automated management solutions.



• Tracking File Access for Auditing and Compliance - File access auditing is a critical requirement for organizations that rely on files to maintain their business critical data, such as accounting records, intellectual property, or patient data. Unauthorized and accidental access and/or changes in files, folder structure, or permissions, can facilitate data theft, render the organization non-compliant, and introduce security threats. This white paper describes the importance of file auditing and different approaches to implementation.



• Exchange Auditing in the Enterprise - Exchange is the primary data store and means of communication for all levels within the organization. The ability to audit and report in detail Exchange change events that take place on a daily basis helps maintain security and sustain compliance. Implementing an effective auditing strategy for MS Exchange is a necessity to secure and maintain this critical business asset. This whitepaper outlines not only the reasons for having an Exchange auditing procedure in place but also those must-have qualities of any successful MS Exchange auditing effort.



• Group Policy Auditing in the Enterprise - Group Policy controls all the user and machine behaviors in the environment. Changes to policy configuration can result in security breaches, lost productivity, and non-compliance. Only a detailed audit of Group Policy changes can sustain a consistent and safe working environment for end users. This whitepaper outlines the must-have qualities of any Group Policy auditing effort.



• File Auditing in the Enterprise - Data housed in an organization's servers and storage devices contain massive amounts of information. Much of this information is sensitive and is not intended for all eyes. It is absolutely critical that at any point in time, the organization can provide an audit trail of who accessed what, when, and where this activity took place. This white paper explains why file auditing is important and describes required file auditing features.