Active Directory Hygiene: Cleaning Up the Ghosts in Your Network

Active Directory (AD) is the phonebook of your network. It controls who can log in, what files they can open, and who is an Administrator.

For many businesses, AD is a mess. It's been running since 2008. It contains accounts for employees who left 5 years ago. It has "Service Accounts" with passwords that haven't changed in a decade.

Hackers love messy ADs.

The Risks of Stale Accounts

A "Stale Account" is a user profile for someone who no longer works there, but wasn't disabled.

• The Threat: Hackers find these dormant accounts. They brute-force the password. Because no one uses the account, no one notices the login activity. They now have a valid foothold in your network.

The Principle of Least Privilege

Why does your Marketing Intern have "Domain Admin" rights? "Because they needed to install a printer driver one time."

This is a massive risk. If that intern clicks a phishing link, the virus inherits their permissions. If they are an Admin, the virus enters God Mode and can wipe the entire network. Rule: Daily user accounts should contain zero admin rights. Admins should use separate accounts (admin-john) only when necessary.

GPO (Group Policy) Hardening

We use Group Policy Objects (GPO) to enforce security across all 50 computers instantly.

1. Screen Lock: Force computers to lock after 15 minutes of inactivity.
2. No USBs: Block USB flash drives to prevent data theft.
3. Audit Logs: Force computers to record every failed login attempt.

The Audit

When did you last review your user list? At ACE IT Solutions, our onboarding process includes a deep AD Audit. We hunt down the ghosts, strip excessive permissions, and lock the doors.