Cyber Defense eMagazine July Edition for 2022

Q&A With Mickey Bresman, CEO Of Identity Security
Pioneer, Semperis
By Mickey Bresman,CEO of identity security pioneer, Semperis
Why should IT security pros focus on Active Directory?
Active Directory —AD—is the heart of most organizations’ infrastructures. If AD is compromised, so are
business operations. It’s the #1 infrastructure target of ransomware attacks because if attackers can
manipulate or take down AD, they can manipulate or take down anything, anywhere in your IT
environment.
But although it is the backbone of most organizations’ identity systems, AD has been largely unchanged
for two decades. It was developed before the cloud, mainstream adoption of virtualization, before the
spread of IoT devices, and before the rise of remote work and mobile devices. The biggest need for AD
recovery at that time was in response to natural disasters or power outages—not cyberattacks. Security
perimeters were based on physical infrastructure.
Now days, most organizations—especially larger organizations with AD implementations going back to
the early 2000s —struggle to effectively secure this vital part of their infrastructure. For many years,
admins were warned “not to mess with AD.” So, misconfigurations and outdated entries have crept in
over time. New threats and new ways to exploit vulnerabilities are emerging constantly. Many companies
now have hybrid environments, mixing on-premises AD with Azure AD or other IDPs, which have different
requirements and vulnerabilities. And organizations might be dealing with an AD implementation that
involves thousands of users, servers, and devices over multiple years. Securing AD is no easy task, but
it’s absolutely vital.
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