Domain Controller solution guards against bad behavior from unmanaged devices. Credit: Natali Mis / Getty Images A popular target of attackers, Microsoft Active Directory will receive an extra measure of protection under a new offering announced Thursday by Attivo Networks. The company’s ADSecure-DC solution expands its Active Directory protection to non-Windows endpoints.About a year ago Attivo introduced an endpoint product that could detect suspicious attempts to query Active Directory, intercept the queries, and steer them off course. “That was done on every Windows machine on the endpoint,” says Attivo Chief Security Advocate and CMO Carolyn Crandall, “but there are situations where you have Linux, Mac devices, or IoT devices that you can’t load the Windows agent onto, or where you don’t want to load an agent on a Windows endpoint. Now, with AD Secure Domain Controller, attacks can be detected from unmanaged devices.”“With ADSecure-DC, the agent is on the Domain Controller itself,” adds Lead Architect for Active Directory Products Steve Griffiths. “When the endpoint queries the Domain Controller, the same activity goes on but it happens at the Domain Controller.”In addition to identifying enumeration and attacks targeting Active Directory, ADSecure-DC also detects suspicious user behaviors using deep packet inspection and behavior analytics, as well as delivering high-fidelity alerts. Wide usage makes Active Directory an attractive targetActive Directory is used by 90% of enterprises worldwide, which contributes to its popularity as an attack vector for digital raiders. It also contains a treasure trove of data attractive to attackers. “As a database that maps and controls user profiles, network resources, and services, it contains not only a wealth of information about all users but also all the resources that they can access,” says Tony Anscombe, chief security evangelist at ESET, an information technology security company.Once attackers compromise Active Directory, they can elevate privileges, change security and group policies, and encrypt domain controllers. “Domain controllers provide the intelligence to know what users get to access and controls their authorization to be able to get to those things,” Crandall says. Related content news UK CSO 30 Awards 2023 winners announced By Romy Tuin Dec 05, 2023 4 mins CSO and CISO news analysis Deepfakes emerge as a top security threat ahead of the 2024 US election As the US enters a critical election year, AI-generated threats, particularly deepfakes, are emerging as a top security issue, with no reliable tools yet in place to combat them. By Cynthia Brumfield Dec 05, 2023 7 mins Election Hacking Government Security Practices feature How cybersecurity teams should prepare for geopolitical crisis spillover CISOs can anticipate and prepare for cyberattacks conducted by participants in geopolitical conflict such as the Israel/Hamas war by understanding the threat actors' motivations and goals. By Christopher Whyte Dec 05, 2023 12 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Threat and Vulnerability Management Risk Management news analysis P2Pinfect Redis worm targets IoT with version for MIPS devices New versions of the worm include some novel approaches to infecting routers and internet-of-things devices, according to a report by Cado Security. By Lucian Constantin Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Botnets Hacker Groups Security Practices Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe