The Marine Institute discovers greater functionality

Keith Manson, IT Systems and Operations Manager for Marine Institute explains, “At the start of this project we were originally sourcing a reporting solution so we could determine where the [permissions] issues lay with the plan to subsequently go through them manually. The idea was to do everything by security groups. Using DatAdvantage I’m confident that we’ve done that as efficiently as possible. In a few months we’ve completed the audit, made the necessary changes required and we’re now in a position to control access moving forwards. We have only the correct personnel authorised to access the data that they require and no other data. But there’s a lot more to DatAdvantage than just reporting. It gives me the ability to exercise control, and to make actions based on the reports, which exceeds our original requirements. As data owners change over time, and that’s the nature of our sector which isn’t going to change anytime soon, it’s important to keep track of who the owners are and that’s where the software comes into its own – we can do that quickly and efficiently which was impossible previously.”

The Marine Institute first set out to introduce reporting software that could detail its fileserver permissions based on users, groups, level of access to folders, and/or inherited and un-inherited folders. It believed this would allow ICT to determine where potential permission issues lay with the plan to go through manually and make the necessary changes.

Initially frustrated by a lack of suitable solutions capable of meeting all its requirements, the institute discovered Varonis DatAdvantage. The data governance solution could not only meet 100% of its technical and business requirements, but actually offered additional useful functionality that exceeded expectations.

Varonis DatAdvantage helps the Marine Institute address the risks associated with its data permissions. Its detailed reporting easily proves that IT controls are stringent, allowing the ICT team to manage user permissions quickly and easily. By aggregating Active Directory user and group details, ACL information and all data access events DatAdvantage easily determines who has access to a folder, which folders a user or group has access to, and helps identify excessive permissions. This intelligence allows the Marine Institute to identify rightful data owners, who are then involved in the process, checking that the people who currently have file level permissions are the right personnel with the correct levels.

Keith concludes, “On face value it appeared to do everything on the wish list, plus offered additional useful functionality. DatAdvantage gives me and my team the ability to exercise control, and to take actions based on the reports, giving us the power to ensure we adhere to our security protocols. This additional functionality exceeds the original remit.”