ILTA SOS Webinar: Remove Administrator Rights and
Secure a Law Firm’s Greatest Asset- Its Reputation
Sean M. Power
Chief Information Officer
April 2013
© 2012 Lathrop & Gage LLP
About Lathrop & Gage, LLP
 Founded in 1873, known as the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi River
 Approximately 850 desktops and laptops
 315 Attorneys
 Highly-mobile, distributed work force:
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11 offices across the US
© 2012 Lathrop & Gage LLP
Desktop Environment Challenges
 850 desktops and laptops running multiple configurations
 Nearly 200 applications, many customized
 Extensive mobile workforce
 Previously all users ran with administrator rights
 Much trepidation by some about removing administrator rights.
 Moved to a fully locked down desktop environment with all users running as limited
users.
 Attorney’s need flexible user control of PCs
© 2012 Lathrop & Gage LLP
The Solution
 Very effective reporting on what precisely needs privilege elevation especially third
party legal review websites with Active X add-ins.
 Ability to control and manage our distributed PCs over a secure internet connection
 Elevate privileges on the fly regardless of attorney’s work location
 Policies are propagated immediately
 No need to initiate remote desktop and use RUN AS
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Significant when running and installing programs as the user, not in the administrator
context
 Ability to flexibly manage our locked-down environment
 Easy discovery of what rights are needs to run challenging applications
 Recording of privilege elevation events for auditing
© 2012 Lathrop & Gage LLP
The Results
 Manage user access privileges effectively, efficiently, extremely timely manner
 User still does not require admin rights
 Increased productivity immensely for IT staff and end users
 Much better control for software compliance considerations
 Significant reduction in malware incidence or severe limitation in the effect of
malware if it gains a foothold, often constrained to individual profile – this is very
useful if someone is travelling and out of the office
 Application configuration files and the registry can be effectively controlled
 Allows people to focus on the job
 Case study:
www.viewfinity.com/ Resources/CaseStudies/LathropGage.aspx
© 2012 Lathrop & Gage LLP
Leading the Privilege
Management Sector
Eliminate Admin Rights with Viewfinity
Viewfinity
• Worldwide Leader in Least Privilege Management
• Only PM Vendor to offer GPO, SaaS, and Server options
• HQ in Boston with offices in The Netherlands, Germany, Israel and
Ukraine
• Strategic partnerships with Microsoft, CA, McAfee, Centrify
Our Mantra:
Eliminate administrative rights
without disrupting end user productivity!
Viewfinity Inc. Confidential
Users with Admin Rights can….
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Install kernel-mode root kits
Install system-level level key loggers
Install ActiveX controls, including IE and Explorer extensions
Install spyware and adware
Install and start services
Stop existing services (such as the firewall)
Access data belonging to other users
Cause code to run whenever anybody else logs on to that system
Replace OS and other program files with Trojan horses
Disable/uninstall anti-virus virus
Create and modify user accounts
Reset local passwords
Render the machine unbootable …
Flexible Delivery Methods
Private Cloud*
Public Cloud
Viewfinity Server – optional deployment in DMZ
GPO Architecture
Quick Preview
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Discover users with local administrative rights
Discover applications requiring administrative rights
Privilege elevation policies
Auditing & reporting for compliance validation
Discover User Accounts that Have Local
Administrative Rights
Visit our website for resources and to begin your product evaluation
WWW.VIEWFINITY.COM
2 minute flash video overview of the Viewfinity product
WWW.VIEWFINITY.COM/INTRODUCTION_FLASH.HTM