10 min readZero Trust has been a talking point for more than a decade, but what’s different now is the pace of real adoption. Starting in 2025, most large and mid-sized organizations will move beyond theory and begin implementing Zero Trust in practice. Because identity is the foundation of Zero Trust, Active Directory becomes the first, and often hardest, part of that transition.
Active Directory still acts as the master key to an organization’s systems and data. When that key is compromised, the consequences are severe, which is why attackers continue to target AD accounts so aggressively. Security teams and boards understand this risk more clearly than ever, and the pressure to strengthen identity controls is growing. As a result, many organizations are turning to Zero Trust to modernize how they secure identities.
In this article, we explore why Zero Trust adoption is accelerating in 2025, what this shift means for protecting Active Directory, how organizations can manage Zero Trust in day-to-day operations, and what it takes to achieve a practical, well-managed “gold standard” Zero Trust implementation.
Why zero trust is moving faster in 2025
1. Attackers learned the old playbook
Attackers no longer target firewalls aggressively as they did in the past. Instead, they seek out user accounts, outdated permissions, poor session management, stale organisational structures and service accounts with no activity, and poor audit trails for information. The concept of Zero Trust places great emphasis on these reduced levels of internal trust because Zero Trust focuses on requiring evidence for every access request and constantly validating users against risk.
While Active Directory remains the primary target for most breaches, it provides many critical identity elements that attackers exploit to gain access. Old user accounts, large group memberships, and established trusts can enable attackers to move freely throughout the organisation once they gain entry. Zero Trust attempts to provide organisations with pressure to minimise these opportunities for internal attacks.
2. Boards now ask direct questions
For years, zero trust was presented in glossy decks. Now in 2025 boards want more than a vision. They want proof that internal access cannot be abused. They want to ensure that internal access isn’t abused, that admin accounts are tightly controlled, and that they get quick answers on who has access to sensitive systems. Zero trust provides them with a clear framework to report on.
This shift away from high-level guidelines towards more active oversight means that identity teams must now clean up their Active Directory, have accurate information, be able to verify access in real time, and have a method to prevent unauthorized use of admin rights. Therefore, Zero Trust is no longer considered a long-term goal.
3. Hybrid work became permanent
Remote work had already changed the network structure by 2021. In 2025, hybrid work is not an exception. It is the norm. People access internal apps from many places. Some use personal devices. Some use cloud platforms that link back to on-premises directories.
Old trust-based models cannot handle this. Zero Trust fits this world because it does not assume trust from network location. Every session needs continuous checks. This forces identity teams to either rebuild their control model or accept constant risk.
Zero trust principles that impact Active Directory
Zero Trust sounds simple; trust nothing, verify everything. In practice, it means a set of controls that hit Active Directory at a deep level. These include:
1. Least privilege without excuses
Least privilege is the center of Zero Trust. Active Directory is full of broad rights that nobody remembers granting. Zero Trust pushes teams to fix this. It requires a full view of what permissions exist and which accounts actually need them.
2. Continuous verification
Zero Trust does not rely on one-time checks. It wants real-time signals. Active Directory struggles here because most firms treat it as a static source of truth. Zero Trust forces teams to pull live activity data from AD so they can spot strange access behavior quickly.
3. Micro segmentation for identity
This is not network segmentation. This is identity access segmentation. Active Directory often uses wide groups. Zero Trust pushes for smaller, purpose-based access sets. This reduces the spread of risk if an account is abused.
4. Strong control of admin accounts
Admin accounts are always the first goal for attackers. Zero Trust demands multi-factor checks, session control, approval-based workflows, and shorter admin sessions. AD admins often resist this because it adds steps. In 2025, those steps are no longer optional.
Active Directory issues that block zero trust implementation
Despite all the interest in Zero Trust, Active Directory security still presents a real issue for IT and security teams. These issues matter because they slow adoption.
1. Old access stays in the system for years
Ask any identity team to list all the rights a user has. They cannot answer quickly. Not because they are careless. Because Active Directory grows messy with time. People change teams. Projects end. Migrations happen. Permissions stay.
Zero Trust hates this kind of bloat. It requires a clean and accurate access map. Firms often realize they need new tools to see hidden rights and stale groups before they can even start.
2. Domain Admins are treated like permanent gods
Many firms hand out Domain Admin rights to solve quick problems, then forget to remove them. Over time, the list becomes long. Zero Trust requires near-zero permanent admin rights. This is a major shift from old habits.
3. Service accounts run wild
Service accounts often have broad access. They rarely use multi-factor checks. Teams fear touching them because they might break something. Zero Trust calls for strong controls over service accounts too. This puts heavy pressure on identity teams to finally clean and monitor them.
4. Lack of visibility into real activity
Most firms do not watch Active Directory activity in a detailed way. They rely on logs that are hard to read. They have slow alerting. They cannot spot silent changes fast. Zero Trust requires quick insight. Without visibility, the model cannot work.
5. Multiple identity stores confuse the picture
Many firms use AD on-premises, Entra ID, and other cloud identity systems at the same time. Rights often overlap. Groups do not match. Zero Trust needs consistent control across all of them. Without alignment, the risk remains open.
Why zero trust adoption forces focus on AD security
Once firms commit to Zero Trust, the effect on Active Directory is large. Here are the changes most teams face.
1. Full access review as a starting point
Teams begin by checking every account, every group, every right. This review often reveals years of ignored clutter. Zero Trust cannot begin until this map is clear. Many firms discover that their AD is far more open than they expected.
2. Removal of broad legacy groups
Groups created long ago for projects or old teams remain active even when no one uses them. Zero Trust pushes teams to delete or shrink these groups. This brings friction because many users fear losing access. Careful planning is needed.
3. Strict control over admin sessions
Permanent admin rights become rare. Admins move to just-in-time access. This means they get rights only when they need them and only for short periods. It reduces risk but changes how admins work. This requires cultural change in IT teams.
4. Session monitoring becomes the norm
Zero Trust wants real-time checks. This means watching AD sessions. Any strange action from a user, admin, or service account should trigger alerts. Many firms adopt tools that provide smart behavior baselines for AD activity.
5. Focus on service accounts
Service accounts get reviewed. Their rights are cut. Their use is tracked. This is one of the hardest changes, but it is also one of the most impactful. Attackers hide inside service accounts because no one checks them.
6. Adoption of identity threat detection
Zero Trust needs a quick response. Firms adopt threat detection tools that can see suspicious AD activity in seconds. This replaces slow log-based review. It helps teams catch dangerous moves like privilege escalation or new trust creation.
Zero Trust and the rise of hybrid identity security
By 2025, very few organizations live in a single identity world. Most mix AD, Microsoft Entra ID and cloud identity tools. Zero Trust needs control across all of them. Identity is no longer tied to one domain.
This hybrid world forces teams to think in a new way. They need a unified view of permissions. They need to see if cloud groups grant more power than they expect. They need to know if on premise changes open doors in cloud systems.
Attackers already use the gaps between these systems. If a firm only secures AD but ignores cloud identity, the risk remains. Zero Trust adoption makes this weakness clear.
Practical steps for a zero trust Active Directory environment
1. Build a clear baseline of AD permissions
Teams start by collecting a complete list of all rights. They look for old groups, high risk accounts, unused rights and shadow admin paths. This gives them a clean view of the current state.
2. Reduce rights in stages
Instead of removing rights in one large push, teams reduce rights slowly. They check the impact. They reduce more. They move admin accounts to shorter life rights. This staged process avoids outages.
3. Improve review cycles
Zero Trust needs repeat access review. Teams adopt quarterly or monthly checks. This stops new rights from piling up.
4. Add real time alerting
Teams use tools that watch AD changes and user actions in real time. This helps catch strange behavior before it becomes a breach.
5. Limit high risk actions
Changes to Domain Admin groups. Changes to trust rules. Changes to privileged groups. All of these are watched closely. Most firms add approval workflows for these actions.
How Lepide helps implement zero trust in AD
Lepide Active Directory Auditor gives organizations the visibility they need to bring Zero Trust to Active Directory without guesswork. It shows real-time activity in AD in a clean, friendly way. It highlights risky rights, stale groups, broad permissions, and unusual behavior. It helps teams spot trouble long before an attacker can cause real damage. It also provides clear reports for reviews, audits, and ongoing cleanup. This keeps Zero Trust work honest and grounded in real data.
Lepide also gives firms strong control over privilege use. It shows who uses high rights, when they use them, and where those rights came from. It helps teams reduce broad access and move toward a just-in-time model. It supports safe service account review. It alerts on changes to sensitive groups. These features help firms get the real benefits of Zero Trust without slowing down daily work.
Conclusion
Zero Trust in 2025 is not a concept. It is a direct push to clean up the identity layer that most attacks lean on. Active Directory sits at the center of that push. The shift exposes weak points that have been ignored for years. It also forces identity teams to work with live insight rather than old static rules. The firms that move early gain a clearer picture of risk and a stronger grip on internal access. The firms that delay stay trapped in the same cycle of blind spots and slow response.
Active Directory will not vanish. Even with cloud growth, it remains the core system for access in many networks. Zero Trust gives firms a way to bring order to this system. Better visibility. Better control. Better review cycles. Better response to strange activity. Tools like Lepide make this work possible at scale, so teams can fix long-standing gaps and build a safer identity layer without slowing down operations.
Book a quick demo or download the free trial of Lepide to see how fast you can find and fix identity risks in your environment.
