Madison Genthry 
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that provides visibility and management for privileged access to servers, networks, and databases. StrongDM enables organizations to increase security and compliance with its platform while drastically reducing risk.
Recently, the company raised $54M in its Series B funding round. In this article, let’s take a closer look at StrongDM and how it works.
What is StrongDM?
StrongDM is a cutting-edge infrastructure access platform that simplifies and secures access to the complex network of IT assets in the enterprise environment. This cloud-hosted software provides organizations with simple and secure access to their systems while maintaining consistent governance and control over their data. Companies are able to manage users, roles, and policies through StrongDM’s user-friendly interface, eliminating manual processes for managing access credentials.
StrongDM’s platform consists of three core components: 1) A cloud-hosted identity server that hosts user identities in the cloud; 2) An authentication server which authenticates users on login; 3) An authorization server that authorizes user access to backend applications. When an authenticated user logs into StrongDM, they are authenticated against the identity server and then granted authorization through the authorization server based on role/group membership. With this process in place, organizations can enable simple access management to staff while keeping tight control over who has access to what resources.
StrongDM also allows businesses to extend its capabilities by integrating with other technologies such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), LDAP/AD support, automation scripts, automated service accounts provisioning, session recording/monitoring and more. This enables companies to reap even greater security benefits from StrongDM’s platform while making it easier for their users to securely interact with their infrastructure.
What is an Infrastructure Access Platform?
An Infrastructure Access Platform is a software tool that provides secure access to decentralized networks, allowing users to manage cloud infrastructure and applications. These platforms are designed to make it easier for developers, DevOps professionals or IT administrators to securely access private networks and on-premise systems while protecting credentials that would otherwise remain stored in plaintext.
StrongDM is an Infrastructure Access Platform developed by StrongDM Inc that streamlines authentication and authorization processes for user accounts. It also allows engineers, system admins and DevOps professionals to manage a wide range of environments – including Linux/UNIX hosts, Windows machines, databases like MySQL and MongoDB, cloud resources such as AWS EC2 or Google GCP clusters, as well as lengthy production pipelines or complex development builds.
By providing secure access to these critical resources across multiple channels (such as SSH/SFTP connections or web-based portals) with a simple set of unified tools throughout the whole process, StrongDM unlocks vital productivity boosts for teams of all sizes.
How StrongDM Works
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that helps organizations secure and manage access to their infrastructure. It works by providing a single pane of glass view for managing users, servers, and databases. It also provides the ability to audit and record all access requests and activity across both cloud and on-premise environments.
In this article, we’ll take a look into how StrongDM works and the types of access it provides.
Secure access to data and systems
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that simplifies the process of granting and managing secure access for companies to their data and systems. This platform enables organizations to use a single unified system for user authentication and authorization to quickly provide employees, partners, and customers with secure access across servers, databases, clusters, private and public clouds.
The Intelligent Access Platform provides superior security by delivering granular permissioning privileges to users who need access. The platform supports multi-factor authentication with different provider options so that the user’s identity can be verified before issuing privileged credentials. It also includes an auditing feature that records every login attempt by users along with enforcement of policy checks during login requests such as screening specific IP ranges or blocking attempts from certain locations.
Additionally, StrongDM’s infrastructure access platform reduces manual effort by providing an automated gateway for user authentication using OAuth protocols. It also allows company admins to remotely log in to the accounts of users or add new team members without having manual control over their accounts or personal information. This streamlines onboarding processes without compromising security and can be applied to databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch and more as well as settings such as firewall configurations for cloud service providers like Amazon Web Services(AWS) or DigitalOcean.
It’s integrated APIs allow businesses to automate their processes even further while giving them control over various tools like identity provisioning or fine-grained permissions easily from one place. As a result, companies can ensure secure infrastructure access practices while leveraging automation features that enable faster scaling of their IT operations at the same time.
Securely manage user access to resources
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform. Its purpose is to provide secure and easy-to-use methods for controlling user access to sensitive resources such as databases, servers, and cloud environments. A central component of StrongDM is the SDKs that provide two-way authentication and authorization for user access. The SDKs use a public key infrastructure (PKI) which means that the connection between a user’s identity and their privileges is securely established, providing an added layer of protection against malicious activity.
StrongDM also allows system administrators to create policies that determine who has access to what resources and under what circumstances they can gain entry. These policies are then stored in a centralized policy store where they can be quickly retrieved when necessary. This centralization makes it much easier for system administrators to keep track of who has access at all times, reducing the chance of unauthorized users accessing sensitive information or resources.
In addition to its policy management capabilities, StrongDM also offers platform monitoring which tracks all activity going on within the system, allowing administrators to detect any suspicious behavior as soon as it occurs. This level of monitoring gives organizations immense visibility into their systems so they can ensure they remain secure from external threats such as hackers and other malicious actors.
In sum, StrongDM provides organizations with a powerful solution for managing user access across their entire infrastructure environments in a secure manner. It ensures those with privileged access are held accountable for their actions while protecting sensitive data from being exposed or misused by those who do not have proper authorization levels.
Automate access provisioning
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that enables you to automate secure access provisioning to your internal IT networks. It enables organizations to simplify and improve security, compliance and performance associated with user access rights. It connects users with resources using its single-sign-on capabilities, and it automatically grants or restricts user access as needed without manually modifying access control lists or credentials.
StrongDM can be used to define roles, manage users, secure sessions, monitor usage and audit all user activity in real time. This allows organizations to be proactive in their approach to mitigating risk across their networks by quickly detecting anomalies and enforcing appropriate security measures if required.
StrongDM dynamically monitors the environment for changes in user accounts and systems, based on the roles defined for each user within the organization. This helps ensure that all projects stay safe from internal as well as external threats – preventing malicious insiders from infiltrating critical network resources. Additionally, StrongDM allows administrators to centrally configure policies for all users for various access levels across different parts of the organization’s infrastructure such as servers, databases or applications.
Benefits of StrongDM
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform, which provides organizations with a secure, centralized method of managing and monitoring user access to databases, servers, and other cloud services. By streamlining access management, StrongDM helps organizations reduce their attack surface, improve compliance and efficiency, and reduce time spent managing permissions.
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of the StrongDM platform.
Increase security and reduce risk
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that streamlines the process of securely authorizing users access to resources within a given network. Its primary benefit is to provide heightened security and reduce associated risk by controlling who can access certain networks, applications and databases, as well as ensuring that privileged data remains confidential.
StrongDM also provides increased visibility over user activity within your environment, noting when people log in, what they do while they’re there and when they log out again. It also ensures audit-readiness compliance with its built-in reporting functionality along with audited actions to all possible areas of risk including configuration changes on systems made by privileged users. This comprehensive approach allows organizations to remain secure, reduce risk and proactively identify potential vulnerabilities before they become an issue.
The platform is available in three editions suitable for small-, mid-size and enterprise businesses; each offering no ongoing maintenance costs and simple scalability through a wide range of usage plans. The Enterprise edition combines all the benefits with additional features including group management, secure delegation of administrator roles, personalization options and mobile device support. With its easy setup, strong security features and affordability, it’s no wonder why infrastructure access platform StrongDM recently raised $54M in Series B funding round!
Streamline user access management
StrongDM is an infrastructure access platform that streamlines user access management and simplifies automation across thousands of different systems. By leveraging a single platform, users can quickly and securely access any system or network in the organization, protected from threats and remedied when needed. This saves organizations time, money, and makes user authentication more secure for critical applications.
StrongDM’s automated user access management provides a streamlined approach to managing user rights with additional security to maintain data privacy. This process makes it easier to maintain an organization’s identity infrastructure while improving efficiency by replacing manual IT workflows with automation technology. Automation also reduces the amount of tedious tasks that IT departments are responsible for each day, allowing them more time to focus on core business needs instead.
For organizations that utilize many applications or systems, StrongDM simplifies user access protocols through role-defined rulesets or policies that ensure users have the right permissions for accessing their assigned tasks quickly and efficiently. This increases flexibility for both IT admins and end users who need to enter critical networks without delays or errors in permission assignments. Furthermore, StrongDM can provide an audit trail of all activity which gives admins visibility into what changes have been made and identifies possible vulnerabilities quickly when given the scope of privileges detailed in the audit log records.
Improve operational efficiency
StrongDM is a secure infrastructure access platform that simplifies access control, increases operational efficiency, and eliminates data silos across organizations. Through the platform, users can quickly grant or revoke certain access privileges in real-time to reduce user onboarding time and maintain compliance with security policies.
Using StrongDM gives IT teams the ability to quickly configure roles, permissions and auditing controls without having to manage individual user profiles. Additionally, its real-time feature allows IT administrators to easily automate various tasks such as provisioning users with single sign-on (SSO) and managing group policies. This makes it easier for teams to maintain role-based access control (RBAC) across multiple systems, maintain authentication logins, and prevent data breaches that could be caused by manually handling these tasks.
StrongDM also offers integration with various third-party services for better collaboration between different systems. For example, its integrations with cloud providers like AWS enable teams to quickly set up cross-accounts and keep audits of login activities from different accounts in a single dashboard. It additionally supports auditing of privileged account activity over SSH/SFTP sessions; this ensures that servers are compliant with updated security standards set by an organization while improving the efficiency of workflows related to system configuration or resource discovery.
Overall, StrongDM creates valuable efficiencies not just in granting secure access rights but also in data management by allowing centralized management of privileged accounts without having to deploy separate solutions for each service account or actively monitor all privileged logins through one central dashboard.
StrongDM’s Recent Funding
StrongDM, an infrastructure access platform, recently announced a $54M Series B funding round from existing and new investors. This additional capital will support the company’s rapid expansion as they continue to provide a secure and efficient way to manage access and permissions across multiple environments.
Let’s explore what this raised funding could mean for the future of StrongDM.
Overview of the $54M funding round
StrongDM, a leading provider of infrastructure access and control platform, recently announced the close of its Series B funding round totaling $54 million. Led by Sands Capital Ventures, the round was joined by existing investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners and Triangle Peak Partners, as well as Tom Stafford’s D.E. Shaw & Co. and Bozoma Saint John’s Canaan Partners.
This significant addition of venture capital brings StrongDM’s total funding to date to over $75 million, accelerating the company’s mission to drastically reduce friction for enterprise customers who are attempting to securely manage access across internal teams and multiple IT environments.
The funds will be used for product development initiatives such as adding more language support for auditing, context-based protection controls for privileged resources, automation capabilities and additional integrations with identity systems like Active Directory or AWS IAM — all designed to make it easier for customers embracing remote work models by providing infrastructure security backed by integrated analytics and compliance reporting functions. Additionally, the investments will fuel substantial growth into international markets while expanding sales and customer success programs.
What the funding will be used for
The recent funding received by StrongDM, an infrastructure access platform, will be used to expand current product development and marketing efforts. This new capital will kickstart the product roadmap and help to increase customer acquisition as well as drive customer onboarding and satisfaction, both of which are essential components for success. Furthermore, the funding will support new integrations and data integrations designed to further enhance StrongDM’s current offering.
StrongDM offers a platform that provides an easy way for IT teams to manage user access control across an organization’s distributed IT infrastructure. With the additional finances now available, StrongDM is set to expand into new areas of growth, allowing more organizations greater access to safe, secure management tools they need in today’s digital world.
By focusing on expanding its feature set, StrongDM can deliver a stronger service that meets the needs of both enterprise customers and small-to-medium sized businesses alike. These features can include improved onboarding experiences with single sign-on capabilities; real-time analytics for monitoring user activities; audit logging features; simplified compliance reporting; customizable identity management; cross-data center integration capabilities for cloud migration journeys; as well as built-in security controls such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), password rotation strategies, proactive account lockout policies and enforcement of encryption standards — all while still remaining completely agnostic when it comes to commonly used raw Application programming interfaces (APIs) affording users greater flexibility no matter their platform of choice.
Conclusion
StrongDM is a secure infrastructure access platform that allows organizations to safely and easily manage, monitor, and audit access to their critical infrastructure. StrongDM is designed to help organizations maximize the productivity of their remote workforce while mitigating risk to their systems and data.
By utilizing an on-premise authentication source like LDAP or Active Directory, StrongDM can quickly identify users attempting access, present them with a step-by-step authorization workflow and provide granular fine-grained control over system network configuration settings. It also allows users to revoke former employees’ access when they leave the company.
With its recent $54 million series B funding round, StrongDM makes it easier than ever for IT administrators to securely manage system access while keeping up with rapidly changing business environment needs. As organizations continue to evolve and grow, StrongDM provides the necessary tools for managing dynamic user access needs without sacrificing security or compliance best practices.
