Directory
Are you looking for information about Active Directory? In this archive you will find all our posts about Active Directory.
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Microsoft Entra Access Reviews: Governance for User and Guest Access
In Microsoft Entra ID, user and guest access evolves incrementally over time, for example as a result of role changes, project assignments or temporary external collaboration. Access rights that are granted once often remain in place, even when the original business or organizational requirement no longer exists. As a result, common countermeasures such as manual access reviews, follow-ups with group owners or occasional spot checks provide only limited, point-in-time transparency and do not enable a consistent and regular review of access. Decisions are often not documented consistently and are therefore difficult to audit retrospectively.
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WatchTra: Automated Attribute Compliance for Microsoft Entra ID
In many Microsoft Entra ID environments, the quality of user attributes remains an often underestimated factor in security and governance. WatchTra enhances attribute compliance in Microsoft Entra ID and ensures consistent identity data across the organization. In practice, attributes frequently contain inconsistent spellings or values, for example, “Switzerland” instead of “Swiss” or “IT” instead of “Information Technology”, as well as missing or outdated entries. Such discrepancies can result in incorrect dynamic group memberships, inaccurate reporting or incomplete policy enforcement.However, a consistent validation of these attributes against organization-wide standards is rarely implemented in real-world environments.
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Disable Entra Connect Seamless SSO – Step-by-Step Guide
Seamless Single Sign-On (Seamless SSO) is an optional feature in Microsoft Entra Connect that enables domain-joined Windows devices on the internal network to automatically sign in to Microsoft Entra ID without requiring users to re-enter their credentials. Seamless SSO extends Active Directory by providing a single sign-on mechanism for cloud services such as Microsoft 365 and connected SaaS applications. During configuration, Active Directory uses the Kerberos authentication protocol and creates a dedicated computer account named AZUREADSSOACC in the on-premises directory. This account links the local identity to Entra ID and is used exclusively for seamless SSO operations.
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Microsoft Entra Connect: Migration to Application Based Authentication (ABA)
With the introduction of Application Based Authentication (ABA), Microsoft introduces modern authentication mechanisms to Microsoft Entra Connect. Previously, the synchronization service used a service account with a locally stored password to sign in to Microsoft Entra ID, an approach considered outdated and potentially vulnerable from a security perspective.
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Enhancing Security with Microsoft Entra Protected Actions and Conditional Access
Microsoft Entra Protected Actions safeguard highly sensitive administrative operations in Microsoft Entra by requiring an additional layer of authentication. When a user attempts to perform such an action, they must first meet the defined policies. For example, specific actions can be restricted to devices that are either Microsoft Entra Joined or Microsoft Entra Hybrid Joined, or may require phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication prior to execution.