The strategy, "Implementing Active Directory Management Strategy," aims to streamline the handling of Microsoft Active Directory environments. It first focuses on optimizing access control and governance by delegating AD ownership to IT security teams and employing role-based access control. This ensures that permissions are not directly assigned to user accounts but are managed through security groups, reducing account sprawl and improving oversight. For example, using just-in-time access provisioning tools like Microsoft PIM can help manage privileged access effectively.
Another aspect of the strategy is standardizing organizational structure and policy management. This includes designing a logical hierarchy of organizational units (OUs) based on geography, department, or function. Ensuring that group policies (GPOs) are consistently applied requires maintaining a centralized policy store and conducting regular audits to match baseline configurations. This helps minimize policy conflicts and keeps the structure aligned with organizational changes.
Finally, enhancing identity lifecycle management focuses on automating user provisioning and deprovisioning through HR integrations, ensuring that accounts are disabled promptly upon termination. Azure AD Connect is used to synchronize on-prem AD with Microsoft Entra ID, while security measures like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and location-based access controls are applied. Regular reviews of accounts and procedures ensure ongoing security and streamlined operations across infrastructures.
The strategies
⛳️ Strategy 1: Optimise access control and governance
- Assign ad ownership to IT security or infrastructure teams
- Implement role-based access control using AD security groups
- Eliminate direct assignment of permissions to user accounts
- Enforce privileged access management using dedicated administrative accounts
- Use just-in-time access provisioning tools like Microsoft PIM or Delinea
- Audit all current AD accounts and permissions regularly
- Migrate from direct assignments to RBAC-based controls
- Monitor for unauthorized privileged access and lateral movements
- Use security groups to improve governance and eliminate account sprawl
- Regularly review privileged accounts and permissions
⛳️ Strategy 2: Standardise organisational structure and policy management
- Design a logical OU hierarchy based on geography, department, or function
- Maintain and update the OU hierarchy regularly to match organisational changes
- Use OUs for delegating administrative privileges through delegated permissions
- Apply GPOs to specific OUs to minimise policy conflicts
- Deploy baseline security GPOs based on CIS Benchmarks or Microsoft baselines
- Utilise the Group Policy Central Store for consistent GPO deployment
- Track changes to GPOs using auditing and change management
- Conduct regular cleanup of legacy OUs and standardise structure
- Establish change control protocols for GPOs
- Review GPOs against baseline configurations frequently
⛳️ Strategy 3: Enhance identity lifecycle management and security integration
- Automate user provisioning and deprovisioning through HR system integrations
- Disable user accounts immediately upon termination and archive as necessary
- Maintain documented joiners-movers-leavers workflows
- Regularly review active accounts against HR rosters
- Use Azure AD Connect for synchronising on-prem AD with Microsoft Entra ID
- Apply conditional access policies to cloud-only and synchronised accounts
- Implement MFA and location/device-based access controls for enhanced security
- Audit and harden Azure AD Connect server configuration
- Deploy Microsoft Defender for Identity for anomaly detection
- Conduct regular reviews and updates of identity lifecycle procedures
Bringing accountability to your strategy
It's one thing to have a plan, it's another to stick to it. We hope that the examples above will help you get started with your own strategy, but we also know that it's easy to get lost in the day-to-day effort.
That's why we built Tability: to help you track your progress, keep your team aligned, and make sure you're always moving in the right direction.
Give it a try and see how it can help you bring accountability to your strategy.
