Active Directory

Definitions

1. Active Directory is a Microsoft directory service that centralizes identity, authentication, policy, and resource administration in Windows environments. Security teams use it to enforce trust, reduce exposure, improve detection, or standardize secure operations in production environments. Its value depends on correct configuration, lifecycle management, and surrounding controls, because weak defaults, poor integration, or missing visibility can create gaps that attackers exploit.

   In plain English: Active Directory is a security concept or control that helps organizations protect systems, manage trust, and notice suspicious behavior before damage spreads.

   Example: "After the review, the security team rolled out Active Directory in the affected environment, documented the operating procedure, and verified through logs and test cases that the control reduced exposure without breaking normal administrative or user workflows."

Related Terms

• Execution Policy
• Access Control List
• Authentication Bypass
• Bitlocker
• Credential Harvesting
• Credential Manager
• Credential Replay
• Deauthentication Attack
• Default Credentials
• Group Policy
• Just-in-Time Access
• Living off the Land
• Pass the Hash
• Shadow Copy
• Control Flow Guard
• Credential Dumping
• DLL Hijacking
• DLL Injection
• IDM
• PAM
• PS Exec
• RDP
• Role Engineering
• Role Explosion
• Role Mining