AD Domain Services

LSASS (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service) is the Windows process that handles interactive logons and manages authentication-related secrets in memory. Because it sits at the center of Windows authentication, attackers often try to access or dump LSASS memory to steal credentials or reusable secrets. This guide focuses on defensive detection, triage, and response—what to look…

1) What is a “shadow admin” in AD? A shadow admin is any user, group, or service principal that can achieve admin outcomes—such as modifying privileged group membership, controlling GPOs, resetting admin credentials, or replicating directory secrets—without being a direct member of obvious privileged groups. Why they’re hard to spot They hide in structure…

Responding to AD Security Incidents in Real Time (Active Directory IR Playbook) Active Directory is both your identity backbone and (when compromised) your blast radius amplifier. “Real-time response” in AD isn’t about heroics—it’s about making fast, reversible, evidence-safe moves that stop privilege spread while you preserve the truth of what…

Vulnerability Scanning Tools for Active Directory Security (Practical Guide) Vulnerability scanning for Active Directory isn’t just “run a Nessus scan at the domain controllers.” AD is an identity control plane. Your biggest risks are often misconfigurations, excess privilege, weak authentication paths, and attack paths that don’t look like classic CVEs. …

Common Misconfigurations Exploited in Active Directory Attacks (and How to Fix Them) Active Directory (AD) attacks rarely start with “zero-days.” In most incidents, attackers win by chaining ordinary configuration mistakes: over-permissive delegation, weak credential hygiene, stale legacy protocols, and brittle Group Policy controls. This…

AD Honeypots and Decoy Accounts: Practical Deception for High-Signal Detection A practical guide to building high-signal deception inside Active Directory: decoy users, computers, groups, SPNs, and ACL “tripwires” that trigger alerts when an attacker enumerates, Kerberoasts, moves laterally, or attempts privilege escalation. …

Least Privilege Enforcement with Role Audits (AD, Entra ID, and Azure RBAC) How to turn “least privilege” from a slogan into a repeatable control—using role definitions, entitlement evidence, and audit-driven remediation across Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and Azure. Why role audits are the fastest path to real least privilege …