When’s the last time you actually managed your Active Directory groups? Be honest. We’re not talking about that last time you added someone to a group. We’re talking about the last time you actually did some homework to ensure that the group had the right members, that the permissions were assigned correctly, etc. It’s probably…
While they’ve been around for decades, in recent years we’ve all been introduced to squatters — people who move into an empty house that isn’t theirs and then take full advantage of the benefits of having a place to stay. They obtain utilities, setup mail delivery, maybe even meet the neighbors — all the while…
We are all well aware of the theory that every person is separated from everyone else by only six people. In fact, one 2013 study showed that this separation was just a little over 3.5 people. Although not as widely recognized, there is also a degree of separation between the people in IT who establish…
In some ways, there is no greater threat to security than a temp employee. At first glance, the previous statement might not make much sense. After all, the temp has comparatively the least amount of privileges, and they have those privileges for only a short period of time. In reality, however, the accounts created for…
If you were asked, “Is your environment secure?” you’d probably respond with something like “more or less.” After all, we IT professionals are pretty logical, and while we make a solid effort, there are areas of our network environments that are in less-than-desirable shape. You have a lot on your plate, and you just don’t…
In today’s IT support model, the service desk/help desk often represents the focal point for all users to bring their needs and issues to IT. Need your password reset? Call the service desk. Need to be added to an AD group so you can get your job done? Call the service desk. Need your last…
In the article “Are Insider Threats IT’s Fault?,” I discussed how the lack of focus on permissions granted by groups in Active Directory (AD) could be a contributing factor to insider threats and pose a potential security risk. With over one-third of organizations reporting that they do not implement any kind of least-privilege model1, this…
Asking this question might be considered edgy, so I’ll start by answering: No. Well, not exactly — not on purpose anyway. As an IT professional, you might ask yourself, “Seriously? Insider Threats are my fault?” I’m certainly not trying to alienate you. I’ve been in IT for over 20 years and know the hard work…
Projecting your on-premise Active Directory groups into your M365 hosted Exchange You still need Active Directory even though you have outsourced Exchange to Microsoft via M365. So, how do you manage it? You want your user attributes to be accurate, group memberships up to date, unused groups expired, and security groups to be, well, secure. …
Many of our clients are professional services organizations; law firms, marketing agencies, consultants and the like. One of the things that they have in common is that they often have a need to create a place where people both in and outside of their organization can come to share resources for a period of time. …