September 17, 2025

Self-Service Password Reset Integration with Active Directory (AD) Self-service password reset (SSPR) reduces helpdesk tickets, improves user productivity, and shortens recovery time during lockouts or forgotten passwords. The integration challenge is simple: users want one reset experience, while organizations still rely on on-premises Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS)…

Reviewing User Attributes for Gaps (Active Directory) User attributes are the “identity data layer” your directory runs on. When attributes are missing, inconsistent, or stale, the problems show up everywhere: authentication quirks, broken email routing, licensing mistakes, access drift, failed audits, and messy offboarding. …

Comparing Native vs Third-Party User Management Tools (Active Directory & Hybrid) User management in Windows environments rarely stays “just ADUC.” Once you add scale, audits, hybrid identity, and delegated administration, you’re really solving a lifecycle problem: create, modify, grant access, review, and retire identities—reliably…

Removing “Password Never Expires” Accounts in Active Directory The “Password never expires” setting (the DONT_EXPIRE_PASSWORD userAccountControl flag) is one of those legacy conveniences that quietly turns into a long-term security and compliance problem. This article shows how to find these accounts, decide what “good” looks like per account type, and remove the…

Ensuring Compliance for Dormant and Shared Accounts Dormant accounts and shared accounts are two of the most common identity-control gaps in Active Directory and hybrid environments. They create audit findings because they weaken accountability (who did what?) and increase attack surface (stale credentials, over-permissioning, and silent…

Aging Analysis of User Accounts A first-principles approach to reducing access risk, cleaning identity sprawl, and improving audit readiness. What “aging analysis” means: Aging analysis is the practice of classifying user accounts by time-based signals (e.g., last sign-in, last password change, time since creation, and time since last entitlement…

Alerting on “Password Never Expires” Violations (Active Directory) This article explains what the “Password never expires” setting actually means in Active Directory, why it is risky, and how to build reliable detection and alerting with minimal noise. Why this matters? A password is a shared secret. Over time, shared secrets…

Cleanup Automation Using Lepide and Netwrix Insights “Cleanup” in Active Directory (and adjacent systems like file servers and M365) is rarely a one-time task. It’s an operating model: continuously detect what’s stale or risky, validate it, apply a controlled action, and prove you didn’t break anything. The easiest way to get this right is to turn audit and activity…

Cross-forest account sync and SIDHistory handling Cross-forest account synchronization is what keeps access working when identities move between Active Directory forests. SIDHistory is the bridge that lets the new account carry the old identity’s rights without forcing a mass re-ACL of your entire estate. It is simple in concept, but unforgiving in…

Detecting unmanaged accounts via group audit: advanced comparison guide for AD, Entra, SIEM, and PAM Detecting unmanaged accounts via group audit means using group membership changes and “who got added where” telemetry to surface identities that operate outside expected governance: accounts not onboarded to PAM, not tied to HR/ITSM ownership, not covered by standard…