How to Monitor Privileged Accounts in Active Directory [VIDEO]

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Did you know that more than 4 billion data records have been recorded as lost or stolen since 2013? It was a staggering number brought to our attention during last week’s ManageEngine webinar, where attendees received a comprehensive look at the many intricate ways privileged accounts can compromise Active Directory environments.


On the subject of “Tracking and Securing Privileged Users in Active Directory”, Derek Melber, technical evangelist for the ADSolutions team at ManageEngine, outlined that number as Microsoft's own observation.


That’s why companies like ManageEngine are working to educate users and provide simple-to-use tools for protecting the popular Active Directory infrastructure.


Melber explained that when companies are breached, they usually aren’t aware of the breach for up to 146 days. That means a hacker can be in your organization with domain administrator credentials, undetected, for 5 months—something Melber appropriately described as a “terrifying level of access.” According to Microsoft’s research timeline, when the first host is compromised (typically a desktop) the admin domain credentials are compromised in two days or less.


So how do companies combat these risks and stay ahead of hackers?


Melber said a great place to start is to follow these 5 steps for tracking and securing privileged credentials:


  1. Run reports on privileged access accounts
  2. Analyze data from these reports
  3. Configure settings
  4. Monitor settings and access
  5. Set up alerts for when access changes


These steps help companies follow the practice of creating a least privileged environment, something ManageEngine believes in. Following this for all endpoints, Melber explained companies can reduce vulnerabilities within Internet Explorer by 100%.


Individual privileged accounts, however, aren’t the only thing to monitor. Melber discussed the importance of following the same protocol with privileged groups. In privileged groups, users have uninhibited access to important files. He gave the example of a privileged group member accessing financial servers and backing up files or folders, regardless of the permissions set on those documents.


In order to audit this activity, tools are needed to run reports and control access. With the right tool, Melber says it’s possible to track access, monitor settings and behaviors, configure password resets, receive real-time alerts, and launch automatic reports.


“It all goes back, unfortunately, to breaches. Attackers are one step ahead of us. Attackers are using configurations against us. We need to flip that around. We need to know who has privileges. We can then help reduce the breaches that are in our environment,” says Melber.


For more details on tips provided in this webinar—or to watch the presentation—click here.


*Please email Derek Melber with any Active Directory questions at derek@manageengine.com


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