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FullArmor Extends Policy Compliance
FullArmor is shipping PolicyPortal, a Web services-based tool designed to automatically enforce Active Directory Group Policy settings on computers that are disconnected from the directory, either temporarily or permanently.
PolicyPortal helps administrators maintain secure configurations on a wide variety of Windows-based endpoints, according to a company statement. This includes notebooks, remote and home clients, and contractors’ and visitors’ machines, as well as kiosks, point-of-sale systems and ATMs.
The tool extends directory-based policy management over the Internet, providing managers with the ability to monitor, enforce and audit policies on machines when they leave or are permanently deployed outside the directory, according to Boston-based FullArmor.
“Using PolicyPortal, organizations can continuously apply and enforce all the configuration settings offered by Active Directory (as well as FullArmor's IntelliPolicy for Clients product) on machines that are not connected to the domain,” the company’s statement says.
Administrators use PolicyPortal through a browser-based console that provides a global view of all managed machines, and lets administrators create, deploy and automatically enforce security policies without human intervention on any target machine with an Internet or intranet connection. The client machine runs what the firm terms a lightweight agent which the client uses to check in with PolicyPortal at pre-determined times.
PolicyPortal runs on Windows 2000 or higher. A subscription begins at $1 per managed machine per month, plus a one-time fee of $1,500 per administrator account.
About the Author
Stuart J. Johnston has covered technology, especially Microsoft, since February 1988 for InfoWorld, Computerworld, Information Week, and PC World, as well as for Enterprise Developer, XML & Web Services, and .NET magazines.