Active Directory Auditing Software

Auditing Active Directory is an essential element of your data security strategy. It holds the keys to your kingdom, and is often the focal point of attacks. Effective Active Directory auditing enables you to detect unauthorized access, track changes that could compromise security and implement more efficient incident response. AD auditing is also essential for meeting legal compliance requirements, providing detailed audit trails that can be used for internal and external audits. It also helps with operational efficiency, allowing you to audit changes that might affect business operations, monitor user behavior to optimize resource allocation and enforce policies.

There are numerous best practices for effective Active Directory auditing, specifically related to critical activities, including logins, changes to user accounts, group memberships and permissions. AD audit logs should be regularly reviewed to identify and respond to suspicious activities in a timely manner. AD auditing should also be focused on the events that matter the most so that the system is not overwhelmed with noisy data. You should use a third-party AD audit tool that can automate much of the real time alerting and event log analysis. Ensure your event logs are stored securely and retained according to whichever compliance requirements you might be subject to. Detailed internal audits should also be regularly undertaken to ensure policies and practices are still effective.

It’s important to focus on events that are critical to the security of your Active Directory, including the creation, deletion, and modification of user accounts and group memberships. Monitoring logon activities can help to detect unauthorized access. Auditing changes to permissions and access rights can help to prevent privilege abuse or permissions sprawl. Auditing changes to AD schema can help you maintain the integrity of your AD. Additionally, it’s important to audit access to critical systems and sensitive data, as well as changes to group policy objects (GPOs) that could affect your security settings.

Companies should look for AD auditing tools that offer comprehensive and real-time monitoring capabilities, allowing them to track changes to user accounts, group memberships, permissions, and policies. The tool should provide detailed and easily searchable logs, customizable alerting mechanisms for critical events, and robust reporting features to meet compliance requirements. It should also offer integration with other security systems and support for long-term log retention with secure storage. User-friendly dashboards and automated analysis features can help in quickly identifying suspicious activities and potential security threats. Additionally, scalability and support for various environments (on-premises, cloud, or hybrid) are crucial to ensure the tool fits the company's current and future needs.

Yes. If you’re trying to understand what’s happening in your AD, Lepide is the solution for you. We give you a detailed audit trail and who, what, where and when information in a single pane of glass. If something happens, our Active Directory auditing reports will capture it.

Yes. Lepide can give you a detailed look at the state of your Active Directory prior to a migration or digital transformation project. This includes total users, enabled users, disabled users, locked users, and inactive users. We can also show you details of who your privileged users are so that you can make provisioning decisions prior to migration.