In the age of digital transformation and remote work, the efficiency of information technology (IT) operations is more critical than ever. One area that often causes concern for IT administrators and security teams is the use of shared logins for workstations. This common practice might seem convenient, but it has inherent drawbacks that can undermine system security, compliance, and policy management.

The Problem with Shared Logins

Imagine a scenario where users in a company use a common login to access PCs. While this might appear to be an easy and efficient way to manage user access, it obscures the crucial question: who is actually logging in? The shared login masks the individual identity of users, creating a myriad of potential issues:

1. Loss of Accountability: With shared logins, there’s no individual accountability. If an adverse event or security breach occurs, there’s no way to pinpoint the user involved, complicating the investigation process and impeding the implementation of preventive measures.
2. Noncompliance: Compliance across industries and countries require accurate identification and monitoring of system users. Shared logins make it difficult, if not impossible, to provide definitive evidence of who accessed certain data and when.
3. Policy Enforcement: Administering appropriate policies for different users becomes problematic when individuals are not distinguishable. This can lead to violations of role-based access controls and unnecessary exposure of sensitive information.

To effectively address these issues, organizations need a robust solution that can maintain the convenience of a streamlined login process, while ensuring individual user identification and traceability. This is where GateKeeper Enterprise steps in.

The GateKeeper Proximity Solution

GateKeeper, an innovative authentication/auditing solution by Untethered Labs, offers an elegant answer to the challenge of shared logins. With GateKeeper, you can identify individual users even on shared Windows accounts, enhancing compliance, policy, and cybersecurity management.

How Does GateKeeper Work?

GateKeeper Enterprise employs wireless technology to provide secure, password-less access to computers and websites. With GateKeeper, each user has a unique key fob or a mobile app acting as a token, which is wirelessly tied to their identity. The system uses this token to automatically identify the user as they approach the workstation and logs them in. When they walk away, the system automatically locks the workstation.

This approach ensures that only the individual with the correct token can access the workstation, providing definitive identification even with shared accounts. Furthermore, GateKeeper maintains a comprehensive audit trail, recording every login and logout event with timestamps, enabling you to see who was using a shared account at any given time.

Enhancing Compliance, Policy, and Cybersecurity

By uniquely identifying users, GateKeeper significantly enhances compliance capabilities. Each access event is tied to an individual, not a shared identity, making it much easier to comply with regulatory requirements for user access reporting.

In terms of policy enforcement, GateKeeper Proximity’s role-based access control ensures that each user has access only to appropriate resources, even on a shared account. This reduces the risk of inadvertent or intentional data exposure.

Cybersecurity is also strengthened, as GateKeeper eliminates the need for users to remember (or write down) passwords. This eliminates a common vector for cyberattacks, while also simplifying the login process for users.

Conclusion

Shared logins can be a serious threat to compliance, policy, and cybersecurity. GateKeeper Enterprise offers an innovative and practical solution to this challenge, ensuring individual user identification and strengthening security and compliance. For organizations grappling with the issues of shared logins, GateKeeper Enterprise presents a solution that combines convenience with robust cybersecurity management. See other reviews of GateKeeper Enterprise by compliance officers, IT admins, and others.