Windows New Technology LAN Manager (NTLM) is an outdated challenge-response authentication protocol developed by Microsoft. Despite being surpassed by Kerberos, NTLM remains in use as a form of Single Sign-On (SSO), allowing users to authenticate to applications without directly providing their passwords.

Organizations worldwide use Active Directory (AD) as their primary identity service, which makes it a top target for ransomware attacks. This article explains how adversaries exploit Active Directory during ransomware attacks and provides strategies and tools for defending against this modern menace.

Active Directory domain consolidation is the process of restructuring an organization’s Active Directory setup to reduce the number of domains. Consolidation is often performed as part of a company reorganization, merger or acquisition, but it is also used to simplify an AD infrastructure that has become unwieldy over time.

Every Active Directory (AD) admin is familiar with nested groups. Rights are assigned to objects by virtue of their location in the tree; that’s just how things work. It’s convenient and makes entitlement management easier… until you consider its lack of maturity for identity governance. What once worked well now increases security risks and management overhead. Cloud directories have the benefit of shedding that type of technical debt.

I’ve seen this question bouncing about in different forums for quite some time now. I haven’t seen any definitive answers because it always depends on the organization’s use of AD. Recently, I noticed something called AWS Managed Microsoft Active Directory. I must admit, six months ago I was not aware of AWS Managed Microsoft Active Directory, but when I started looking into this cloud-based AD solution, some connections started coming together.

Virtual private network (VPN) is extremely valuable technology, especially for organizations with a remote or hybrid workforce. VPN provides users with a secure and encrypted connection so they can access the corporate network over the internet — while keeping your confidential data and sensitive systems safe from prying eyes. VPN can also hide your IP address so that you can visit websites that are not normally accessible from your location.

Today, the process of digitization has become synonymous with progress and innovation. As organizations embrace digital transformation post-pandemic, the importance of securing your digital assets cannot be overstated. It is crucial to keep up with the cyber risks and protect your organization. The core of your operations lies within your Active Directory (AD), as it manages user identities, permissions, and access controls. At ManageEngine, we understand the importance of securing your AD environment.

Effective Active Directory (AD) monitoring is a cornerstone for security and compliance. It empowers administrators to spot suspicious activity, including improper changes to AD objects like user accounts and Group Policy objects (GPOs), in time to avoid data breaches or minimize their impact.