One of your organization’s most essential components is Active Directory (AD). Here we’ll look at some basic yet best practices for securing Active Directory infrastructure, backed up by statistics. As, in today’s digital landscape, cyber threats lurk around every corner, protecting your organization’s Active Directory infrastructure is more than a priority—it’s a requirement.
Let’s not delay any longer – straight into the list we go!
Top 18 Active Directory Security Best Practices
1. Regular Active Directory Assessments and Audits
Regular Active Directory audits and assessments are very important in securing your AD. They will give you an overall view of your present AD health and help you with any current security flaws, misconfigurations, vulnerabilities, or other footholds that attackers can use to gain access to your domain.
Advanced active directory auditing tools, like Fidelis Active Directory Intercept™, provide granular insight into areas such as user activities, group membership, and access rights. This level of knowledge enables you to make informed decisions about security controls and policy enforcement, thus ensuring your AD environment stays secure and compliant.
Regular AD risk assessments facilitate the identification of changes that might have occurred over time. It provides a chronological history of changes and their impact. Granular audit trail allows tracing any anomalies back to its point of origin, which helps in finding security breaches and unauthorized changes.
2. Continuous Monitoring
Cyber threats continue to get sophisticated, and the cost of data breaches are costing a very hefty price for businesses today, talking about $4.45 million on average in 2023, yes, a 15% growth in just three years! Yikes!
Don’t you worry, you can fight back! Continuously monitoring your Active Directory is like watching over your digital front door 24/7. This allows for the detection of suspicious activity in real-time, before it becomes a full-scale breach that drains the bank account of your company.
Think of it this way: state-of-the-art monitoring technologies log every event on your network, at what time someone logs into it, and the applications they access, so that in the case of impersonation, you’ll be able to trace suspicious activities and shut them off before they lead to some serious problem.
Advanced algorithms and machine learning in real-time monitoring systems analyze user behavior patterns and anomalies. This is a proactive approach that allows for the timely identification of potential threats and gives security teams the space to act on time, mitigating risks before they further escalate.
- Statistics and Trends
- Beyond Security Checklist
- Multi-Layered Defense
3. Create Strong Password Policies
Well, it is very well known that passwords are the very first and foremost defense, which prevents unauthorized access. In other words, companies should set up strong password policies covering all requirements, ranging from the minimum character length to the required character makeup. Strong passwords, in this case, make it quite difficult for attackers to bypass the system by brute-force attacks.
The password policy should involve upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. Implementing password expiration policies and creating a barred list of old passwords can also be very prospective. Encourage users not to use common passwords and personal information.
4. Control Access Rights
The principle of least privilege is important. The users should be able to view only what is necessary for them to complete the job; nothing more, nothing less. Review the permission regularly and revise it as needed. This will help in reducing the attack surface area, thereby limiting the risk from compromised accounts.
Implement role-based access control (RBAC), and give access based on job responsibilities. Have regular audits and remove privileges not required to minimize unauthorized usage. Automate access reviews to a certain extent so that reviews are done consistently and accurately.
5. Pay Special Attention to Privileged Accounts
Privileged accounts are the accounts that have advanced access to information in the system, such as service accounts and domain administrators. You must put strict rules around such accounts, like multifactor authentication, monitor sessions, and just-in-time access. At the same time, monitor all their activities closely, and in case you notice any suspicious activity, don’t waste time, jump right into investigations.
Advanced management and monitoring of privileged accounts can be achieved through PAM solutions. Such solutions secure access workflows, session recording, automated credential management, logging, and auditing of privileged activities.
6. Lock Down Service Accounts
Service accounts pose a huge security risk but are normally overlooked. Advanced controls around them should be implemented, such as disabling interactive logon and delegation limitations. All permissions should, quite regularly, be reviewed to ensure the misuse of service accounts is prevented.
These accounts should have very strong passwords that are changed regularly. This can be automated with password vaulting solutions to ensure that service accounts don’t use default or easily guessed credentials; it also provides for periodic rotation of passwords. Monitor service account usage and retain records of this usage to detect unusual activity.
7. Active Directory Backup and Recovery
Even with great defenses, cyberattacks and unexpected events can impair your operations. According to the Acronis Cyber Protection Week Global Report, 76% of organizations suffered downtime because of data loss.
So, when you suffer a hit, that is the time when a rock-bound backup and recovery strategy for AD comes into play. Regular backups help in backing up the data quickly in the event of a disaster: data loss, data corruption, even from ransomware. This results in reduced downtime, and the organization will keep running smoothly.
Make sure that backups are not only completed but stored in a secure manner, with a regular practice of testing for integrity and recoverability. Automated backup solutions are recommended, as they will minimize chances of human errors and ensure up-to-date backup. Offsite or cloud storage for backup can be considered to provide protection in the event of the result of physical disasters.
8. Domain Controller Best Practices
Secure the domain controllers, they are the pulse of Active Directory. Implement solid access controls, patch/upgrade frequently, and in the last quarter alone, 266% more infostealer malware variants have been recorded targeting login credentials!
Here’s how you can fight back against such attacks and secure your data:
- Apply more advanced access control. Give users only the access they need.
- Add another layer to protect against unauthorized access, like multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Keep your domain controllers away from untrusted networks.
- Be continuously on the lookout for any suspicious activities being executed by your domain controllers.
Furthermore, keep the domain controllers physically secure and allow entry only to authorized personnel. Network segmentation must be in place that shall keep the domain controllers isolated within the network and restrict lateral movement in case of a breach.
9. Disable SMBv1 and Restrict NTLM
Many vulnerabilities are associated with the SMBv1 protocol and the NTLM mechanism. If you turn off SMBv1 and limit NTLM usage throughout the AD forest and domain, it’s going to make it hard for attackers to exploit these vulnerabilities.
Needlessly, the risk of exploitation could be considerably reduced by just turning off SMBv1 on all systems. Configure the Group Policies to constrain NTLM and enforce much more secure authentication protocols like Kerberos. Regularly perform auditing on your network for systems that may still be running SMBv1 or NTLM.
10. Secure Active Directory User Management
As recently pointed out by a Forrester report, 22% of data breaches are from internal incidents, with 47% being intentional. This vindicates the need for strong Active Directory user management. Given these statistics, you should increase your defense.
- Enforce the least privilege for users regarding their responsibilities.
- Implement monitoring of user activity and conduct a regular review of user permissions and update the same on the same.
- One of them is the automation of provisioning and deprovisioning for simplifying account administration and avoidance of orphaned accounts or unauthorized access.
11. Leveraging Azure Active Directory
When you use cloud-based identity management systems like Azure Active Directory, you will be able to significantly improve scalability, flexibility, and security. According to a report by Gartner, by 2025, the majority of cloud security failures, around 99%, will stem from customer misconfigurations.
By seamlessly integrating Azure Active Directory with on-premises Active Directory environments, you can centralize user authentication, streamline identity management processes, and enforce consistent security policies across hybrid IT environments.
12. Enforcing Network Segmentation
You know, implementing network segmentation within your Active Directory setup can be a real game-changer for your security strategy. By splitting your networked resources into different security zones and implementing strict access controls, you effectively create walls that limit the reach of potential security risks.
This containment method limits lateral movement within your network and reduces unauthorized access to your sensitive data and resources.
So, by taking the time to implement network segmentation, you are effectively strengthening your defenses and lowering your organization’s vulnerability to possible security threats. A wise decision with potential long-term benefits.
13. Conducting Regular Security Awareness Training
By training your team on cyber threats and cybersecurity best practices, you will be able to prevent social engineering attacks on Active Directory users. Through interactive training sessions, simulated phishing drills, and assessments, you enable your staff to detect and report suspicious activities, thereby enhancing the security of your Active Directory system.
It is all about providing your team with the knowledge and skills they require to stay aware and safeguard your sensitive data from potential security threats.
14. Use SID Filtering Across All Forest Trusts
To enhance the security measures, enable SID filtering across all the forest trusts. Security Identifier filtering prevents an attacker using credentials of one forest for accessing the other forest’s resources. Only authenticated people can access cross-forest resources, and security is enhanced.
Basically, SID filtering involves configuration of the relationship of trust and making sure that SIDs from foreign forests are filtered. It shall review and update the trust configurations sometimes for enhanced security toward avoiding unauthorized access.
15. Perform Regular Penetration Testing
Penetration testing should be done regularly to detect vulnerabilities and weaknesses within your Active Directory environment. This will help in simulating attacks that are as close to real attacks as possible, estimating the security posture, and working further on improvements.
Allow professional security firms to conduct end-to-end penetration tests and provide detailed reports on the findings. Use such kinds of testing for insight into the strengthening of defenses and for resolving quickly any identified vulnerabilities.
16. Use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)
Implement SIEM solutions that collect, analyze, and correlate security events from AD and other sources to be able to identify potential security incidents in real-time and respond swiftly to mitigate risks.
17. Establish a Strong Incident Response Plan
Develop and maintain a comprehensive incident response plan specific to security incidents in Active Directory. An organization needs to develop a plan explaining the procedures to act upon in case of a security breach, therefore managing quick responses to security incidents with minimal damage.
18. Implement Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)
Endpoint Detection and Response solutions provide advanced threat detection and response at the endpoint level. EDR solutions involve continuous detection of events coming from endpoints to provide rapid threat detection and response.
Endpoint Detection and Response will enhance your security posture by giving you real-time visibility at the Endpoint level and letting automated response actions occur themselves. Keep updating and tuning regularly to make sure your EDR solutions are detecting and mitigating evolving threats.
Best Practices Summary Table
| Security Measure | Tactical or Strategic | Preventative or Detective |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Active Directory Assessments and Audits | Strategic | Detective |
| Continuous Monitoring | Tactical | Detective |
| Create Strong Password Policies | Tactical | Preventative |
| Control Access Rights | Tactical | Preventative |
| Attention to Privileged Accounts | Tactical | Preventative |
| Lock Down Service Accounts | Tactical | Preventative |
| Active Directory Backup and Recovery | Strategic | Preventative |
| Domain Controller Best Practices | Tactical | Preventative |
| Disable SMBv1 and Restrict NTLM | Tactical | Preventative |
| Secure Active Directory User Management | Tactical | Preventative |
| Leveraging Azure Active Directory | Strategic | Preventative |
| Enforcing Network Segmentation | Strategic | Preventative |
| Conducting Regular Security Awareness Training | Strategic | Preventative |
| Use SID Filtering Across All Forest Trusts | Tactical | Preventative |
| Perform Regular Penetration Testing Tactical | Tactical | Detective |
| Use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) | Strategic | Detective |
| Establish a Strong Incident Response Plan | Strategic | Preventative |
| Implement Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) | Strategic | Detective |
Securing Your Active Directory Environment
Securing your organization’s Active Directory environment is important if you want to secure your digital assets and maintain operational resilience. By implementing the mentioned practices, you can significantly enhance the security posture of your AD environment and bring down the risk of security breaches and data loss.
Remember, cybersecurity is a journey, not a destination. You should keep up to date with emerging threats and vulnerabilities and regularly review and update your security controls and practices, so you can stay one step ahead of cyber threats.
