A security identifier (SID) is used to uniquely identify a security principal or security group. Security principals can represent any entity that can be authenticated by the operating system, such as a user account, a computer account, or a thread or process that runs in the security context of a user or computer account.
security windowsWell-known security identifiers (SIDs) identify generic groups and generic users. There are universal well-known SIDs, which are meaningful on all secure systems using this security model, and well-known SIDs that are meaningful only on Windows systems.
security windowsProvides an overview and links to information about the User Rights Assignment security policy settings user rights that are available in Windows. User rights govern the methods by which a user can log on to a system. User rights are applied at the local device level, and they allow users to perform tasks on a device or in a domain. User rights include logon rights and permissions. Logon rights control who is authorized to log on to a device and how they can log on. User rights permissions control access to computer and domain resources, and they can override permissions that have been set on specific objects.
security windowsI've spent quite a few hours learning how to wrangle auditd around exclusions. Here's what I've learned.
linux securityOver the summer, the PowerShell Access Control module got some DSC resources to help manage security descriptors for for some of the supported object types. The module includes three resources: cAccessControlEntry, cSecurityDescriptorSddl, and cSecurityDescriptor.
PKI is really powerful, and really interesting. The math is complicated, and the standards are stupidly baroque, but the core concepts are actually quite simple. Certificates are the best way to identify code and devices, and identity is super useful for security, monitoring, metrics, and a million other things. Using certificates is not that hard. No harder than learning a new language or database. Itās just slightly annoying and poorly documented. This is the missing manual.
certificates encryption security read laterThe YubiKey Minidriver is designed to function in a Windows Server and Client environment configured for smart card authentication. Ensuring your deployment is set up properly is a crucial element of the initial planning for the YubiKey Minidriver deployment.
security windows active directory 2fa yubikeyRecently, I am learning how Elliptic Curve Cryptography works. I searched around the internet, found so many articles and videos explaining it. Most of them are covering only a portion of it, some of them skip many critical steps how you get from here to there. In the end, I didnāt find an article that really explains it from end-to-end in an intuitive way. With that in mind, I would like to write a post explaining Elliptic Curve Cryptography, cover from the basics to key exchange, encryption, and decryption.
encryption security read laterOpenSSL is an open-source command line tool that is commonly used to generate private keys, create CSRs, install your SSL/TLS certificate, and identify certificate information. We designed this quick reference guide to help you understand the most common OpenSSL commands and how to use them.
certificates security documentationTo enable LDAP over SSL (LDAPS) all you need to do is "install" an SSL certificate on the Active Directory server. Most enterprises will opt to purchase an SSL certificate from a 3rd Party like Verisign. In my case, I created my own certificate using OpenSSL. Here are the steps I used to secure my Active Directory server using a self signed certificate.
certificates ldap windows securityThis step-by-step guide will help you set up a public key certification authority (CA) in a network with servers running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 operating systems.
certificates security windows windows server 2003Setting up an Enterprise Root Certificate Authority isnāt a task that youāll complete on a regular basis and something I think Iāve done twice, maybe 3 times, ever. Each time I forget what I did previously and you can guarantee Iām using a different version of Windows Server each time.
security windowsIn the Admin UI under āAuthentication" it is possible to select one of 4 methods for authenticating user credentials; LOCAL, PAM, RADIUS or RADIUS. This can be done by changing the configuration key auth.module.type. This configuration key is not optional and is by default set to PAM. With LDAP and RADIUS additional settings are required to be able to authenticate users, for example which server to contact and any required shared secret code to be able to access the external authentication backend.
This document provides background on what LDAP authentication is, what specific LDAP authentication methods and mechanisms Active Directory and more specifically the NETID domain supports, and finally gives some guidance on which method and mechanism you should use.
ldap security windowsToday, many applications and devices connect to Active Directory over LDAP. Many of those are still performing insecure LDAP āsimple bindsā where credentials are transferred in clear text over the network. Those exposed credentials typically include the āservice accountā used to connect to LDAP, but also include the user credentials used during the application login.
Also note that the terms āLDAP over SSLā and āLDAP over TLSā are used interchangeably. By default, LDAP communications between client and server applications are not encrypted. This is especially problematic when an LDAP simple bind is used.
ldap security windowsThe primary reason for enabling this functionality is toĀ allow third-party applications that arenāt capable of performing secure binds or encrypted LDAP sessions (over TCP 389)Ā to connect securely.
active directory security windowsThe core of the issue is this, when an application performs a simple LDAP bind, the username and password is transmitted in clear text in the very first packet. The DC doesn't even have a chance to prevent this exposure from occurring. Ā If this connection is not encrypted at a lower layer such as TLS or IPSec, it may be intercepted and a bad day may soon follow.
active directory security windows ldapLAPS is easy to deploy and works great. The challenge comes in knowing if itās actually working. How do you know if your machines have ever set the password? Or maybe they set it once and havenāt updated it since even though itās past the designated expiration date? Itās definitely worth monitoring to ensure that your machines are operating as expected. Jiri Formacek (the creator of LAPS), threw together a small PowerShell script to provide that capability.
windows active directory securityLocal Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) has been around for a while and last year it became an official supported tool by Microsoft. Since there are so many articles about it, I would likeĀ to share my tweaks.Ā I decided to create my own LDF file to extend the schema with this two attributes because I feel that a few things are missing.
active directory security windowsThis whitepaper presents a deep dive of the AWS Lambda service through a security lens. It provides a well-rounded picture of the service, which can be useful for new adopters, as well as deepening understanding of AWS Lambda for current users.
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