Over the summer, I rebuilt my Active Directory lab environment with multiple regional domains. Instead of manually configuring common issues, I decided to create a PowerShell script to do this for me.
Category: PowerShell
Sep 15 2025
Active Directory Security Tip #3: Computer Accounts
Active Directory computers should be reviewed about once a year. Old operating systems can hold back security progress like keeping SMBv1 and NTLMv1 active. Inactive computers should be discovered and disabled when no longer in use (and eventually removed). The OperatingSystem & PasswordLastSet attributes are self-explanatory, though we can use the LastLogonDate which represents the …
Sep 14 2025
Active Directory Security Tip #2: Active Directory User Accounts
There are several different types of user accounts – at least how they are used. There are standard user accounts, service accounts, and admin accounts. There are numerous user account settings that can make them vulnerable. These configurations include: PowerShell code (using Active Directory PowerShell module):https://github.com/PyroTek3/Misc/blob/main/Get-VulnerableUserAccounts.ps1
Sep 12 2025
Active Directory Security Tip #1: Active Directory Admins
A critical part of Active Directory security is regularly reviewing your AD admins. The simplest way to do this is to recursively enumerate the membership of the domain Administrators group (that group’s members and all member group members). Check the AD Admins output for the following: PowerShell code (using Active Directory PowerShell modules):https://github.com/PyroTek3/Misc/blob/main/Get-ADAdmins.ps1
Aug 11 2017
Gathering AD Data with the Active Directory PowerShell Module
Microsoft provided several Active Directory PowerShell cmdlets with Windows Server 2008 R2 (and newer) which greatly simplify tasks which previously required putting together lengthy lines of code involving ADSI. On a Windows client, install the Remote Sever Administration Tools (RSAT) and ensure the Active Directory PowerShell module is installed. On a Windows server (2008 R2 …
Aug 13 2016
PowerShell Security: PowerShell Attack Tools, Mitigation, & Detection
This post is a follow-up of sorts from my earlier posts on PowerShell, my PowerShell presentation at BSides Baltimore, and my presentation at DEF CON 24. Hopefully this post provides current information on PowerShell usage for both Blue and Red teams. Related posts: BSides Charm Presentation Posted: PowerShell Security: Defending the Enterprise from the Latest …
Apr 24 2016
BSides Charm Presentation Posted: PowerShell Security: Defending the Enterprise from the Latest Attack Platform
This was my second year speaking at BSides Charm in Baltimore. Last year I spoke about Active Directory attack & defense and it was my first time speaking at a conference. 🙂 The presentation slides for my talk “PowerShell Security: Defending the Enterprise from the Latest Attack Platform” are now on the Presentations tab here …
Feb 11 2016
Detecting Offensive PowerShell Attack Tools
At DerbyCon V (2015), I presented on Active Directory Attack & Defense and part of this included how to detect & defend against PowerShell attacks. Update: I presented at BSides Charm (Baltimore) on PowerShell attack & defense in April 2016. More information on PowerShell Security: PowerShell Security: PowerShell Attack Tools, Mitigation, & Detection The most …
Feb 11 2016
PowerShell Version 5 Security Enhancements
PowerShell version 5 is RTM (As of 12/18/2015). Prior to this there was a “production preview” available since August which means it was supported, but not final. With the final release of PowerShell v5 now available, I highly recommend you download PowerShell v5 and start testing to prepare for production deployment. While the PowerShell v5 …
Jan 07 2015
PowerShell Security: Execution Policy is Not An Effective Security Strategy – How to Bypass the PowerShell Execution Policy
If you have worked with PowerShell recently, you may have run into an Execution Policy message: c:\temp\Find-PSServiceAccounts.ps1 : File C:\temp\Find-PSServiceAccounts.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system. For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. At line:1 char:1 + c:\temp\Find-PSServiceAccounts.ps1 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo         : SecurityError: (:) [], PSSecurityException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : …
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