Active Directory Security is Paramount to Global Security Today (Day 2)

Folks,

Today is Day 2 of advanced Active Directory Security school for Microsoft. Today's post, albeit short and non-technical, is also very important, because the world needs to understand just how important Active Directory Security is to global security today.

From the White House to the British Houses of Parliament, and from Microsoft to the Fortune 1000, at the very foundation of IT, identity and access management, and cyber security at over 85% of all organizations worldwide today lies Active Directory.

In other words, the foundational security of thousands of government and business organizations depends on Active Directory.

To paint a picture - Governments, Militaries, Law Enforcement Agencies, Banks, Stock Exchanges, Energy Suppliers, Defense Contractors, Hospitals, Airlines, Airports, Hotels, Oil and Gas Companies, Internet, Tech and Cyber Security Companies, Manufacturing Companies, Pharmaceutical Companies, Retail Giants ... <the list is long> all run on Microsoft Active Directory.

Now imagine a scenario wherein someone is able to write and unleash malware designed to target and exploit weaknesses in and compromise foundational Active Directory deployments worldwide. Just how much damage do you think that could do?

If that's a stretch for your imagination, consider this and a much simpler scenario, wherein a perpetrator (e.g. a hacker, an APT, an insider) specifically targets and is able to compromise the Active Directory of even just a few of the world's top organizations.

Hopefully you can now see why Active Directory Security is paramount to global security today. What could be more important?


Now consider this - in almost every Active Directory deployment in the world, there exist thousands of exploitable unauthorized effective access grants, yet neither do most organizations seem to know this, nor do they possess the means to identify them.

Considering the above, one would think Microsoft would be aware of this problem, and if so, have a solution for it, for the world. Sadly, neither Microsoft nor any cyber security company on the planet has a(ny) solution to help these organizations adequately i.e. accurately and swiftly identify and eliminate the billions of unauthorized effective access grants that endanger foundational Active Directory deployments worldwide. Well, except one.

In light of the above, you may want to read Day 1's entry (a few times over, if needed) again - here.

That's all for today.

Good night,

Sanjay

PS: Responsible disclosure/picture-painting: I wouldn't have shed light on this if there was no solution. There is a solution today, and it can help the entire world address and eliminate this problem very quickly, but we can't help these organizations until they themselves first recognize, understand and acknowledge the problem, comprehend its magnitude, & then seek our assistance.