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Month: November 2017

Privileged Access Management to Secure a Compromised AD Forest

Privileged Access Management (PAM) is a new feature in Windows Server 2016 that can secure environments even in cases where AD is already compromised. In this blog, I’ll describe the architecture requirements for setting up PAM solutions. Many organizations struggle to secure their systems because Active Directory is already compromised. Insiders often initiate attacks, whether … Continued

Active Directory Management: Top 7 Common Mistakes

Managing Active Directory is not an easy task, but someone has to do it. If this “someone” is you, then you should always keep in mind that human beings make mistakes, even if they are AD gurus. To minimize the risk of such mistakes from happening on your watch, I’ll walk you through the most common … Continued

The Top 5 IT Security Trends for 2018

In 2017, the IT community was primarily focused on mitigating external threats, such as cloud hacks and state-sponsored cyber attacks. However, many of this year’s data breaches — notably Equifax and Anthem — were actually the result of insider misuse or human mistakes. These breaches clearly demonstrate that building even the most robust perimeter defense … Continued

Brace Yourself — HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Is at Your Door

I’m horrified by the torture organizations go through to prepare for HIPAA audits. To help, I’ve put together the key concepts around risk analysis and the seven steps for getting started. Do you work for a HIPAA-covered entity or business associate? Then you may be wondering exactly what IT security risk assessment is required for … Continued

Hot Tips: How to Harden Privileged Account Security

Privileged accounts are user accounts with extended permissions to access systems and data, such as the root account in Unix and Administrator accounts in Windows. Sometimes they are called “the keys to the kingdom” because a privileged account enables you do things ordinary users can’t, such as change a system’s configuration or view and delete … Continued

Key Lessons Learned from Data Breaches Caused by Privilege Abuse

In a previous blog post, “Privilege Abuse: Threat Alert,” we provided an overview of what privilege abuse is and why this threat is so serious. In today’s post, we will look at the problem from a different angle. We’ll examine four notorious data breaches caused by privileged account abuse to find answers to the following … Continued

5 Things You Need to Know about IT Risk Assessment

With threats to sensitive data growing in both number and sophistication every day, organizations cannot afford a scattershot approach to security. Instead, they need to focus their limited IT budgets and resources on the specific vulnerabilities in their unique security posture. To do this, they need to identify, analyze and prioritize the risks to the … Continued

What’s New in Netwrix Auditor 9.5

Today, Netwrix Corporation released a new version of Netwrix Auditor, a visibility platform for user behavior analysis and risk mitigation that enables control over changes, configurations and access in hybrid IT environments to protect data regardless of its location. The platform provides security intelligence to identify security holes, detect anomalies in user behavior and investigate threat … Continued