BeyondTrust PowerBroker for Unix & Linux

Digital transformation is reshaping IT and raising security expectations as organizations adopt agile methods, expand into smart manufacturing and IoT, and face growing regulatory pressure. These shifts widen the attack surface and increase the volume and sophistication of attacks, making continuous improvement of security controls essential. Privilege Management sits at the intersection of cybersecurity and Identity and Access Management (IAM) because attackers frequently target high-privilege accounts that can access sensitive assets such as HR data, financial records, payroll information, and intellectual property. Modern Privilege Management solutions therefore go beyond password vaulting to include password protection and rotation (including shared, service, and system accounts), runtime access control, session monitoring, and behavioral analytics, all aligned with an organization’s broader IAM strategy.

Key privileged-user risks include credential leakage for shared accounts, fraudulent abuse of elevated access, account hijacking, misuse of privileges on client systems, and accidental mistakes while operating with elevated rights. Operational and governance requirements include full inventory and ownership of privileged accounts, single sign-on to shared accounts, reducing admin/operator privileges, and controlling/monitoring access for MSPs and cloud services. Platform-specific controls—especially for Unix, Linux, and Windows—add in-depth protection by restricting privilege elevation and even limiting the use of specific commands.

BeyondTrust, a US-based vendor headquartered in Phoenix, offers an integrated risk intelligence suite, BeyondInsight, combining PowerBroker (privileged access management) and Retina (vulnerability management) to deliver consolidated risk visibility across on-premise, mobile, and cloud assets. PowerBroker for Unix & Linux supports 100+ Unix/Linux variants, centralizes logs, records privileged sessions and keystrokes, and provides six core capabilities spanning auditing, behavior analytics, least privilege enforcement, dynamic access policy, change auditing, and remote control. New additions include File Integrity Monitoring and a web-based management console with a GUI Policy Manager to simplify administration. Strengths include maturity, strong analytics, broad Unix/Linux support, and deep host-centric control, while challenges include host-based deployment overhead and a smaller (but growing) global partner ecosystem.

• Smart manufacturing and the Internet of Things expand organizational attack surfaces.
• Attackers usually go after high-privilege accounts.
• Privileged accounts can access sensitive data such as HR records, financial information, payroll details, and company intellectual property.
• BeyondTrust is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
• BeyondTrust was originally founded in 1985 as Symark.
• BeyondTrust has more than 400 employees and over 4000 customers worldwide.
• BeyondTrust’s integrated risk intelligence suite is called the BeyondInsight IT Risk Management Platform.
• BeyondTrust combines PowerBroker (privileged access management) with Retina (vulnerability management products).
• PowerBroker for Unix & Linux can manage more than a hundred flavors of Unix or Linux.
• PowerBroker for Unix & Linux includes six core capabilities: auditing/governance, privileged behavior analytics, least-privilege enforcement, dynamic access policy, auditing/reporting on changes, and remote system/application control.

• “Organizations need to reinvent themselves and become agile and more innovative.”
• “Smart manufacturing and the Internet of Things expand the attack surface of organizations.”
• “Modern tools for Privilege Management must support a variety of requirements, from protecting the passwords of shared accounts, rotating the passwords of service and system accounts, to session monitoring and behavioral analytics.”
• “While ‘password vaults’ had been at the center of attention in earlier years, capabilities such as advanced analytics of privileged user behavior and advanced capabilities in session monitoring and analysis are becoming the new normal.”
• “Among security risks associated with privileged users are: Leakage of credentials for shared accounts; Abuse of elevated privileges by fraudulent users; Hijacking of privileged accounts by cyber-criminals;”
• “A specific area is the in-depth protection of server platforms such as Unix, Linux, and Windows.”
• “PowerBroker for Unix & Linux delivers fine-grained, policy-based controls and dynamic access policies.”
• “Unlike sudo, PowerBroker for Unix & Linux operates at the system level, not the command level.”
• “This gives unmatched visibility and control over all system processes, including the execution of scripts.”
• “There is a price to pay for deep integration and control.”