Category Archives: Active Directory
Three Active Directory vulnerabilities were addressed in the October 2021 Updates
When looking at the October 12th, 2021 updates today, I noticed three updates that specifically address vulnerabilities in Active Directory Domain Services and DNS. These vulnerabilities affect domain controllers at the heart of many networking infrastructure environments. About the vulnerabilities Three vulnerabilities were addressed: CVE-2021-40460 RPC Runtime Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability CVE-2021-40460 is a vulnerability […]
Teasing the Second Edition of my Active Directory Administration Cookbook
With the General Availability of Windows Server 2022, everybody looks at the learning community to get up to speed with Microsoft's latest and greatest Windows Server operating system (OS). From that perspective, I'm happy to announce that I started work on the Second Edition of my Active Directory Administration Cookbook. What's changing? Here's what […]
I'm presenting a webinar with Randy Franklin Smith and Netwrix
This Tuesday at 6 PM CEST, I'm presenting a webinar with Randy Franklin Smith's Ultimate Windows Security and Netwrix on ten best practices to securing Active Directory and Azure AD. About Randy Franklin Smith Randy Franklin Smith is an internationally recognized expert on the security and control of Windows and Active Directory security who specializes […]
Admins that have upgraded to Azure AD Connect v2 are at risk of running out of date and insecure installations
Admins that have bit the bullet on Azure AD Connect v2 are now eating the sour grapes of that decision, as Microsoft doesn't offer Automatic Upgrades on any of the v2 builds released to date. About Azure AD Connect v2 Azure AD Connect is Microsoft’s free Hybrid Identity bridge product to synchronize objects and their […]
Hardening SMB on Domain Controllers, Step 3: Disabling SMB Null sessions
Server Message Block (SMB) is a critical component for any Microsoft-oriented networking environment. That’s why hardening SMB is one of the critical steps in securing Active Directory Domain Controllers. In the first part of this series, I’ve shown you how to report on incoming SMB connections on your Active Directory Domain Controllers. Now, let’s put […]
ProTip! Use USMT GUI to migrate HAADJ to AADJ profiles
Lately, Microsoft is advocating moving away from the Hybrid Azure AD Join model to the Azure AD Join model, leaving the traditional domain-join model behind. Microsoft feels it’s time to leave ye ol’ Active Directory behind, but a lot of settings, preferences, files and folders are still part of this legacy. They are part of […]
Hardening SMB on Domain Controllers, Step 2: Disabling SMBv1
Server Message Block (SMB) is a critical component for any Microsoft-oriented networking environment. That’s why hardening SMB is one of the critical steps in securing Active Directory Domain Controllers. In the first part of this series, I’ve shown you how to report on incoming SMB connections on your Active Directory Domain Controllers. Now, let’s put […]
KnowledgeBase: The Windows Server 2022 Active Directory DFL and FFL do not exist
Just as there are no Windows Server 2019 Forest Functional Level (FFL) or Windows Server 2019 Domain Functional Level (DFL), there are no Windows Server 2022 FFL or DFL either in Microsoft Windows Server’s Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Impact The unavailability of the Windows Server 2022 Forest Functional Level (FFL) and Windows […]
Hardening SMB on Domain Controllers, Step 1: Reporting on SMBv1 connections , SMBv2 connections and SMB null sessions
Server Message Block (SMB) is a critical component for any Microsoft-oriented networking environment. That’s why hardening SMB is one of the critical steps in securing Active Directory Domain Controllers. In this blog post series, I’ll share my approach on hardening SMB on Domain Controllers. Tip! I apply this approach to Active Directory Domain Controllers, but […]
On-premises Identity-related updates and fixes for August 2021
Even though Microsoft’s Identity focus moves towards the cloud, they are not forgetting their on-premises roots. Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 still receive updates. These are the Identity-related updates and fixes we saw for August 2021: Windows Server 2016 We observed the following updates for Windows Server 2016: KB5005043 August 10, 2021 […]
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