I use the solution for administration. If the customer requires Alero or HTML, we will deploy the solution in that particular environment. Otherwise, if the end users are accessing the solution via VPN or from inside the network, we will not deploy Alero or HTML. We will instead focus on CyberArk's core PAM, which includes the vault password rotation component, the web interface component, the jump server, and PPA. These are CyberArk's four main components which we deploy for every customer.
PAM Security Consultant at Cybersec Consulting
A versatile product that can be configured with a number of different components
Pros and Cons
- "CyberArk has a lot of modules."
- "The technical support is very poor."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
CyberArk has a lot of modules, such as Enterprise Password Vault, which is the heart of the solution and needs to be up and running at any time. Privileged accounts and session recordings get stored inside the vault itself.
Likewise, we can configure high availability for the vault, like an active/passive or an active/active configuration. Replication disaster recovery is also supported.
CyberArk is also capable of rotating the credentials for a lot of endpoints. It has the CPM plugins by default for password management, Windows and Linux, as well as databases like Oracle and MS SQL, and can also rotate to some network devices like Cisco 9000.
We have Privileged Access Management, a general server between the user's and the target's machine. All of the sessions go from that server to the target endpoints. Once the end user disconnects the session, the session recordings and live monitoring will be uploaded to the vault. That recording will be stored for 180 days for auditing.
Another component is Privileged Threat Analytics. It detects any threats on target machines. For example, an end user might connect to a Linux endpoint and try to run privileged commands. Those commands are customizable and can be defined in the PTA as well. Whenever those users run those particular commands on the target, the PTA will report suspicious activity and report to security admins in the organization via mail or even on the web portal. We have a separate tab for security.
Within security events, these particular suspicious activities will be detected as threats and attain a risk score, "This is the user who connected to this particular target and ran these particular commands or applications."
CyberArk has a remote access solution called CyberArk Remote Access Alero. CyberArk also supports HTML gateways so that users can connect from outside the network without a VPN connection.
The solution has many advantages, such as the user interfaces and remote app features when using local applications when sessions are getting established over RDP, SSH, database, and web browsers. It is easy for administration as well.
What needs improvement?
Password management for all the endpoints needs improvement.
CyberArk can handle password management for Windows, Linux, databases, and network devices. However, there are solutions like Tenable or Skybox, Palo Alto, and other security devices for which we cannot provide password rotations on CyberArk. CyberArk should look into development for those particular plugins. I heard they had developed them, but they are not widely available. So if, for example, a customer requires CPM's password management plugin for Tenable, they need to send a request to CyberArk themselves so that the CyberArk team will then sell it to the customer. It does not come with an implementation license. It's a separate thing that a customer needs to purchase. CyberArk will assign it to that particular customer ID, and that plugin will not be supported for other customers. But those are their business tactics. They will not reveal all their plugins, only the basic ones.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have worked with CyberArk Enterprise Password Vault for four years on a regular basis.
Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the solution's stability an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the solution's scalability an eight out of ten.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is very poor. We handle implementation for our clients, so we do not handle support after. We do the knowledge transfer and if they face some challenges, we will show them how to troubleshoot as well as the documentation. We provide everything to the customer as they are not experts in CyberArk.
If the customer faces any issue, they will raise a case with CyberArk in the technical portal. But once they raise a case, CyberArk will not respond.
Let us say I opened a case this morning. Initially, they will respond, "I am the technical expert handling this particular case. Please provide me the logs." Their first reply will be that they want the logs. The customer will then gather the logs somehow and attach those logs to the case.
However, it will take two days for technical support to investigate their logs and reply. Even after two days, they will reply, and will say, "I am transferring this case to the higher level expert" that is, L2 or L3, "they will get back to you."
The initial reply will be given by the L1 engineer who doesn't know the product or how to troubleshoot that situation, so every case will go to the L2 level or L3. The time taken in the process is too heavy. So even if I open the case as a "severe" case, even if it is not severe, they will reply to say that this particular case is not severe, so I have to keep it as "medium" or "low." As a result, customers consider hiring support from my company.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
With CyberArk, we have the direct installer file and setup files for each component, such as Password Vault Web Access, CPM, PSM, and PTA. The implementation engineer should install every component. We also need to have servers for each component. We need to request a set of servers per the architecture and the components count. Once we get those servers, Windows or Linux servers, we need to copy the setup files onto them. We need to deploy the setup files by installing and taking some steps. It contains manual and automatic installation, with CyberArk providing some PowerShell scripts themselves. With those scripts, we can do the installation automatically.
By comparison, with BeyondTrust, whatever the module is, the virtual appliance is built by the BeyondTrust team itself with all the configurations. We just need to deploy it in our organization network and do the initial networking configuration, and later, we can directly do the integrations.
Also, CyberArk recommends we do hardening for each component for security purposes. After hardening, unwanted firewalls and services will be disabled on the operating systems, which makes the product more secure.
Though there are some efforts required from the implementation engineer, the installation is straightforward. I rate the initial setup a seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Users will clearly understand the solution once they go through the architecture diagram.
To connect to the target systems and view the accounts, view the session recordings, and check if the system health of all the components is working well. Any admin-related task will be done in the web portal, Password Vault Web Access, a separate component in CyberArk.
CyberArk is one of the better solutions which users will want to implement in their organization for securing their privileged accounts and access, and session monitoring for auditing. If they can deploy CyberArk, it's a good product.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementor
Network Engineer at CalSTRS
Supports automated password rotations, does a ton of things, and does them well
Pros and Cons
- "We like it for the ability to automatically change passwords. At least for my group, that's the best thing."
- "It should be easier to install. It is a comprehensive product, which makes it difficult to install. You need to have their consulting services in order to get it all installed and set up correctly because there is so much going on. It would be nice if there were an easier way to do the installation without professional services. I suspect they get a fair amount of their money from professional services. So, there is not a huge incentive."
What is our primary use case?
We're in the process of rolling it out. We haven't finished our rollout yet. Most of my co-workers have been doing a lot of hands-on, and I haven't been the one with the most hands-on.
We're not in production yet. We're still in tests, but it will give us the ability to manage the privileged accounts. It'll make that a lot easier. One of the things that we've been having trouble with is that we haven't been changing the passwords on our service accounts, for instance, for a long time, because it is so difficult to do. That was one of the main reasons we started down this road. We decided we would also expand out into managing things like the local administrator accounts on our laptops, etc. We've started there with local administrator accounts because it is an easier thing to tackle, rather than doing the service accounts and all of that. We're going to start there, and then we'll move into service accounts, and then we're going to move into administrative accounts that are human-owned rather than service accounts. At this point, we're still dealing with the things related to local administrators.
I'm pretty sure we are using its latest version. In terms of deployment, we're split between an on-prem and public cloud setup.
What is most valuable?
We like it for the ability to automatically change passwords. At least for my group, that's the best thing.
What needs improvement?
It should be easier to install. It is a comprehensive product, which makes it difficult to install. You need to have their consulting services in order to get it all installed and set up correctly because there is so much going on. It would be nice if there were an easier way to do the installation without professional services. I suspect they get a fair amount of their money from professional services. So, there is not a huge incentive.
It would be nice to do personal password management so that we could roll something out to the entire organization to manage people's passwords. At the moment, we're rolling out LastPass to do that, at least to some groups. I'm not sure if everybody in the organization is going to get it because most people only have a couple of accounts that we're concerned about. We're using LastPass because it is significantly less money than the CyberArk solution. CyberArk has one, but it is rather expensive. The LastPass solution is integrated into browsers. So, you can use it in your browser. I don't remember if I had to install a client on my machine or not. I probably just installed a browser extension. So, I'm not sure how that'll work with some of the other things. There must be a client that I didn't get around to because that's also in the very beginning currently. They have sent me links to training on how to use it and set it up, but I haven't had time to take the training yet.
For how long have I used the solution?
It has been a little over six months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It seems to be doing everything it is supposed to, and we haven't had any serious issues. The few issues we have had were pretty quickly resolved.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It certainly appears to be scalable. Because we're still in the rollout stage, we don't know for sure, but it doesn't look like there will be an issue with scaling.
Its usage is limited to under 50 people. There are 12 people in my group. SSA has another 8, and the service desk has probably 20. Then, the Information Security Office probably has another 15 or so. Overall, we're under 50. We're only looking at privileged accounts and not everything.
How are customer service and support?
I haven't used them myself, but I've been in the loop. The person driving the project at this point is somebody from the Information Security Office, but he has been keeping everybody else in the deployment team in the loop about what's going on. So far, the support seems to have been pretty good. When he reaches out to them, they seem to be able to resolve the issue pretty quickly.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We weren't using anything before.
How was the initial setup?
It is difficult to install. You need to have their consulting services to get it installed and set up correctly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I haven't seen the numbers. I know it is not cheap, but I don't know what it is. I would rate it a six out of ten in terms of pricing. It is definitely more expensive than the other product, but it also provides more functionality, and it is modular too. So, we pay for the functionality we're actually going to use, and that's nice.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked really hard at another option, but I can't remember their name. We almost went with them until we got the ISO involved, and they said, "We like CyberArk better because they're more flexible. They do more, even though it is going to be a little bit harder to manage." So, we reassessed and decided on CyberArk instead of the other solution. We had looked at a third one, but the third one wasn't close to CyberArk and the other one we evaluated. They just didn't have the breadth of capability of doing all the things we were looking for.
We did a real quick proof of concept of the other software, and then it changed names, which is why I can't remember it. We've been working on this for about three years now. We couldn't get traction with management to do anything. The thing that really got management interested was when ISO said, "We really need to do something here." Then management decided that they were willing to spend some money, but we did a really quick proof of concept with the other product. We installed it on a server, on-prem, and we did a quick run-through on some test servers that were immediately erased right after we finished the PoC, and it worked really well. It was also really easy to install, but it didn't have the flexibility to do all of the things that CyberArk is doing for us or will be doing for us in the end.
What other advice do I have?
Before you get started, make sure that you know what it is that you're looking for from the product. That's one of the things that we went through. We had all of the groups involved, which included the Information Security Office, my team with the servers and the networks, and people who were managing the accounts. We all got together and submitted scenarios for what we wanted out of the product, and then we went to CyberArk and asked them how they were going to meet these needs, and they were able to meet pretty much every need. There were only one or two minor things that they couldn't manage, and those weren't that important. So, we were willing to go with it. I don't know if the other company was able to meet those either. My advice would be to make sure what it is that you want first before you go talk to them because they have a huge list of things that they can do for you, and you don't want to buy the things you don't need.
I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of flexibility in everything because it does almost everything. The biggest drawback is because of the complexity, it is hard to manage. It is not impossible by any means, but it is not the simplest thing to manage. Cost-wise, it is not a cheap product, but it does a ton of things, and it does them well.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
CyberArk Privileged Access Manager
February 2025
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Learn what your peers think about CyberArk Privileged Access Manager. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2025.
838,713 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Security Consultant at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Removes security threats and vulnerabilities from an organization in a secure way
Pros and Cons
- "It is a central repository. Therefore, if someone needs to access a server, then they go through CyberArk PAM. It provides a secure way to do this and CyberArk PAM records everything. For example, if you are connecting to a Linux server, then once you get into the Linux server and if it is integrated with CyberArk, it will automatically start recording everything that is being done. In most banks, seeing the recordings is very useful. If there are any gaps or something has happened which shouldn't have happened, then we can check the logs and videos. So, it gives security, in a robust manner, to the organization."
- "If you are an administrator or architect, then the solution is kind of complicated, as it is mostly focused on the end user. So, they need to also focus on the people who are implementing it."
What is our primary use case?
It is nothing but privileged access management. Most companies have servers, and for each server, they identify a generic ID to login. For example, if someone is an administrator, they will be using that ID to log in. So, we need to manage those IDs in a common repository, and that is why we have CyberArk PAM. CyberArk PAM is nothing but a common repository used to store passwords and manage them.
Managing passwords is a pain area in any organization. By using this tool, we have a set of policies and emerging technology where we manage these passwords.
How has it helped my organization?
It is a central repository. Therefore, if someone needs to access a server, then they go through CyberArk PAM. It provides a secure way to do this and CyberArk PAM records everything. For example, if you are connecting to a Linux server, then once you get into the Linux server and if it is integrated with CyberArk, it will automatically start recording everything that is being done. In most banks, seeing the recordings is very useful. If there are any gaps or something has happened which shouldn't have happened, then we can check the logs and videos. So, it gives security, in a robust manner, to the organization.
We have connected all the endpoints in our organization's servers. This has been an improvement. We are trying to connect any new servers being added into the organization to CyberArk PAM.
What is most valuable?
When it comes to PAM, it is always about compliance. It has a feature that enables you to access the password in a very secure way using encryption. You also need multiple approvals. For example, if you have access to CyberArk, it doesn't mean that you have access to the server. So, whenever you try to access that server, a request will go to your manager. Once he approves the request, only then will you be able to access the server. These are a few of the features that I like about this solution.
CyberArk PAM provides ease of access based on how they have designed it. It is clearly defined where you have to go and what you have to do. If you are an end user, it is very easy to use and provides a comfort level.
What needs improvement?
CyberArk PAM is able to find all pending servers that can be integrated, but we cannot get this as a report. We can only see the list of servers on CyberArk PAM. This is a problem that could be improved.
If you are an administrator or architect, then the solution is kind of complicated, as it is mostly focused on the end user. So, they need to also focus on the people who are implementing it.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using CyberArk PAM in 2016, so it has been almost six to seven years. I started with version 9, and now it is currently on version 12. So, I have used multiple versions of CyberArk.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Its scalability is good. It is available on-premise and they started having a cloud three or four years back.
Our environment is very small. We are managing around 2,000 users. Whereas, I have seen it managing users of 10,000 to 15,000 servers. We have around 30,000 users, and I have seen that kind of environment, though what I am currently managing is much less. When it comes to the Middle East, it is always regionally focused, it is not international. Our organization is specific to one country and not international.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is from the US. The only problem is that they reply during their own time zone. It has been a bit difficult to reach them, but we get the answers, they are just a bit delayed.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously had Hitachi ID PAM. We switched to CyberArk because of the features and interface, where there is a bit of distinct difference between the two solutions. Though, the architecture is the same.
How was the initial setup?
When you do an implementation, it is always challenging internally. While the setup is very easy because they give you tools for installation, you have certain things that you need to keep in mind when you implement it in an organization. These things become a kind of a roadblock. Every time that something comes up that you need to enable from the organization's side, e.g., if you have to unlock a few things on the organization's side, you must go through a process and some teams might not allow you to go ahead with it.
The deployment took three to six months.
What about the implementation team?
For the deployment, we needed a solution architect, two consultants, and two people to work on the BAU. While it depends on your organization's size, we needed around five to 10 people to implement it.
What was our ROI?
The ROI depends upon a company's capability to maximize the usage of this application. If you buy something, it is your responsibility to use it at an optimal level.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Previously, the pricing was very meager. They started publicizing and advertising the solution, growing CyberArk, as an organization. They also changed their pricing with that growth, e.g., the pricier the product, the more people who will purchase it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Bomgar was one of its competitors, now it is called BeyondTrust. Another competitor was Thycotic.
While CyberArk PAM has survived, it needs to be more flexible. They are currently focusing on the solution's GUI, but rather than the GUI, they need to focus on the solution's internal aspects, e.g., making the steps a bit easier. There are too many things to focus on and be aware of. So, they need to streamline it in a way where it is more compact.
What other advice do I have?
You need to know the sizing of your company and not randomly use it, thinking you may need to use this solution in the future. You need to use most of the features, e.g., if you have 10 features, then your company should use at least seven features of CyberArk. If you are not going to use seven or more features, i.e., if it is below seven, you should not go for this tool.
We were using Secrets Manager for managing a few SSH files, but we are not using it anymore.
I would rate this solution as eight out of 10. CyberArk is a solution to problems being faced by multiple companies and organizations. It removes security threats and vulnerabilities from an organization in a secure way, and your credentials are handled in a secure way. Therefore, it solves this pain area in a company, and that is why I think they are one of the top tools.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Product Manager and Technology Consultant at Barikat
Greta digital vault, very robust, and offers great integration capabilities
Pros and Cons
- "It is a robust product."
- "It is very complex and difficult to set up the solution."
What is our primary use case?
I use CyberArk as a password vault and session recordings and to connect the server sites. I use some critical systems if I can access them, including workflows and mechanisms.
What is most valuable?
It's really good.
The digital vault is great. It protects our passwords and manages those passwords and changing periods.
There is some third-party access to our system's recording process. It's very, very important for us and we're glad they allow it.
It is a robust product. It's very stable and reliable.
The solution can scale well.
What needs improvement?
The interface could be updated a bit. Right now, it's not very good.
It is very complex and difficult to set up the solution.
Maybe some customers have a lot of systems. For example, we have 1000 Windows systems and 500 Linux systems. I need a remote desktop management solution for the CyberArk. I'd like to be able to change desktops with one click. We'd like the next release to have remote desktop management tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for the last five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable.
We no have had no performance issues; it's a really robust product. If I need more performance, I use another server, install another server, and improve our performance.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is very easily scalable.
We have 50 admins on this solution.
We are using the solution to 70% capacity. We do plan to increase usage.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did use Delinea, formally Thycotic. That solution is really good, however, not fully secure. CyberArk is a more secure product - much better than Thycotic. Thycotic may be better in terms of its admin-friendly interface and integration, however, CyberArk offers more than vendor integration. It has massive integration capabilities.
How was the initial setup?
The implementation and integration process is very, very complex. It is a robust product, however. I don't have to do a lot of setups, luckily. However, when you first set it up, it's very difficult as you don't really know what you're doing.
The first 27% of the implementation took us maybe three months, however, for more than 95% of installation, it took us over one year. We had all the features up and running, however.
We started with connection and session recording features, however, items such as password changing and other integrations, for example, firewall connection and switch interface connection were rolled out over the year.
You only need one person to maintain the solution.
What about the implementation team?
We had a third party help us with the implementation process.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's a yearly license that we pay. It is more expensive than other options. There are competitive products that are cheaper.
I can't speak to the exact price. On a scale of one to five, with one being the most expensive, I would rate it a one. The license covers five servers. If you need more servers, you pay more. The same is true with disaster sites. If you need a disaster site, you are fine. It is included. If you need more, you need to pay for it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did look at multi-factor authentification options and zero-trust network access.
What other advice do I have?
I'm not sure which version of the solution we're using. It's likely the latest version.
This is a fully secure product and integrates with a lot of different systems. I'd recommend the product to others.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: ex-partner, changed companies a month ago
Senior Product Manager and Technology Consultant at Barikat
Helps to keep password safe and is good for cybersecurity
Pros and Cons
- "The tool has safe vaults. We keep our passwords in the Vault. The tool’s recording feature is also valuable for us."
- "The tool needs to improve its usage and interface. They need to have a modern and useful interface. I want the product to improve its integration capabilities as well since some of the integration features do not work always."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for cybersecurity and regulation.
What is most valuable?
The tool has safe vaults. We keep our passwords in the Vault. The tool’s recording feature is also valuable for us.
What needs improvement?
The tool needs to improve its usage and interface. They need to have a modern and useful interface. I want the product to improve its integration capabilities as well since some of the integration features do not work always.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product is scalable. You can manage 100,000 scripts or 1000 secrets with the solution.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate the tool’s support an eight out of ten. The tech support is good and not complex. You can escalate the problems easily.
How was the initial setup?
If you do not have prior experience, then the tool’s setup is complex. It has a complex installation process. You need to do pre-configuration correctly. The deployment takes around two to three days to complete. One experienced person is enough for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product’s pricing is feasible for enterprise customers. The pricing is expensive for smaller businesses. You need to pay additional costs for service implementation and local support.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the product a ten out of ten. We recommend this product for enterprise customers. The tool’s pricing and operation are a problem for small customers. They need to opt for Software as a Service. Companies need to install this product since they have a lot of accounts and passwords.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
Cybersecurity Architecture Manager at Data Warden
An excellent product with immediate ROI and good password security
Pros and Cons
- "The password rotation and cyber gateway have been quite useful."
- "The license is expensive."
What is our primary use case?
The most common use case is when you need to hide the management for the servers, switches, routers, et cetera. You can use privileged access for remote use cases.
How has it helped my organization?
In my company, we have a lot of servers, and the problem is when the users want to access these platforms. You can access all the architecture and knowledge with this product. It provides more access and visibility.
What is most valuable?
The password rotation and cyber gateway have been quite useful. It's a solution that allows you to search for passwords for your servers and accounts. This is the most feature power.
The solution is quite stable.
It is scalable on the cloud.
What needs improvement?
The implementation is hard. For example, the on-prem implementation specifically is really hard to deploy.
The solution does not scale well on-premises.
This is an expensive product.
It's hard to get help from support if you are not certified.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is really stable. You just need to deploy a higher viability solution. However, you need to do a lot of budgeting to deploy that higher viability solution. You need at least 12 servers. It's really, really difficult to have a budget for that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is easy to scale on the cloud. It is difficult to expand it on-premises.
We have 30 people using the solution in my company.
At this point, we do not have plans to increase usage.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is really excellent. However, if you don't have a certification, it is impossible for you to receive technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used BeyondTrust and Centrify, among other solutions.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is pretty difficult and it takes a while to put into place.
You need at least six servers to deploy it and it's really difficult to have a budget for that - plus, the implementation itself is really hard. You likely have to dedicate one week to deploy the solution and another week or two to onboard all the accounts.
Basically, it's pretty complex to implement.
What about the implementation team?
We've used a consultant to assist us with the implementation.
What was our ROI?
The ROI is really quick. If you have a compromised account, it can compromise your infrastructure, and the loss of the business is really high. With this product and the protection it offers, you can witness ROI immediately.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You need a large number of servers, and therefore it gets expensive to deploy the product.
The license is expensive. It costs us around $200 per user.
What other advice do I have?
We are using a privileged cloud and an on-prem cloud, an on-prem APD. We have a hybrid setup.
I'd advise potential new users to have very good scripting at the outset. If you don't, you'll have difficulties in the long run.
While the solution is expensive, it's excellent. I would rate it ten out of ten. You definitely get what you pay for.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Systems Admin Analyst 3 at CPS Energy
The Privileged Session Manager Proxy makes it extremely convenient for UNIX Administrators to utilize their favorite SSH client software
Pros and Cons
- "The Password Upload Utility tool makes it easier when setting up a Safe that contains multiple accounts and has cut down the amount of time that it takes to complete the task."
- "Currently, in Secure Connect, an end user is required to enter account information manually, and cannot save any of this information for future use."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for privileged systems access with a high emphasis on security. End users are required to go through a process of being vetted in our NERC environment in order to use the solution. This product has been used by my company for about five years now.
How has it helped my organization?
This product has placed a new culture in my company by making employees more aware of IT compliance and cyber security. It has also placed us in a position to meet NERC CIP v6 requirements.
What is most valuable?
The Password Upload Utility tool makes it easier when setting up a Safe that contains multiple accounts and has cut down the amount of time that it takes to complete the task.
Using the PSMP (Privileged Session Manager Proxy) makes it extremely convenient for UNIX Administrators to utilize their favorite SSH client software (i.e. SecureCRT or Putty) to connect to a privileged target without having to go through the PVWA web login.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see the product enhancement with the Secure Connect feature. Today, there is no functionality to create "Accounts" using Secure Connect to permanently store a user's working tab. It is a tedious manual process of entering host IP information and user credentials into a privileged target system.
Currently, in Secure Connect, an end user is required to enter account information manually, and cannot save any of this information for future use. It’s a manual process of entering information all the time. Unless you are working with accounts already stored in “Safes”.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We have noticed some stability issues with the PSM Servers. We've noticed that there may be a limitation on the number of users that a PSM Server can handle. We have two PSM Servers deployed in our Production environment and have come to a conclusion that we may need to add two more to stabilize the environment.
Upgrading to version 9.9 significantly reduced the stability issues with the PSM Servers and the limitation on the number of users that the PSM can handle.
How are customer service and support?
CyberArk could use some improvement in their level of customer service. Sometimes, it can take more than a day before a Case that I have submitted online gets a response from tech support.
The level of technical support has been great. The challenge has been to get an initial response and sometimes follow-up from CyberArk Support.
What about the implementation team?
If you are going to set up CyberArk for the first time, I highly recommend that you utilize their Professional Services. They are extremely knowledgeable and very helpful and will ensure that your implementation is a success.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
We use Texas DIR when evaluation and making purchases of products.
What other advice do I have?
We are currently on version 9.10. We would like to upgrade to the latest version some time this year. There is currently a CyberArk Security Bulleting CA19-09 that addresses potential administrative manipulations within the PVWA and the Digital Vault. CyberArk has released patch 9.10.4 to address the PVWA and they are working on releasing a patch for the Vault Server.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Extremely secure, great configuration capabilities and offers lots of plugins
Pros and Cons
- "It supports lots of requirements in the privileged access management area."
- "Its pricing is a big challenge here. When it started, the product came in at a very low cost. Now, they are the leaders in the market, so the cost has grown and is quite huge."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is primarily for security and access control.
It's used to ensure and protect the complete IT infrastructure administrative account and the administrators and limit them to do any particular activities on the server and record all the activities on the server. it's for auditing purposes and for forensic usage.
We use it o identify if somebody internally hits the organization or tries to intrude and try to do a data breach or try to steal the information or do some kind of internal hacking. That risk can be eliminated using the tool.
What is most valuable?
CyberArk is one of the greatest platforms. It supports lots of requirements in the privileged access management area.
From a configuration point of view, it is not very straightforward as per the deployment. The configuration is typical. However, when it comes to the integration piece, it has flawless integrations with lots of applications, whether it is out-of-the-box or customized. It supports any number of platforms.
The company is very keen on looking at new applications to build out-of-the-box plugins. The support for the privileged single sign-on configurations with the application is excellent.
Security-wise, the security is unbeatable compared to any other tool in the industry. They have a vault concept. They consider it similar to a bank vault. This is where they keep all the privileged admins' passwords. That particular vault has seven layers of security, which are unbreakable. It basically cannot be hacked. It cannot be hijacked.
If something goes wrong, for example, if the vault is destroyed, your data is still protected. You can easily revive your data from that particular vault. It's a great capability. The security is excellent. It is very, very tight here. They support one signal protocol kind of communication with the internal products.
Where your password will be residing that is protected by a seven-layer of security. It has a web interface hosted on an IAS server on Windows. It has a CPM called central password management, which will do the password rotation. That is sitting on one other server. It has a session manager, which provides the single sign-on mechanism, privileged single sign-on mechanism, or automatic single sign-on to log into any infrastructure servers and applications. These are the four core products, and they integrate with each other and they integrate on one single port.
If you try to intrude on the system or any hackers try to intrude the system, they will not be able to do that as the communication through this port is entirely encrypted. They will not be able to revive the data in real-time. It's a great security feature.
It supports hybrid deployments as well. It supports single standalone deployments for high availability with different kinds of deployment structures or topologies. This is a growing trend in the market.
What needs improvement?
They can work on the pricing part. Its pricing is a big challenge here. When it started, the product came in at a very low cost. Now, they are the leaders in the market, so the cost has grown and is quite huge.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for four years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. It's reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Every organization is different. Some are small, some are large, and some are medium-sized. This product fits all organizations. It is designed to be scalable.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support has been excellent overall. We are pleased with their level of service.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process is typical. It's not easy to set up. It depends upon the environment, the requirement, what the customer is looking for, et cetera. If, let's say, there's 1,500 accounts, which need to be protected and 10,000 servers, which need to be protected, the deployment can be done with the two-node setup. The two-node setup is okay. However, when it comes to the larger organization where we have lots of privileged accounts and lots of servers or when the account increases to 100,000 servers and 100,000 or 200,000 privileged accounts, in those cases, the product is complex.
You need to be well trained in order to be able to execute an implementation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing used to be very competitive. I can't speak to the exact pricing. However, it is my understanding that it has gotten more expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I'm certified in CyberArk. Earlier, we worked with CyberArk as a partner. At this point, our contract is in a renewal state.
I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.
It is a great product when it comes to security. From the security point of view, I would advise a new user to use this tool and deploy it in your environment since the security is unbeatable.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: February 2025
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We do not use CyberArk PTA in our environment.