A passphrase is a password; it’s simply one that’s made up of random whole words (usually, three, or four). So if a passphrase is just a password, why does it matter which one we enforce end users to create?... Read More
Password Management
Six attack paths in Active Directory and how to remediate them
One of the crown jewels for an attacker who infiltrates an enterprise environment is Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). There are several attack paths the “blue team” needs to remediate to bolster the security of Active Directory. Remediating... Read More
How an ex-employee’s leaked credentials led to a U.S. State Government breach
A U.S. State Government organization’s network was recently compromised through a former employee's administrator account. The organization itself is unnamed, but we know that the threat actor successfully authenticated into an internal virtual private network (VPN) access point using... Read More
Why security and awareness training won’t fix bad password habits
Organizations know their end users represent a cybersecurity risk. They make mistakes, they’re targeted by hackers, and sometimes they’ll even act maliciously against their employer. Security and awareness training is an attempt to reduce this risk by creating a... Read More
Holiday season cyber threats: Is your service desk prepared?
Cybercriminals strategically time their attacks for when cyber defenses are most vulnerable. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have noticed a significant increase in ransomware attacks against US companies during holidays and weekends.... Read More
How to force password changes at next logon in Entra ID (formerly Azure AD)
Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is the central component for identity and access management in Microsoft Azure, and by extension, Microsoft 365. Managing users and passwords for organization accounts requires understanding how Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) handles password... Read More
Aligning password policies with cybersecurity KPIs
As an IT pro, you’re tasked with measuring (and ultimately proving) the value of your cybersecurity investments. But how do you show that your security efforts and expenditures have the desired effect? One way is by aligning your cybersecurity... Read More
Password reuse: A hidden danger you can’t ignore
Reusing passwords is common, despite years of warnings to end users. It’s a problem that’s difficult for IT teams to get a handle on, especially if people are reusing work passwords at home. This means a breach elsewhere can... Read More
Enable Microsoft Entra Password Protection (formerly Azure AD Password Protection) in a hybrid environment
With default Active Directory password policies, many organizations find that users create weak, easily guessed, or incremental passwords that attackers can easily compromise. Using Microsoft Entra Password Protection (formerly Azure AD Password Protection), organizations can have an additional layer... Read More
Useful PowerShell commands for managing Active Directory password policies
Managing password policies in Active Directory is an essential task for a system administrator managing AD DS environments. Password policies help to enforce password policy best practices so passwords are not easily guessed or compromised. Managing and configuring password... Read More