Active Directory (AD) is prolific, with an estimated deployment at 90% of organizations worldwide. Meanwhile, Entra ID deployment is increasing, as is the prevalence of Hybrid environments which deploy both.
The widespread use of AD makes the repository a target for cybercriminals. Although rarely discussed, identity, access privileges, and cybercrime are intrinsically linked, with 90% of organizations being victims of at least one identity-related incident in 2023.
Because AD is ubiquitous, attackers focus on gaining entry or exploiting vulnerabilities in the directory. Once entry is achieved, hackers can use lateral movement or privilege escalation tactics to obtain the rights to install ransomware, steal data, or perform other types of harmful exploits.
Many organizations are implementing Zero Trust and Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP) in response to the growing risk of cyber-security threats.
However, this practice is complicated as business identity is often fluid. People enter an organization, move from role to role, or leave the company altogether. Whatever part of the workplace journey an individual finds themselves in, they require specific rights to access corporate resources. How those rights are allocated is critical to an organization's security and productivity.
Standing Permissions Increases Risk
Privileged access to systems and data is vitally important to organizations. However, many access right breaches of systems and data result from unmanaged permissions. Standing permissions at any level allow threat actors to infiltrate. Once access is achieved, hackers then utilize common hacking methods to easily gain privileged access, negating any protections that had been deployed.
Role-Based Identity Management Can Help
Role-based access is a methodology that groups access rights into categories based on a specific attribute (role) to streamline access and authorization. Setting granular access rights based on role delivers finely tuned controls that balance productivity and security.
However, the fluid nature of the modern employee and the potential to change roles in the organization means that role-based access control (RBAC) must be flexible and modifiable.
Roles inside an organization can be based on any attribute, but are commonly associated with a department, job function, or project. All roles must be maintained in accordance with the identity lifecycle to ensure that if the status of an identity changes, or is no longer needed, the governance of the associated roles reflects these changes. This level of modifiable identity governance can be challenging when using AD as it typically must be accomplished manually.
Mitigate Identity Risk Management in Active Directory
A report by One Identity found that 80% of organizations believe better identity management tools could prevent the impact of a cyberattack. The augmentation of identity security within AD and Entra ID and the optimization of the identity landscape can mitigate the risk of attack.
Automated tools for user account and group security and management help organizations overcome the shortcomings of native Active Directory and Entra ID tools.
Important capabilities to consider:
Delegation
Fine-grained delegation with role-based access control (RBAC) across the entire ecosystem supports Zero Standing Privileges by ensuring only those who should have access, do. It also secures access to Active Directory with the least privileged access possible.
Dynamic and Flexible Group Management
Group management helps organizations set policies more efficiently while automating group membership and thus application and data access.
Visibility
Comprehensive visibility across the entire ecosystem improves the efficiency and effectiveness of privileged account management.
Policy Enforcement and Automation
Simplifying and streamlining AD lifecycle management, including policy enforcement and automation, scripting, and workflows, provides more effective management of users, groups, roles, contacts, licenses and objects.
Comprehensive Active Directory Domain Management
Synchronization of hybrid environments along with management of Entra ID (Azure AD) and Microsoft 365 Tenants from a single pane of glass can simplify and streamline AD management.
Implementing and enforcing the same policies across the hybrid landscape removes identity fragmentation risks and enforces least privileged access.
Conclusion: Addressing the Pain Points of Identity Management
Solve the pain points and risk caused by identity and privilege sprawl by enabling a security-first approach.
- Internal mobility, mobility between groups, mergers and acquisitions, departures, and other factors contribute to the complex modern identity landscape.
- Complexity is also caused by on-premises and cloud-based identity management, including multiple consoles, policy management inconsistencies, etc.
- A lack of IT resources and other priorities that must take precedence put pressure on IT staff to manage identities closely.
- A lack of visibility makes consistency of policy deployment and enforcement challenging, at best.
Solutions that automate and enforce best practice measures like Zero Standing Privilege will ensure your company does not become a cybersecurity statistic.
