Don't Let Your Administrative Passwords Become Pulcinella's Secrets!

If you wonder what the phrase 'Pulcinella's Secret' means, let me start with explaining that:

Pulcinella is a popular comic character in Commedia dell'Arte, a form of theatre that began in Italy in the mid-16th century. The very character of Pulcinella is his inability to keep secrets. That means, any confidential matter revealed to him would soon become an open secret. Everyone will come to know of the 'secret', but will pretend not to be knowing. So, in reality, Pulcinella's secrets are not secrets at all!

Now, coming back to the question: Do you leave your administrative passwords as Pulcinella's Secrets?

I am afraid the answer would be ‘Yes' if you still follow the practice of keeping your administrative passwords in text files and spread sheets. Everyone will be knowing all the passwords, while you would be thinking otherwise!

Let me explain further:

Modern IT and other enterprises are heavily dependant on servers, databases, network devices, security infrastructure and other software applications for their day-to-day operations. These infrastructure are accessed and controlled through administrative passwords. Typically, the applications are used in a shared environment by a group of administrators.

The number of administrative passwords keep on growing as more and more servers, devices and applications are added to the enterprise. Administrators end up virtually struggling with a pile of passwords and face problems on securely storing, managing and sharing the passwords.