4 min read
Leaving inactive user accounts in Active Directory (AD) unmanaged is a risky oversight with real consequences. Each inactive credential, particularly those belonging to former employees is vulnerable to an attacker. Oftentimes an attacker can use those unused credentials to breach systems and gain access to sensitive data.
The potential damage is substantial, and in many cases, a violation of compliance regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX, which all require proper management of user access. Yet, organizations continue to leave these accounts unmanaged.
How Inactive User Accounts Threaten Compliance
Inactive Active Directory user accounts are a significant blind spot for an organization’s security and compliance posture.
- Retaining Excess Permissions: Inactive user accounts can accumulate excessive permissions over time – a problem known as “privilege creep”. This violates the least privilege creates an entitlement nightmare and can lead to compliance violations, fines, and litigation.
- Weakens Auditability: Stale accounts, if compromised and used to create user activities, can be disguised as legitimate and make activity attribution and tracking violations during an audit, impossible. This directly conflicts with standards and controls regarding logging and user-activity, which all compliance frameworks require, including GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX.
- High Security Risks: Regulations such as GDPR and SOX require organizations to have effective controls around access. Failure to disable inactive accounts or set any authentication controls, like MFA, increases threats of unauthorized access.
- Data Breaches: Former employees who have an open account may still be able to access records, which is obviously against access revocation and, against the least privilege principle that is required for compliance. An inactive account that violates the HIPAA Act or the GDPR may undoubtedly result in penalties and potential legal action.
- Legal and Operational Restrictions: Licenses and certifications a company holds are subject to regulatory requirements, and failing to comply can be costly. Non-compliance with regulatory requirements such as for financial or health target areas could also have significant costs to the company through significant fines, sanctions, and limitations.
- Reputational Damage: Data is leaked, or compliance violations occur, and the company suffers reputational damage. Non-compliance with laws, regulations, or internal policies creates reputational damage and loses the trust of the customer. If customers lose trust, they may never regain it. Loss of trust translates into loss of brand value and loss of customers which shows the extreme importance of compliance in protecting a company and its reputation.
Mitigating Risks Associated with Inactive User Accounts
- Monitor Inactive Accounts: Use auditing and monitoring solutions to keep an eye on inactive account activity in order to spot irregularities or unauthorized use before they become more serious.
- Implement Offboarding Protocols: Make sure that user accounts are clearly removed from lingering access by deactivating or deleting them as soon as an employee leaves or changes positions.
- Conduct Access Reviews: To identify inactive accounts and maintain the least privilege access principle, plan frequent audits of user accounts and permissions.
- Account Expiration Policies: To lower the danger of forgotten login passwords, set up account expiration rules so that accounts automatically expire after a predetermined period of inactivity, such as 60 or 90 days, or the end of the contract.
- Apply RBAC: Adhere to least privilege principles and use role-based access control (RBAC) to limit user access to what is required. As users’ roles change, access should be routinely accessed.
How Lepide Helps
Lepide offers a suite of free tools for compliance threats associated with Active Directory, including for inactive user accounts. Lepide Inactive Users Report free tool gives IT administrators a precise, detailed list of all inactive accounts within their Active Directory. This tool highlights how long each account has been inactive, allowing administrators to quickly identify accounts that violate the principle of least privilege and need immediate attention. Lepide’s free tools assist organizations in taking the crucial first step toward avoiding a data breach and upholding compliance by making this information readily available.
Take the first step in managing your inactive users to establish a more compliant atmosphere. Download the Lepide Inactive User Reporter for AD.
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