The Challenge
Shared accounts, where users share usernames and passwords, are still widely used across enterprises, by both end-users and especially in IT teams managing administrative or service logins. Shared accounts create significant risk by removing accountability, obscuring audit trails, increasing the likelihood of credential theft and data compromise. The most critical concern is related to user offboarding. When a user, who has the shared credentials to the account, leaves the firm, they walk away with the password in hand. Unless a strong operational procedure is in place for User offboarding and password rotation, shared accounts represent a severe security risk.
The Solution
Unixi eliminates all risks related to shared accounts by first discovering any accounts where users are sharing credentials and passwords and second by removing shared passwords altogether. For any shared account, users become part of a managed group. Each employee logs in using the shared username but with Unixi’s Universal SSO, meaning there are no shared passwords distributed, known, controlled, or stored anywhere or by anyone (not even by Unixi). When a user changes roles or leaves the company, they are automatically deleted from any shared accounts group via SCIM integration, immediately losing access to any shared accounts. Since they don’t know and never controlled a password, all associated risks with shared passwords are completely eliminated.
Unixi provides full visibility, accountability, and control, as every action related to shared accounts is logged at the individual user level. Additionally, MFA can be enforced seamlessly for any shared account, further strengthening security controls.
Business Benefits
- No More Password: Eliminates shared passwords, removing phishing, leakage, and password rotation security risks.
- Accountability Restored: Every shared account action is tied to the specific user, providing clear audit trails for compliance and investigations.
- Frictionless Offboarding: Disabling a user in the IdP immediately revokes their access to any shared accounts without the need to rotate shared credentials.
- Enhanced Security Controls: MFA gates can be enforced on shared accounts without requiring the complexity of users trying to share a token.
- Operational Efficiency: Security is strengthened while reducing IT overhead with no need for constant password resets or vault rotations.
