Aug 15 2016
Over the years, there have been several methods attempted for managing local Administrator accounts: Scripted password change – Don’t do this. The password is exposed in SYSVOL. Group Policy Preferences. The credentials are exposed in SYSVOL. Password vault/safe product (Thycotic, CyberArk, Lieberman, Quest, Exceedium, etc). Microsoft Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). LAPS Overview Microsoft’s …
Sep 15 2015
The Issue The real problem with local accounts on a computer in an enterprise environment is that the term “local” is a misnomer. If 50 computers on a network have the local administrator account of “Administrator” and a password of “P@55w0rd1!”, first of all that’s a HORRIBLE password. Second of all and more to the …
Nov 04 2025
Group Managed Service Accounts (GMSAs) User accounts created to be used as service accounts rarely have their password changed. Group Managed Service Accounts (GMSAs) provide a better approach (starting in the Windows 2012 timeframe). The password is managed by AD and automatically changed. This means that the GMSA has to have security principals explicitly delegated …
May 29 2020
In May 2020, I presented some Active Directory security topics in a Trimarc Webcast called “Securing Active Directory: Resolving Common Issues” and included some information I put together relating to the security of AD Group Managed Service Accounts (GMSA). This post includes the expanded version of attacking and defending GMSAs I covered in the webcast.I …
This page is meant to be a resource for Detecting & Defending against attacks. I provide references for the attacks and a number of defense & detection techniques. Active Directory & Windows Security ATTACK AD Recon Active Directory Recon Without Admin Rights SPN Scanning – Service Discovery without Network Port Scanning Beyond Domain Admins – …
Jan 01 2018
I have been fascinated with Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs) since RODC was released as a new DC promotion option with Windows Server 2008. Microsoft customers wanted a DC that wasn’t really a DC. – something that could be deployed in a location that’s not physically secure and still be able to authenticate users. This post …
Jun 14 2017
Active Directory Recon is the new hotness since attackers, Red Teamers, and penetration testers have realized that control of Active Directory provides power over the organization. I covered ways to enumerate permissions in AD using PowerView (written by Will @harmj0y) during my Black Hat & DEF CON talks in 2016 from both a Blue Team …
Oct 21 2016
Securing workstations against modern threats is challenging. It seems like every week there’s some new method attackers are using to compromise a system and user credentials. Post updated on March 8th, 2018 with recommended event IDs to audit. The best way to create a secure Windows workstation is to download the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager …
Jul 06 2016
This August at DEF CON 24, I will be speaking about Active Directory security evaluation in my talk “Beyond the MCSE: Red Teaming Active Directory”. This talk is focused on the Red side of AD security, specifically how to best evaluate the security of AD and quickly identify potential security issues. Whether you perform “Red …
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