Active Directory security is central to defending most corporate networks, because AD controls identity for almost everything. This is Module 16 of The Complete Blue Team Course.
Why Identity Attacks Dominate Real Breaches
Most serious breaches today involve credential theft and identity abuse more than custom malware. Attackers log in rather than break in. Defending identity through strong authentication, least privilege, and careful monitoring of authentication events is now central to blue team work.
Core Active Directory Attack Patterns to Know
- Kerberoasting: requesting service tickets to crack service account passwords offline. This is an early credential theft technique.
- Pass-the-hash: using a stolen password hash to authenticate and move laterally.
- DCSync: abusing replication rights to pull password data from a domain controller, which typically means full domain compromise.
Recognizing the log signatures of each is one of the highest-value skills for a defender in a Windows environment.
Practical Hardening Steps
- Reduce standing privilege and tier your admin accounts.
- Enforce SMB signing and LDAP channel binding.
- Deploy LAPS for unique local administrator passwords.
- Use long, random passwords for service accounts.
- Regularly audit privileged group memberships.
These steps close the most commonly abused paths without exotic tooling.
Key Takeaways
- Identity is the main target in modern attacks.
- Learn the log patterns of Kerberoasting, pass-the-hash, and DCSync.
- Hardening basics prevent a large share of AD attacks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Kerberoasting?
An attack where any domain user requests service tickets and cracks them offline to recover service account passwords.
Where can I practice Active Directory defense?
In a home lab with a Windows domain controller, a few clients, and Sysmon and a SIEM collecting logs.
Get the Full Blue Team Course
This is a free preview of Module 16. The complete 22-module course, from SOC fundamentals and SIEM to threat hunting, incident response, detection engineering, and career paths, is available as a one-time $1 download.