Read all of the ATA Learning tutorials on Specops here!

7 Tips for an Efficient and Secure Active Directory Setup

Learn 7 essential best practices for setting up an efficient and secure Active Directory environment, from planning your structure and applying least-privilege principles to securing domain controllers and implementing breached password protection.

Adam Bertram 4 min. read

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.

Adam Bertram 8 min. read

Active Directory: Add MFA to Windows with Specops Secure Access

Learn how to deploy Specops Secure Access to add multi-factor authentication (MFA) to Windows logins and Remote Desktop connections in Active Directory environments.

Adam Bertram 6 min. read

How to Block Known Bad Active Directory Passwords

In this article, we will explore why and how to block the use of certain passwords for Active Directory user accounts. In an Active Directory environment, password security is a critical factor in protecting user accounts against cyberattacks. However, even with a strict password policy in place, some users or administrators may still choose weak passwords or ones that can be easily guessed. To strengthen the security of your domain, it is possible to prevent the use of specific passwords. If blocking bad Active Directory passwords is part of a larger identity-security learning plan, compare Udemy technical training courses for cloud, development, security, and business software skills before paying for another course library. Why block certain passwords? There are several scenarios in which it is advisable to prevent users or administrators from setting specific passwords. The larger and older an Active Directory environment becomes, the higher the likelihood of poor practices and notable weaknesses. Throughout my career as a pentester, I have conducted numerous internal penetration tests in companies of different sizes, levels of maturity, and industries. In many cases, password reuse across multiple user accounts allowed me to compromise several accounts, including privileged ones, which sometimes led to the complete compromise of the domain. To strengthen security and increase resilience against cyberattacks, it may be necessary to block specific passwords, especially when they arise from the following situations. Common initial password for all accounts A common practice within administration teams is to assign the same initial password (often referred to as a default password) to every new user, with the instruction to change it as soon as possible. A typical example of such a password could be “Welcome2024!”. However, this password change is not always enforced, especially when it is not technically required. In many cases, it is possible to find user accounts still configured with this password even years after their creation, either because they were never used, or because the password change requirement was not applied (e.g., technical accounts, test accounts, or so-called temporary accounts).

Adam Bertram 8 min. read