How to Fix Active Directory’s #1 Weak Point in 2026: Passwords
It's 2026. Despite years of momentum around passwordless authentication, the reality in most enterprise environments is still the same: Active Directory remains at the core of identity infrastructure, and passwords are still the primary authentication mechanism.
In that context, it's important to be clear: investing in an EDR or a SIEM does not automatically eliminate the biggest identity risks. A single credential leak, whether through phishing, password spraying, reuse, or data exposure, can be enough to compromise an entire Active Directory domain.
At the same time, relying solely on traditional password best practices (complexity rules, uppercase letters, special characters, etc.) is no longer sufficient. That's not surprising: attack techniques have evolved significantly, while Active Directory's native security controls around credentials and authentication have seen limited evolution over the years.
In this article, we'll break down the most common attack paths and the technical limitations of Active Directory, before exploring practical mitigation strategies and solutions that can effectively address these weaknesses.
Why Active Directory Remains a Prime Target
To understand why Active Directory remains one of the top targets, you need to look at the role it plays in enterprise environments. In most organizations, on-premises Active Directory is still the authoritative source of truth for authentication and access control. This remains true even in many hybrid setups, where Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) handles cloud identities while AD continues to anchor the core identity layer.
On a day-to-day basis, Active Directory is heavily involved in critical workflows: Kerberos authentication, access to file servers, RDP logons to servers, VPN authentication, and much more. In many cases, AD also extends into the cloud through Microsoft Entra Connect, synchronizing user objects, and often password hashes, to support hybrid identity scenarios.
As a result, compromising Active Directory effectively means gaining control over the entire identity backbone: the "keys to the kingdom." That alone explains why AD remains a priority target wherever it is deployed.
