Detect Malicious Changes in AD

Active Directory Threat Detection & Response

Monitor every change to Active Directory and Entra ID—including advanced threats that evade traditional monitoring.

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Detecting threats to Active Directory and Entra ID

Organizations depend on the identity infrastructure to authenticate users and provide secure access to business-critical applications and services. For 90% of organizations worldwide, Active Directory and Entra ID form the core of their identity services. But securing Active Directory is difficult given its constant flux, its sheer number of settings, and the increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. Protecting hybrid AD systems brings additional challenges, as many attacks start on-premises and move to the cloud. Guarding against attacks requires continuous monitoring of AD and Azure AD and a single view of malicious changes across the environment.

Semperis report:

73%

of organizations are NOT confident they could prevent Entra ID attacks

Microsoft Digital Defense Report:

88%

of organizations impacted by ransomware incidents did not employ AD and Entra ID security best practices

Microsoft Digital Defense Report:

1 hour, 42 minutes

the median time for an attacker to begin moving laterally after device compromise

Microsoft Digital Defense Report:

68%

of organizations impacted by cyber incidents had no effective vulnerability and patch management process

Gain control of AD threat detection and response

To guard against constantly evolving threats, organizations need to continuously monitor Active Directory and Entra ID for Indicators of Exposure (IOEs) and Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), including advanced attacks such as DCShadow that evade traditional log- or event-based monitoring solutions.

Monitor

Continuously scan the AD and Entra ID environment for Indicators of Exposure (IOEs) and Compromise (IOCs)

Detect

Uncover advanced attacks such as DCShadow that evade traditional log- and event-based solutions, including SIEMs.

Respond

Stop attackers with tamperproof tracking, real-time notifications, and automated change rollback.

Detect and respond to increasing identity system attacks

Continuously monitor for new threats

Sophisticated ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups are escalating their attacks on identity systems in an effort to gain access to critical resources. To defend the hybrid AD environment in the constantly changing threat landscape, organizations need to:

Scan AD and Entra ID for hundreds of vulnerabilities (IOEs and IOCs), constantly updated to address new threats
Capture malicious changes even if security logging is turned off, logs are deleted, agents are disabled or stop working, or changes are injected directly into AD
Find and fix unwanted AD and Entra ID object and attribute changes
Identify and isolate malicious changes to support Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) operations
Set real-time notifications on AD and Entra ID changes

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Defend against AD attacks that leave no trace

Cybercriminals continuously devise new tactics and techniques to gain access to Active Directory, making their attacks even more dangerous. When it comes to detecting potentially malicious actions within Active Directory (AD), most organizations rely on domain controller event log consolidation and SIEM solutions to spot abnormal logons and changes. This approach works—as long as the attack technique leaves a log trail. Some sophisticated attacks leave no evidence of malicious activity. Organizations need solutions that will detect and guard against attacks such as:

DCShadow, which registers a rogue DC, bypassing traditional SIEM monitoring
Group Policy changes, which are not captured by event logs by default
Zerologon attacks, which bypass monitoring tools that don’t watch for unexpected password changes on DCs

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Our mission resonates with industry leaders

Advanced actors are attacking on-premises identity deployments to effect systemic breach and bridge to cloud admin access. Organizations in hybrid Active Directory environments need identity-first security to protect their AD and Entra ID systems from attack. This requires continuous monitoring and assessment of AD and Entra ID security posture to defend against identity-based attacks in partnership with traditional security teams.
Alex Weinert Chief Product Officer, Semperis

Semperis offers superior technology, and their Directory Services Protector is a tremendous asset for any company that uses Active Directory.
Learn more Chen Amran Deputy Director of Infrastructure & Communication, El Al Airlines

We have lots of changes happening to our Active Directory environment, adding Linux servers, etc… [Directory Services Protector] helps us monitor and revert dangerous changes with one button click.
Read review IT Team Member, Enterprise Organization

Semperis DSP and ADFR were a breeze to deploy. The service and guidance we’ve received from the Semperis team has been exceptional.
Read review IT Specialist Enterprise Banking Organization

Directory Services Protector is exceptional with reporting, real-time monitoring and remediation, active reporting and instant notifications when objects are modified or changed.
Read review Senior Windows Systems Administrator Enterprise Organization

Frequently asked questions about AD threat detection and response

What’s the best way to assess my current Active Directory vulnerabilities?

Hardening AD begins with getting a handle on the vulnerabilities and common configuration and management mishaps that pave the road to compromises. To defend AD, administrators need to know how attackers are targeting their environment. Conducting a complete vulnerability assessment on the AD environment requires a solution that is continually updated to scan for current Indicators of Exposure (IOEs) and Indicators of Compromise (IOCs). To conduct an initial assessment, you can download and use the free tool Purple Knight, which will scan your AD and Entra ID environment for hundreds of IOEs and IOCs, generate an overall security score, and provide prioritized remediation guidance from AD and Entra ID security experts.

What are the most critical AD security vulnerabilities?

Because of legacy AD misconfigurations that accumulate over time, many hybrid AD environments have dozens or hundreds of security vulnerabilities. Critical vulnerabilities include misconfigurations related to authentication, such as enabling anonymous access to AD. Permitting excessive privileges is another common source of AD security vulnerabilities. For more information about common AD security vulnerabilities, see “Do You Know Your Active Directory Security Vulnerabilities?“

How can I detect AD attacks that are designed to evade monitoring systems?

Cyberattackers are developing increasingly sophisticated methods of breaching hybrid AD environments that avoid detection. To detect malicious changes that bypass traditional monitoring systems (such as SIEMs), you need a solution that uses multiple data sources. Look for a tool that can capture changes even if security logging is turned off, logs are deleted, agents are disabled or stop working, or changes are injected directly into AD.

How can I track security vulnerabilities in Entra ID?

You can use the free AD security assessment tool Purple Knight to scan your Entra ID environment for various IOEs and IOCs, including inactive guest accounts, misconfigured conditional access policies, and Entra ID privileged users who are also privileged users in on-prem AD, which can result in both environments being compromised. You can use Directory Services Protector to track Entra ID changes in real-time; for more information, see “5 New Ways to Secure AD and Azure AD“