Top 10 Best Active Directory Auditing Tools / Software. Active Directory domains are the most attacked networks because of their wide usage and the number of vulnerabilities that are made available due to user mistakes. This especially concerns their password and accounts usage. Show
IT teams depend on Active Directory (AD) to keep networks secure and to maintain user accounts. Choosing the audit tools can be very costly, especially if there is strict budget limitations. Here it is why we’ve put together this list of the top 10 best Active Directory management tools. In this post, we will be looking at the top 10 best Active Directory auditing tools and software solutions to manage your on-premise or cloud domain controller.
What is Active Directory?Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) is Microsoft’s multi-tenant cloud-based directory and identity management service. Benefits of AD
What to look for in Active Directory monitoring tools?When looking at AD auditing tools it is important to look at the criteria such as: A) Can you analyze the permissions structure? B) Can you automate user account and group creation? C) Is there a feature that helps to tighten security? D) Can you get information about user who did not log in for certain number of days or left the company? E) Is there an audit trail that logs all changes to AD entries? And so, without further ado… Top 10 Best Active Directory Auditing Tools / Software1. InfraSOS
InfraSOS is the leading active directory reporting tool on the market. The tool also includes reports for Office 365 among 200+ other comprehensive AD reports that can be exported in various formats. Among the other reports are those that show details about AD users that are active or inactive, blocked, locked out or have their accounts disabled. Information that can be reported includes the last time they had logged on or changed their passwords. Administrators can also access information about the current status of user accounts, their security permissions, password expiry dates (or when they had changed their passwords), failed login attempts, and much more. They also have AD Health Check reports that report on the status of the domain controller (DC) itself and any Domain Nameservers (DNS) with the ability to set alerts on AD DC replication statuses. In unique settings, they can create custom filters to search for AD attributes – including missing attributes – based on user attribute entries. Choose InfraSOS to make sure your AD is fully secure and compliant. InfraSOS Pros
InfraSOS Cons
2. Netwrix Account Auditor
This tool is popular for being one of the best AD tools for quick resolution of account lockout issues with AD. Administrators can spot the root causes of lockouts with just a few clicks. It is a lightweight tool that doesn’t eat up resources as users go about investing issues like why one account keeps getting locked out. There is no need to dig through event logs as all the information is searchable by just entering a username. This is a client server application that runs as a service that allows it to report issues in real time. It also has audit trail features that allow for monitoring the full stack of IT systems. Netwrix Prox
Netwrix Cons
3. ManageEngine ADManager Plus
ManageEngine ADManager Plus is next on the list of top 10 Best Active Directory Auditing Tools / Software. It is an easy to use AD management and reporting solution. It has a central web-based user interface (UI) that handles tasks like bulk management of user accounts, delegates role based access to stakeholders for decentralized task management, and displays it all in an array of reports. The tool is mobile friendly, thanks to its web interface, allowing it to be accessed from anywhere in the world. It is a tool that can monitor critical metrics like CPU usage, memory allocation, and thread counts for easier decision making on how to scale applications’ capacity. Users can then drill down into reports on root causes to view granular information and display them in dashboards and graphs for a better understanding of performance statistics. ManageEngine ADManager Pros
ManageEngine ADManager Cons
4. ManageEngine AD360
ManageEngine AD360 is another product from the same company that is an integrated identity and access management (IAM) solution for managing user identities, governing access to resources, enforcing security and ensuring compliance. Among the tasks that it can perform we find user provisioning, self service password management, AD change monitoring and single sign-on (SSO) for enterprise applications all manageable from a single easy-to-use interface. This tool allows for the management of not only AD but also assets like Exchange Servers and Office 365 – regardless if the architecture is on premise, cloud or hybrid. Users also have independence when it comes to resetting their passwords while administrators can leverage self service features for common tasks like updating user attributes in AD. AD360 also helps monitor changes to AD objects in real time and comply with regulations with the help of its out-of-the-box reports. ManageEngine AD360 Pros
ManageEngine AD360 Cons
5.Specops Command
Specops has a collection of AD tools for password auditing and scanning as well as identifying password related vulnerabilities. It collects the information and generates various interactive reports showing user and password policy information. The tool scans the network to identify risky account status like orphaned or unused accounts as well as other security risks. Administrators can then use the results to determine what cleanup operations need to be implemented. It can also be used to enforce security compliance requests, block compromised passwords and help users create secure passwords. Its Password Policy feature extends the functionality of AD Group Policy (GP) and simplifies the management of password policies. Administrators can drill down into the policies to look at their settings to make sure they are compliant with industry standards and protect against attacks. It uses its extensible dictionary of common and compromised passwords to stop users from creating susceptible passwords. Specops Pros
Specops Cons
6. Quest Recovery Manager for Active Directory
Administrators can also back up the AD at the object and attribute levels as well as pinpoint any changes made to the environment as a whole. The information provided lets them know what had happened, who was responsible, and what needs to be rolled back to fix an error. It can compare backups to show where a change occurred and help pinpoint recovery points. Once the recovery points have been decided it can restore only objects or attributes that have changed to cut down on recovery times. Quest Recovery Manager Pros
Quest Recovery Manager Cons
7.SolarWinds Permissions Analyzer for Active Directory
The tool has an interface to analyze assigned and inherited permissions of files and folders in the AD. This allows administrators to easily identify how permissions are inherited by users and groups. This free AD permissions analyzer from SolarWinds is easy to install, intuitive to operate, and clearly shows why users have their particular permissions. It analyzes assigned and inherited permissions for files and folders in a Windows domain. Once installed, it shows what access has been granted to users or makes it easy to spot why they aren’t able to access resources. SolarWinds Pros
SolarWinds Cons
8. Quest Active Administrator
Quest Active Administrator is another tool from Quest. In this case, we have a complete and integrated AD management solution that offers a view of the management of the domain. It enhances compliance with audit and security requirements by pinpointing gaps that have been left by third party security solutions. Administrators can understand and streamline security threats and delegate controls to other stakeholders using customizable and reusable templates. They can also perform authorization checks to prevent over-privileged users from accessing sensitive data by assessing, standardizing, and implementing security policies and permissions. Quest Active Administrator Pros
Quest Active Administrator Cons
9. Adaxes
Adaxes is an enterprise grade management and automation solution for enhanced administration experience of AD, Exchange, and Microsoft 365 environments. It consolidates all the Microsoft platforms for easier auditing and management using a single web based interface. Administrators can delegate AD management capabilities to their colleagues without granting them domain administrator rights. They can also automate tasks, rules based group building, reporting and much more – with approval steps thrown in the mix. Adaxes Pros
Adaxes Cons
10. Lepide Data Security Platform
Lepide Data Security Platform is a tool to audit, report, and alert on changes made to critical systems and data to help administrators streamline systems management, improve security, and meet compliance demands. Organizations can report on user interactions with data on cloud and on premise, such as Active Directory, Azure, File Server and Office 365 They can audit changes in AD objects or files in real time. Alternatively, they can run custom scripts to automatically react to security threats. In cases where damage has already been done, the platform can speed up and simplify the process of restoring the system from the regular backups of AD objects and Group Policy. This includes restoring deleted objects from a tombstoned state. Lepide Data Security Pros
Lepide Data Security Cons
That’s it! We have gone through Top 10 Best Active Directory Auditing Tools / Software. Thank you for your time. Top 10 Best Active Directory Auditing Tools / Software ConclusionThe AD is one of the most critical components of a domain. It is also the first target when it comes to security. With so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to find the right mix of AD management tools for your needs. The most effective way to make that choice is to install different tools and try them out in your AD environment. This will give you insight into how well they will work for your specific needs and preferences. Any auditing or management tools that are put in your domain need to be configured correctly for effectiveness as well as ensuring there no gaps are left for further exploitation. How often should ad be backed up?You should back up your Active Directory regularly with an interval that doesn't exceed 60 days. AD services presume that the age of the Active Directory backup cannot be more than the lifetime of AD tombstone objects, which by default is 60 days.
Which of these would be considered as best practices for Group Policy implementation?Group Policy Best Practices. Do not modify the Default Domain Policy and Default Domain Controller Policy. ... . Create a well-designed organizational unit (OU) structure in Active Directory. ... . Give GPOs descriptive names. ... . Add comments to your GPOs. ... . Do not set GPOs at the domain level. ... . Apply GPOs at the OU root level.. What policies should you use if you are using Group Policy Objects with Windows?Here is the list of top 10 Group Policy Settings:. Moderating Access to Control Panel.. Prevent Windows from Storing LAN Manager Hash.. Control Access to Command Prompt.. Disable Forced System Restarts.. Disallow Removable Media Drives, DVDs, CDs, and Floppy Drives.. Restrict Software Installations.. Disable Guest Account.. What should be in the default domain policy?The Default Domain Policy should only set the following: Password Policy. Domain Account Lockout Policy. Domain Kerberos Policy.
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