AD Domain ServicesArchitecture & Design

How to track rogue domain controllers

Tracking Rogue Domain Controllers in Active Directory (Detection + Response Playbook) A rogue domain controller (DC) is any system that is acting as a DC or participating in DC trust/replication without being approved, expected, and controlled. In practice, “rogue DC” includes: An attacker-promoted DC in a compromised domain An unauthorized (shadow IT) DC spun up by an admin or a…
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AD Domain ServicesSecurity Hardening

Baseline AD against CIS Benchmarks

Baselining Active Directory Against CIS Benchmarks (Practical GPO-First Guide) A “baseline” is the minimum secure configuration your environment must meet—consistently, measurably, and with controlled exceptions. CIS Benchmarks are consensus-based secure configuration recommendations for common platforms (including Windows Server), and they’re…
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AD Domain ServicesArchitecture & Design

Vulnerability scanning tools for AD security

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. …
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AD Domain ServicesArchitecture & Design

AD honeypots and decoy accounts

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. …
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