Simplify Authentication and Authorization in a Mixed Network
Why does enterprise-wide authentication require so much work? For many businesses, it is because they use different Identity Management Systems for different operating systems: Windows users might authenticate through Active Directory, Linux and Unix users might authenticate through NIS, and Mac OS X users might authenticate through an ad hoc Kerberos key distribution center. Every time a user joins or leaves your company, you have to update each of these identity management systems separately, a time-consuming process that can leave security holes.
The complexity of these identity management systems and their lack of central management increases the likelihood that something will go wrong. A user account with access to protected data, for example, might not get deprovisioned from one of the systems when the user leaves the company.
Likewise's ability to join non-Windows computers to an Active Directory domain immediately yields the benefit of making Active Directory's authentication process available to Unix, Linux, and Mac OS X computers. Because Active Directory functions as a Kerberos key distribution center, Likewise can validate Unix and Linux usernames and passwords with the Kerberos 5 network authentication protocol. Kerberos lets users and computers communicating over an insecure network prove their identity to one another in a secure manner.
How Likewise Extends Kerberos Authentication to Linux
Benefits of AD-Based Kerberos Authentication |
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| Joining Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X machines to Active Directory with Likewise and authenticating them with Kerberos yields a range of benefits for users, system administrators, and security managers. |
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| Users get one ID and single sign-on: They log on once to a workstation that is authenticated through Active Directory and receive Kerberos-based single sign-on for other computers and applications, such as Oracle, Apache, and SAP. |
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| System administrators rest easy with the knowledge that users are securely authenticated with Kerberos 5 and authorized for access to resources and applicatons. |
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| Managers see their operational costs drop as their Linux, Unix, and Mac computers are centrally managed within Active Directory and configured en masse with Likewise group policies. |
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| Security managers find help in their quest for regulatory compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
This document outlines the technical features and benefits of using Likewise Enterprise. |
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| Other benefits include the following: | |