Why Active Directory is a Prime Target for Cyber Attacks? How To Secure AD For Better IDMS?

Active Directory (AD) is one of the eternal and unconditional IT pillars within any organization. It stores user account management, credentials, permissions, and other relevant information. 

It plays a dominant role in IDMS and provides user-aided, device, and application authentication and authorization services for the entire network and its resources. However, for all AD's advantages, one of its woes is that it is becoming one of cybercriminals' primary targets. 

The attacks have increased exponentially in recent days. This article discusses why Active Directory is a precious target and how the security of AD can be more optimally implemented.

How Does Active Directory Become A Magnet for Cyber Attacks?

Single Point Control of Identity Access

Active Directory acts as the epitome of a management system within an organization and an information gatekeeper for every single asset in the organization. It stores information like user names and passwords, security groups, organizational units, and even the permissions to access various resources on the network. 

Once an attacker penetrates the Active Directory, they can change all these things and gain access to all sensitive files and systems unauthorizedly.

Single Point of Failure

The downside of AD is its centralized nature, making it a single point of failure. Compromising the Directory puts the organization's IT environment at risk. Attackers are always in a position to neutralize security controls, steal information, plant ransomware, etc. Therefore, AD has become a high return-on-investment target for low-risk attackers.

High-Privilege Accounts

Active Directory is characterized by highly privileged accounts, including domain administrators with broad access rights to critical resources. An attacker will target these accounts since compromising them will warrant access to the whole enterprise, which will be at risk, as malicious actions can be conducted unnoticed.

Legacy Protocols and Weak Encryption

Some organizations remain under NTLM (the NT LAN Manager). This older version is rather vulnerable to several attacks, such as pass-the-hash attacks and pass-the-receive relays. Also, weak wireless security protection or configuration or weak encryption technologies used in the configuration may lead to unnecessary odds of Directory and other resource compromise.

Poor Administration and Control

There is usually a lack of proper monitoring and auditing of AD environments within many organizations. This is a golden opportunity for attackers since they can stay undetected for long periods. This approach will allow them to perform lateral movement and privilege escalation activities. Insufficient monitoring of AD events can also lead to situations where security weaknesses or issues are detected and remediated very late.

Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

Occasionally, attackers acquire AD credentials by going after the users through coercive Phishing or other Social Engineering means. Initially owned by a legitimate user, these credentials are often abused for unwarranted access to the network. From this point, an attack invariably follows, where the escalation of privileges and lateral movement within the AD environment is sought.

Uncontrolled Patch Management

Attackers chill out while undetected or "readily available" vulnerabilities "unpatched" in AD components, assets like Domain Controller or Boot systems, are often the targets. Late application of security patches is common among organizations, resulting in a high possibility of a person accessing the malicious side of AD. Attackers can exploit these weaknesses to acquire illegitimate access to the Directory.

How to Secure Active Directory for Better IDMS and Why Is It Important?

Since Active Directory is breached to a great extent and there are continuously evolving threats, companies may consider using a combination of preventive and reactive strategies. Here are some ways how to secure AD more effectively And

Implement Strong Authentication Controls

Password options alone are not efficient for everyone's excellent resource that can gain many access privileges. Therefore, the need for various resourceful matters, such as multi-factor authentications for all users, particularly mature accounts, comes in.

Follow the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP)

Assign user and administrator rights only to the extent needed to perform the given role. Manage these permissions regularly to ensure no such access is beyond the requirements. Ensure that privileged accounts are limited so that no person is made to use them unless it is absolutely mandatory.

Brute Force Attack on User Accounts

In one case, a company detected a large number of failed login attempts on several user accounts. Through AD monitoring, they were able to identify the source of the attempts and block the IP address. Further investigation revealed that it was a brute force attack, where the attacker was trying to guess the passwords.

Segment and Isolate AD Components

Also, implement network segmentation to separate critical AD components, such as domain controllers, from the other network segments. This helps limit attackers' lateral movement once they have attained some network access level. Also, firewalls and ACLs may be employed to limit the communication to and out of AD components.

Regularly Monitor and Audit AD Activities

Conduct regular risk-based evaluations of any activity that might include the use of AD. Efforts should be made to use cyber security systems that can monitor and look through records when people try to escalate their privileges or any change taking place on an object within the active Directory. This information will help in understanding the observed trends and in preventing possible security breaches.

Maintain AD and its Software

Administrators should routinely conduct patching operations on all AD components and native and auxiliary systems that support AD. These also include domain controllers, DNS servers, and associated management tools. This reduces a looming opportunity that may enable intruders to take hold of the AD fidelity.

Strengthen Framework for Disaster Recovery of AD

Ensure you have the procedures to protect AD backup and prove its recovery capability. Keep a separate, offline location for backup storage out of the active network. If suitable and working backups are available, the organization expects that the downrecovery time of the environment will be reduced and the organization will also be restored to operation.

Enhance Password Policies

Complete tasks requiring using systems and networks under the provided temporary login credentials guidelines. When only a few password credentials are working, easier, tolerable, complex, and newer passwords should be requested.

Disable Insecure Protocols

Disable legacy protocols, such as NTLM, that are known to be vulnerable to various attacks. Instead, use more secure protocols, such as Kerberos, for authentication. Regularly review and update security settings to align with best practices and standards.

Deploying Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Tools 

Deploy AD monitoring by endpoint detection and response tools encompassing workstations and servers as endpoints, protecting domains. EDR solutions target malicious paths by blocking malware infiltration and invasive login attempts into AD systems.

Stay Current with Ongoing Security Evaluation Assessments 

It is important to carry out security checks periodically, penetration tests, and vulnerability scanning to reveal weak points in the AD environment. To enhance AD security, mitigate every weakness or misconfiguration that the resulting assessment points out.

Conclusion

The active Directory in an organization is a high-value prize for cybercriminals due to its role in identity management and access control. As this logical structure is essential, organizations should adopt a multidimensional approach focusing on solid controls, monitoring, patch maintenance, and other security practices. 

Organizations also enhance the overall Security of Identity and Access Management Systems by ensuring such credentials are active within the domain, thus minimizing exposure to security breaches.

Organizations can well arm themselves against counteractive directory vulnerabilities, so the active Directory can function without being dark.