Microsoft’s OneDrive for Business (ODFB) is a cloud storage and collaboration platform, which is easy to use and can be installed on and synced to any Android or Apple mobile device or laptop. ODFB differs from OneDrive for personal users in a number of ways, some of which include better auditing and reporting, significantly larger storage space, better integration with Office 365 for Business and other cloud-based Microsoft products. Below … Read more
Office 365 Groups are similar to the security groups we see in Active Directory, however, they come with some additional benefits, which we will explore. Firstly, let’s clarify what a “group” actually is. What is an Office 365 Group? A group is a bit like a container which users are placed in. Each group will have a set of permissions assigned to it, which determine how the users in the … Read more
Active Directory (AD) is a directory service that runs on Microsoft Windows Server. The main function of AD is to enable administrators to manage permissions and control access to network resources. In AD, data is stored as objects, which include users, groups, applications and devices, and these objects are categorized according to their name and attributes. Domain Services (AD DS) are a core component of Active Directory and provide the … Read more
The cyber-security landscape is changing rapidly as increasingly more organizations are adopting Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). We’re witnessing an inevitable shift, especially since the recent social distancing rules have resulted in large numbers of employees working from home and other remote locations. However, it wasn’t exactly a gradual transition, and many businesses are not prepared for security challenges that switching to cloud services … Read more
It is surprising how few people are aware that any time you load up a website or connect with another person online, your connection gives your “address” to that site/person. Naturally, when faced with this information, a lot of people are not happy with it. A combination of cyber security and general privacy concerns requires most schools, organizations and a lot of the general public to adopt proxy servers. So, … Read more
The 5 FSMO Roles in Active Directory: What They Are and What They Do
09.04.2020, General, by
Danny Murphy.
Active Directory (AD) is pretty much the go-to domain authentication services for enterprises all over the world and has been since its inception in Windows Server 2000. Back then, AD was pretty unsecured and had some flaws that made it particularly difficult to use. For example, if you had multiple domain controllers (DCs), they would compete over permissions to make changes. This meant that you could be making changes and … Read more
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is something that all of us have probably come into contact with without even realizing it. If you’ve ever bought a new printer and noticed that your computer, phone and tablet are all able to recognize the device automatically, you’ve lived UPnP. If you fancy playing that song from your phone a little louder by broadcasting it to Alexa or some other wireless speaker, that’s … Read more
Active Directory security groups are used to give users or groups access to certain resources. If your Active Directory security groups are mis-configured or compromised, then your sensitive data could be at risk. In this article, I’m going to go through some best practices for your Active Directory security groups to ensure that you can maintain the security of your AD. Ensure Default Security Groups Do Not Have Elevated Permissions … Read more
98% of security threats start with Active Directory. Active Directory literally holds the keys to your kingdom. If the right security principles aren’t set up and you are giving excessive permissions to your users, you are leaving yourself exposed to potential security threats. Within Active Directory, there are numerous security protocols to choose from to implement a policy of least privilege where you are only granting administrative access to those … Read more
When discussing information security trends in the event of a recession, the problem is that we are heading into uncharted waters. The number of annual data breaches have been constantly rising since 2005. We are also seeing an increase in the number of data breaches following the housing market crash of 2008, which is what we would expect, as cyber-criminals never let a crisis go to waste. Given the increase … Read more
