Identity Threat Detection & Response

5 Information Security Policies Every CISO Must Enforce Now

5 Information Security Policies Every CISO Must Enforce Now

  • Joseph Carson
  • Sep 27, 2017

Guest column by Joseph Carson, Chief Security Scientist at Thycotic. Chief Information Security Officers, CISOs, bear some of the heftiest weights on their shoulders of anyone in an organization. Single-handedly, depending on their security policies and the enforcement of them, they can be responsible for the success or downfall of…

Two New Microsoft Hybrid Services Dramatically Simplify Connecting your Active Directory to Azure

Two New Microsoft Hybrid Services Dramatically Simplify Connecting your Active Directory to Azure

  • Sean Deuby
  • Jan 10, 2017

Microsoft recently announced the public preview of two major new capabilities that will make integrating your on-premises Active Directory to Azure AD much, much easier. Passthrough authentication (PTA) and Seamless Single Sign-On (I'm choosing to call it 3SO) will allow your users to easily access Azure AD applications such as…

NIST joins Microsoft in Changing How We Should Think About Passwords

NIST joins Microsoft in Changing How We Should Think About Passwords

  • Sean Deuby
  • Sep 05, 2016

On the heels of Microsoft's updated password recommendations, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has come out with its own updated password guidelines. These recommendations parallel many of Microsoft's recommendations and thus give them extra credibility; in some areas they go further. When two major security industry influencers…

Understanding Azure AD Password (Hash) Sync

Understanding Azure AD Password (Hash) Sync

  • Sean Deuby
  • Aug 09, 2016

Now that businesses are adopting cloud computing as part of their business model, a large percentage are choosing to connect their on-premises Active Directory environment to its counterpart in the cloud, Microsoft's Azure Active Directory. When you extend your on-premises AD to Azure AD, you have two choices for how…

Active Directory Corruption Comes In Two Flavors

Active Directory Corruption Comes In Two Flavors

  • Sean Deuby
  • Aug 01, 2016

Active Directory is a very robust application, as it should be for such a fundamental building block of a company's IT infrastructure. But the architecture that makes it robust also makes it hard to understand.  This lack of understanding often leads to assumptions in your recovery strategy that can leave…

When you should use Azure MFA and when you should use MFA Server

When you should use Azure MFA and when you should use MFA Server

  • Sean Deuby
  • Jul 19, 2016

One of the most common security-related trends I'm seeing with customers is an interest in adding multifactor authentication (MFA) to both their new and existing solutions. This trend is usually driven by a need to increase overall security, or to satisfy regulatory requirements. As a hybrid service, Azure MFA MFA…

Microsoft upends traditional password recommendations with significant new guidance

Microsoft upends traditional password recommendations with significant new guidance

  • Sean Deuby
  • Jul 11, 2016

Based on research gleaned from literally billions of login attempts to its Azure cloud service, Microsoft updates its password recommendations - and throws out several long-held industry best practices. Microsoft has recently published a white paper, "Microsoft Password Guidance" that explains their new password guidance, based on the massive amount…

SaaS Passwords Are Like Cockroaches

SaaS Passwords Are Like Cockroaches

  • Sean Deuby
  • Feb 27, 2016

And in the case of passwords, each one - especially each forgotten one - is a little security risk scurrying around in the shadows. You may think you have gotten rid of them (or at least reduced them to a manageable amount), but they still keep popping up. And as…