Today Cyber Security plays a paramount role in global security. On this blog, the CEO of Paramount Defenses shares rare insights on issues related to Cyber Security, including Privileged Access, Organizational Cyber Security, Foundational Security, Windows Security, Active Directory Security, Insider Threats and other topics.


May 25, 2021

New Coordinates

 Folks,

I hope this finds you all doing well. As some of you may now, over the years, I have shared numerous perspectives on foundational cyber security and on Active Directory security, both here (i.e. on this blog) and at my second blog.

Unfortunately, given my immense responsibilities today, and the sheer paucity of time, I will no longer be able to share my perspectives on multiple blogs, so from now on, I will mostly be sharing my perspectives at the Paramount Defenses Blog.

I recently penned two relevant posts, including What's common between the Colonial Pipeline Hack and the SolarWinds Breach and one on what actually was At the Heart of the SolarWinds Breach i.e. none other than Privileged Access in Active Directory.

The URL for my new coordinates is - https://blog.paramountdefenses.com

Thanks,
Sanjay

April 28, 2020

Coming Soon - "Active Directory Security for Attackers and Defenders"

Folks,

From the U.S. Department of Defense to the Trillion $ Microsoft Corporation, and from the While House to the Fortune 100, today over 85% of organizations worldwide operate on Microsoft Active Directory.


The cyber security of these foundational Active Directory deployments worldwide is thus paramount to cyber security worldwide, and yet, unfortunately, the Active Directory deployments of most organizations remain alarmingly vulnerable to compromise.

To help thousands of organizations adequately bolster their existing Active Directory security defenses, and to help millions of cyber security and IT personnel worldwide enhance their proficiency in this paramount subject, starting May 05, 2020, I will personally be sharing Active Directory security insights for everyone's benefit, at the Paramount Defenses Blog.

Save the date - May 05, 2020.

Best wishes,
Sanjay.

February 21, 2020

The ONE Question NO ONE knows the Answer to at RSA Conference 2020

Hello,

On Monday, the RSA Conference 2020 will begin, where almost a thousand cyber security companies will showcase their greatest cyber security solutions to thousands of attendees, and where supposedly "The World Talks Security!"

If that's the case, let's talk security -  I'd like to ask the entire RSA Conference just 1 simple cyber security question -

Question: Do the companies whose CISOs and cyber security personnel are attending the RSA Conference '20 have any idea exactly who has what privileged access in their foundational Active Directory deployments today?


If they don't, then perhaps instead of making the time to attend cyber security conferences, they should first focus on making this paramount determination, because without it, not ONE thing, let alone their entire organization, can be adequately secured.



Unequivocal Clarity

If this one simple question posed above isn't clear, here are 5 simple specific cyber security 101 questions to help gain clarity:

    Does our organization know exactly -
  • Q 1.  Who can run Mimikatz DCSync against our Active Directory to instantly compromise everyone's credentials?
  • Q 2.  Who can change the Domain Admins group's membership to instantly gain privileged access company wide?
  • Q 3.  Who can reset passwords of /disable use of Smartcards on all Domain Admin equivalent privileged accounts?
  • Q 4.  Who can link a malicious GPO to an(y) OU in Active Directory to instantly unleash ransomware system-wide?
  • Q 5.  Who can change or control who has what privileged access in our Active Directory?

If an organization does not have exact answers to these 5 simple questions today, it has absolutely no idea as to exactly who has what privileged access in its foundational Active Directory, and thus, it has absolutely no control over cyber security.




This is Paramount

If you don't think that having exact answers to these questions is paramount, then you don't know a thing about cyber security.


Just ask the world famous and globally trusted $10 Billion cyber security company CrowdStrike, and here's a quote from them - "A secure Active Directory environment can mitigate most attacks."




Zero out of 1000

There are almost 1000 cyber security companies exhibiting at the RSA Conference 2020, but guess how many of those 1000 companies could help you accurately determine the answers to 5 simple questions asked above? The answer is 0.


Not Microsoft, not EMC, not CrowdStrike, not FireEye, not Cisco, not IBM, not Symantec, not McAfee, not Palantir, not Tanium, not CyberArk, not Centrify, not Quest, not ZScaler, not BeyondTrust, not Thycotic, not Varonis, not Netwrix, not even HP, in fact no company exhibiting at RSA Conference 2020 has any solution that could help accurately answer these simple questions.

That's right - not a single cyber security company in the world (barring one), let alone the entirety of all cyber security companies exhibiting at or sponsoring the RSA Conference 2020 can help organizations accurately answer these simple questions.




The Key

The key to being able to answer the leading question above, as well as the five simple cyber security questions posed above lies in having just 1 simple, fundamental cyber security capability - Active Directory Effective Permissions.


There's only 1 company on planet Earth that possesses this key, and its not going to be at the RSA Conference 2020 - this one.



Thanks,
Sanjay.

January 7, 2020

Who Needs WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) Today ?

Folks,

Today, yet again, I'd like to share with you a simple Trillion $ question, one that I had originally asked more that 10 years ago, and recently asked again just about two years ago. Today it continues to be exponentially more relevant to the whole world.

In fact, it is more relevant today than ever given the paramount role that cyber security plays in business and national security.


So without further adieu, here it is - Who needs WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) Today?


Ans: Only those who don't know that we live in a digital world, one wherein virtually everything runs on (networked) computers.


Why would an entity bother trying to acquire or use a WMD (or for that matter even a conventional weapon) when (if you're smart) you could metaphorically stop the motor of entire organizations (or nations) with just a few lines of code designed to exploit arcane but highly potent misconfigured security settings (ACLs) in the underlying systems on which governments, militaries and thousands of business organizations of the world operate?

Today, all you need is two WDs in the same (pl)ACE and its Game Over.


Puzzled? Allow me to give you a HINT:.

Here’s a simple question: What does the following non-default string represent and why should it be a great cause of concern?
(A;;RP;;;WD)(OA;;CR;1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;ED)(OA;;CR;1131f6ab-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;ED)(OA;;CR;1131f6ac-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;ED)(OA;;CR;1131f6aa-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;BA)(OA;;CR;1131f6ab-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;BA)(OA;;CR;1131f6ac-9c07-11d1-f79f-00c04fc2dcd2;;BA)(A;;RPLCLORC;;;AU)(A;;RPWPCRLCLOCCRCWDWOSW;;;DA)(A;CI;RPWPCRLCLOCCRCWDWOSDSW;;;BA)(A;;RPWPCRLCLOCCDCRCWDWOSDDTSW;;;SY)(A;CI;RPWPCRLCLOCCDCRCWDWOSDDTSW;;;EA)(A;CI;LC;;;RU)(OA;CIIO;RP;037088f8-0ae1-11d2-b422-00a0c968f939;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU)(OA;CIIO;RP;59ba2f42-79a2-11d0-9020-00c04fc2d3cf;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU)(OA;CIIO;RP;bc0ac240-79a9-11d0-9020-00c04fc2d4cf;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU) (A;CI;RPWDLCLO;;;WD)(OA;CIIO;RP;4c164200-20c0-11d0-a768-00aa006e0529;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU) (OA;CIIO;RP;5f202010-79a5-11d0-9020-00c04fc2d4cf;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU)(OA;CIIO;RPLCLORC;;bf967a9c-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU)(A;;RC;;;RU)(OA;CIIO;RPLCLORC;;bf967aba-0de6-11d0-a285-00aa003049e2;RU)

Today, this one little question and the technicality I have shared above directly impacts the cyber security of the entire world.


If you read my words very carefully, as you always should, then you'll find that it shouldn't take an astute cyber security professional more than a minute to figure it out, given that I’ve actually already provided the answer above.


Today, the CISO of every organization in the world, whether it be a government, a military or a billion dollar company (of which there are dime a dozen, and in fact thousands worldwide) or a trillion dollar company MUST know the answer to this question.


They must know the answer because it directly impacts and threatens the foundational cyber security of their organizations.

If they don't, (in my opinion) they likely shouldn't be the organization's CISO because what I have shared above could possibly be the single biggest threat to 85% of organizations worldwide, and it could be used to completely compromise them within minutes (and any organization that would like a demo in their real-world environment may feel free to request one.)

Some of you will have figured it out. For the others, I'll finally shed light on the answer soon.

Best wishes,
Sanjay


PS: If you need to know right away, perhaps you should give your Microsoft contact a call and ask them. If they too need some help (they likely will ;-)), tell them it has to do with a certain security descriptor in Active Directory. (There, now that's a HINT the size of a domain, and it could get an intruder who's been able to breach an organization's network perimeter to root in seconds.)

PS2: If this intrigues you, and you wish to learn more, you may want to read this - Hello World :-)

January 6, 2020

What is Active Directory? (Cyber Security 101 for the Entire World)

Folks,

Today is January 06, 2020, and as promised, here I am getting back to sharing perspectives on cyber security.


Cyber Security 101

Perhaps a good topic to kick off the year is by seeking to ask and answer a simple yet vital question - What is Active Directory?

You see, while this question may seem simple to some (and it is,) its one of the most important questions to answer adequately, because in an adequate answer to this most simple question lies the key to organizational cyber security worldwide.

The simple reason for this is that if you were to ask most CISOs or IT professionals, they'll likely tell you that Active Directory is the "phone book" of an organization's IT infrastructure, and while its true that at its simplest, it is a directory of all organizational accounts and computers, it is this shallow view that leads organizations to greatly diminish the real value of Active Directory to the point of sheer irresponsible cyber negligence because  "Who really cares about just a phone book?"

In fact, for two decades now, this has been the predominant view held by most CISOs and IT personnel worldwide, and sadly it is the negligence resulting from such a simplistic view of Active Directory that are likely the reason that the Active Directory deployments of most organizations remain substantially insecure and vastly vulnerable to compromise today.

Again, after all, who cares about a phone book?!




Active Directory - The Very Foundation of Organizational Cyber Security Worldwide

If as they say, a "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words", perhaps I should paint you a very simple Trillion $ picture -


An organization's Active Directory deployment is its single most valuable IT and corporate asset, worthy of the highest protection at all times, because it is the very foundation of an organization's cyber security.

The entirety of an organization's very building blocks of cyber security i.e. all the organizational user accounts and passwords used to authenticate their people, all the security groups used to aggregate and authorize access to all their IT resources, all their privileged user accounts, all the accounts of all their computers, including all laptops, desktops and servers are all stored, managed and secured in (i.e. inside) the organization's foundational Active Directory, and all actions on them audited in it.

In other words, should an organization's foundational Active Directory, or a single Active Directory privileged user account, be compromised, the entirety of the organization could be exposed to the  risk of complete, swift and colossal compromise.



Active Directory Security Must Be Organizational Cyber Security Priority #1

Today, ensuring the highest protection of an organization's foundational Active Directory deployment must undoubtedly be the #1 priority of every organization that cares about cyber security, protecting shareholder value and business continuity.


Here's why - A deeper, detailed look into What is Active Directory ?


For anyone to whom this may still not be clear, I'll spell it out - just about everything in organizational Cyber Security, whether it be Identity and Access Management, Privileged Access Management, Network Security, Endpoint Security, Data Security, Intrusion Detection, Cloud Security, Zero Trust etc. ultimately relies and depends on Active Directory (and its security.)



In essence, today every organization in the world is only as secure as is its foundational Active Directory deployment, and from the CEO to the CISO to an organization's shareholders, employees and customers, everyone should know this cardinal fact.

Best wishes,
Sanjay.

December 6, 2019

Its Time to Help Defend Organizations Worldwide

Folks,

I trust this finds you all doing well. It has been a few months since I last blogged - pardon the absence. I had to focus my energies on helping the world get some perspective, getting 007G ready for launch, and dealing with a certain nuisance.

Having successfully accomplished all three objectives, it is TIME to help defend organizations worldwide from the SPECTRE of potentially colossal compromise, which is a real cyber security risk that looms over 85% of organizations worldwide.


When you know as much as I do, care as much as I do, and possess as much capability as I do, you not only shoulder a great responsibility, you almost have an obligation to educate the whole world about cyber security risks that threaten their security.

So, even though I barely have any time to do this, in the interest of foundational cyber security worldwide, I'm going to start sharing a few valuable perspectives again, and do so, on this blog, that blog and the official PD blog (;see below.)


Speaking of which, earlier this week, I had the PRIVILEGE to launch the official PD blog -  https://blog.paramountdefenses.com


Stay tuned for some valuable cyber security insights right here from January 06, 2020
and let me take your leave with a befitting (and one of my favorite) song(s) -



Best wishes,
Sanjay.


PS: Just a month ago, the $ Billion Czech cyber security company Avast was substantially compromised, and guess what the perpetrators used to compromise them? They used the EXACT means I had clearly warned about TWO years ago, right here.


March 7, 2019

A Simple Trillion$ Cyber Security Question for the Entire RSA Conference

Folks,

This week, the famous RSA Conference 2019 is underway, where supposedly "The World Talks Security" -



If that's the case, let's talk -  I'd like to respectfully ask the entire RSA Conference just 1 simple cyber security question -

Question: What lies at the very foundation of cyber security and privileged access of not just the RSAs, EMCs, Dells, CyberArks, Gartners, Googles, Amazons, Facebooks and Microsofts of the world, but also at the foundation of virtually all cyber security and cloud companies and at the foundation of over 85% of organizations worldwide?

For those who may not know the answer to this ONE simple cyber security question, the answer's in line 1 here.



For those who may know the answer, and I sincerely hope that most of the world's CIOs, CISOs, Domain Admins, Cyber Security Analysts, Penetration Testers and Ethical Hackers know the answer, here are 4 simple follow-up questions -


  • Q 1.  Should your organization's foundational Active Directory be compromised, what could be its impact?
  • Q 2.  Would you agree that the (unintentional, intentional or coerced) compromise of a single Active Directory privileged user could result in the compromise of your organization's entire foundational Active Directory?
  • Q 3.  If so, then do you know that there is only one correct way to accurately identify/audit privileged users in your organization's foundational Active Directory, and do you possess the capability to correctly be able to do so?
  • Q 4.  If you don't, then how could you possibly know exactly how many privileged users there are in your organization's foundational Active Directory deployment today, and if you don't know so, ...OMG... ?!

You see, if even the world's top cyber security and cloud computing companies themselves don't know the answers to such simple, fundamental Kindergarten-level cyber security questions, how can we expect 85% of the world's organizations to know the answer, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, what's the point of all this fancy peripheral cyber security talk at such conferences when organizations don't even know how many (hundreds if not thousands of) people have the Keys to their Kingdom(s) ?!


Today Active Directory is at the very heart of Cyber Security and Privileged Access at over 85% of organizations worldwide, and if you can find me even ONE company at the prestigious RSA Conference 2019 that can help organizations accurately identify privileged users/access in 1000s of foundational Active Directory deployments worldwide, you'll have impressed me.


Those who truly understand Windows Security know that organizations can neither adequately secure their foundational Active Directory deployments nor accomplish any of these recent buzzword initiatives like Privileged Access Management, Privileged Account Discovery, Zero-Trust etc. without first being able to accurately identify privileged users in Active Directory.

Best wishes,
Sanjay


PS: Pardon the delay. I've been busy and haven't much time to blog since my last post on Cyber Security 101 for the C-Suite.

PS2: Microsoft, when were you planning to start educating the world about what's actually paramount to their cyber security?

November 5, 2018

Cyber Security 101 for the C-Suite - Active Directory Security is Paramount

Folks,

Today's post is for all executives worldwide who comprise the C-Suite at thousands of organizations worldwide.


I pen today's post with profound respect for all executives worldwide, because I understand first-hand just how important the nature of their responsibilities is, how valuable their time is, and how far-reaching the consequences of their decisions are.

A quick footnote for all C*Os : In case you're wondering who I am to be penning this, I'm former Microsoft Program Manager for Active Directory Security. Relevance? Microsoft's Active Directory is the foundation of your entire organization's cyber security. Finally, like you, I also happen to be the CEO of a $ Billion+ company.

Today's post is in the form of a simple letter, that follows (below.)

Thanks,
Sanjay


<Begin Letter>

Subject - Cyber Security 101 for the C-Suite


To: Chairmen, CEOs and CFOs Worldwide



Dear C*O,

Hi, I'm Sanjay, former Microsoft Program Manager for Active Directory Security, but more importantly a sincere well-wisher who cares deeply about cyber security, and who just happens to know a thing or two about the very technology that lies at the very foundation of cyber security of your ($ Billion to $ Trillion) organization, and those of 85% of all organizations worldwide.

I write to you to bring to your attention a matter of paramount importance to your organization's foundational security.



Context - Foundational Security

Today we all engage in business in what is essentially a global digital village, wherein just about just every aspect of business, whether it be production, marketing, sales, customer-service, collaboration, finance etc. etc. substantially relies on technology.


Within our respective organizations, it is our IT infrastructure that enables and empowers our workforce to engage in business.

For instance, we all (including us C*Os) log on to a computer every day, send and receive email, and create, share and access digital assets (e.g. documents, applications, services etc.) all of which are securely stored on our organizational computers.

It is only logical then that ensuring the security of the very IT infrastructure that enables and empowers our entire workforce to engage in business digitally, and the security of our digital assets is vital. In other words, cyber security is very important.

Now, if I told you that at the very foundation of your entire IT infrastructure, and consequently at the very foundation of the security of all your digital assets lay a single high-value asset, then I think you'd agree that its security would be paramount.

At the very foundation of your organization's IT infrastructure and that of its cyber security, and by corollary the cyber security of the entirety of all your digital assets (e.g. thousands of computers, thousands of employee user accounts and passwords, every single organizational email sent and received every minute of every day, all your applications, services, Intranet portals, Internet facing applications etc.) as well as the entirety of your organization's data, lies a single technology - Microsoft Active Directory.


Most simply put, Active Directory is the database that contains, stores and protects the entirety of your organization's building blocks of cyber security - each one of thousands of user accounts and their passwords, each one of thousands of computer accounts (for all laptops, desktops, servers etc.), each one of thousands of security groups that protect all your data etc. etc.

If your organization's Active Directory were compromised, everything would immediately be exposed to the risk of compromise.

Thus as you'll hopefully agree, ensuring the security of your organization's foundational Active Directory is well, paramount.



A Provable Concern - Inadequate Protection

Now, you might most likely be thinking - Well, if that's the case, I'm sure that our CIO, our CISO and their world-class IT and Cyber Security teams know all this, and have it adequately taken care of, so why should I be concerned ?


Here's why you should be concerned - In all likelihood, not only may your world-class IT and Cyber Security teams not have this adequately covered, they may have yet to realize just how very important, and in fact paramount Active Directory security is.

Further, they likely may not know what it actually takes to adequately secure your organization's  foundational Active Directory.

Now, as incredulous as that may sound, you have to trust me on this, not because I'm asking you to do so as a concerned well-wisher, but because I'm asking you to do so as arguably the world's #1 subject matter expert on Active Directory Security.

You see, prior to doing what I currently do, I was Microsoft's subject matter expert for Active Directory Security on Microsoft's Windows Server Development team. In case you're curious as to what I do currently do with all this knowledge, well, its this.

As the world's leading subject matter expert on Active Directory Security, I would highly encourage you to ask your IT and Cyber Security leadership, specifically your CIO and your CISO, just how secure they think your organization's Active Directory is.



Simple Proof - You Just Have to Ask

When you ask them about it, please do request specific answers, and here are 7 simple questions you can ask them, the answers to which will give you an indication of just how secure your organization's Active Directory actually is today -


  1. Is the security of our foundational Active Directory deployment a top cyber security priority today?

  2. Do we know exactly what the Top-5 security risks to our foundational Active Directory are?

  3. Do our Active Directory Admins know what Active Directory Effective Permissions are?

  4. Do we know exactly who possesses what level of privileged access in our Active Directory?

  5. Do we know exactly who can control/manage each one of our Active Directory privileged accounts and groups?

  6. Do we know exactly who can run Mimikatz DCSync against our Active Directory today?

  7. Can you tell me exactly who can reset my domain user account's password to then be able to login as me?

I could suggest 50 such elemental cyber security questions, but for now these 7 simple, precise questions will suffice as there are only 2 possibilities here - either your IT and cyber security leadership have exact answers to these questions, or they don't.


If they can't give you exact answers to these questions, your organization's Active Directory is not secure - its as simple as that.


They might tell you that this is complicated or that they have a good approximation, or that this is very difficult to do, or that they have many other latest buzzword measures like Active Directory Auditing, Privileged Access Management, ATA, Just-in-Time Administration etc. in place, but none of that matters, because the truth is simple - they either have exact answers, or they don't.

(These questions are paramount to cyber security, and today there exists technology that can enable every organization in the world to answer them precisely, but because Microsoft likely forgot to adequately educate its customers, your IT personnel may likely not even know the importance of these paramount questions, let alone knowing what it takes to correctly answer them.)

If a $Billion+ organization doesn't even know exactly who has what privileged access in their Active Directory, as well as exactly who can manage each one of their privileged accounts and groups, how could their Active Directory possibly be secure?

If an organization's foundational Active Directory is not secure, how can the entirety of the organization's digital (IT) assets be secure, and if that's not case, how could an organization possibly be considered secure from a cyber security perspective?



Driving Change

As a member of the C-Suite, you not only have the privilege of being able to impact vital change in your organization, you also have the responsibility and the authority to demand and ensure the cyber security of the very foundation of your organization.


As a C*O, one of the most important responsibilities you shoulder is ensuring that your organization is secure, and ensuring that the very foundation of your organization's IT infrastructure and cyber security are always adequately protected, is paramount.




The Likely Reason (Optional Reading)

Here's the likely reason for why such a common-sense yet paramount matter may not be on your CIO's and CISO's radar yet.

You see, your CIO and CISO shoulder great responsibility. Unfortunately, amongst many other things, they're likely also being guided by inputs from a 1000 cyber security companies, who unfortunately may not be the best source of objective guidance.

For instance, consider CyberArk, a highly respected $ Billion+ cyber security company, that claims that over 50% of the Fortune 100's CISOs rely on them. As a subject matter expert, I can tell you that CyberArk itself may not know how to correctly assess privileged access in an Active Directory, so you see, unfortunately your CIO and CISO may not be getting the best guidance.

CyberArk is absolutely correct that "Privilege is Everywhere." However, those who know Windows Security will tell you that in a Windows network powered by Active Directory, the majority of all privileged access (delegated & unrestricted) lies inside Active Directory, but CyberArk doesn't seem to have the capability to correctly audit privileged access inside Active Directory.


The majority of all Privileged Access,including the "Keys to the Kingdom", resides inside Active Directory

CyberArk isn't alone. As unbelievable as it may sound, today even Microsoft doesn't seem to know what it takes to do so, let alone possessing the capability to help its customers correctly do so. In fact, most of the world's top IT Consulting, Audit, Cloud and Cyber Security companies also operate on Active Directory, and they too likely have neither a clue nor the capability to accurately determine exactly who has what privileged access in their own foundational Active Directory deployments.

You may find this hard to believe, but of the 1000+ cyber security companies exhibiting or presenting at the upcoming RSA Conference 2019, not a single one of them can help your organization's IT personnel fulfill such a fundamental yet paramount cyber security need - finding out exactly who has what privileged access in your organization's foundational Active Directory.

In their defense, I'll say this - if it were easy, they would've all done it by now. Unfortunately, as paramount as it is, its not easy.

Thus, I know what your CIO and CISO may perhaps not yet know, or understand the paramount importance of, which is that of all the things that need to be secured, none could possibly be more important than securing your organization's foundational Active Directory, so I thought I'd share this with you, because as a member of the C-Suite, you could provide them strategic guidance and the executive support that their teams need to accomplish this paramount objective for your organization.



In Conclusion

I only wrote this letter because we're all in this together, and I care deeply about foundational cyber security, as hopefully do you, and I felt that I could perhaps help bridge the gap between those tasked with the great responsibility of securing Active Directory (i.e. your IT personnel) and those whose executive support they need to be able to do so (i.e. you, the C-Suite.)

If any of what I shared above made sense, I would encourage you to embrace my suggestions earnestly, and act upon them, and if needed, I can prove and demonstrate every thing I've shared above, and you should feel free to take me up on this.

As for myself, all I can say is that today my work and knowledge silently help secure and defend so many of the world's most important organizations across six continents worldwide.

Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,
Sanjay Tandon.

Chairman and CEO,
Paramount Defenses



PS: Please know that I am also doing my bit to help Microsoft and the World better Understand Active Directory Security



<End Letter>

October 28, 2018

Happy Birthday, Bill Gates!

Dear Bill,

Here's wishing you Sir, likely the most successful and influential person of not just our time, but of all time, a very Happy B'day!

Photo source and attirbution: https://mobile.twitter.com/BillGates/photo

Most of the world knows you as the Founder of Microsoft, a great philanthropist, and the world's wealthiest* person.


Based on my personal experience, I however know you to be someone who truly exemplifies the very words I strive to live by, and ideally, that we should all strive to live by, because in the grand scheme of things, we are all here for relatively little time.


Deep Gratitude for Mr. Gates

If I may, I'd like to share from my personal experience, a very small example of Mr. Gates thoughtfulness, humility and kindness.

One day back in 2004, when I was a Microsoft employee, I got a call from the Reception of Building 33, the Executive Building at Microsoft, and I was asked to come and pick something up - when I reached there, the kind lady at the reception gave me a package and said that "Bill left this for you, as he's unfortunately out of town today," and in it was a note written by Bill himself - "To Sanjay, Happy Birthday, Bill Gates" ( here.) (BTW, this is not customary at all at Microsoft; in fact, it was an absolute rarity.)

I couldn't believe it. Bill Gates, our CEO, and the world's most successful and wealthiest person, made and took the time to wish me Happy B'day, and since he was going to be out of town, he was thoughtful enough to have it be given to me on my b'day!

Since that day, for the last fourteen years I've been working tirelessly to be able to express my profound respect and gratitude to Mr. Gates, and it is for the first time, that I feel I've done my bit to be able to thank him, not just in words, but in global IMPACT.


Mr. Gates, it is your greatness, kindness and humility that inspired me to conquer proverbial mountains as I persevered against all odds to ultimately build and deliver a paramount capability needed to secure and defend the very foundation of cyber security of and across Microsoft's global organizational customer base i.e. your one little act of kindness, led to and inspired THIS.



Birthday Wishes

Mr. Gates, today, you're wished profound joy and excellent health, but above all, you're wished that which is a rarity today, and that which sometimes even all the money in the world can't buy - True Peace of Mind and Happiness in the Simplest of Things!


BillG, I thank you for the incredible human being you are, and wish you a truly wonderful year ahead.

Namaste,
Sanjay.


PS: I occasionally come across monetarily wealthy people, you know, little multi-millionaires and billionaires, and some of them exude such arrogance, that I feel like telling them that there are people out there (e.g. you) who could buy all their wealth out a hundred times over, so how about a little humility?! :-) In stark contrast, I visited the Gates Foundation website today, and it was so incredibly refreshing to see it unequivocally communicate that All Lives Have Equal Value!  You Sir, command my respect.

October 27, 2018

Words I Live By

Folks,

Today, I just wanted to take a moment to share with you the words I live by -


No matter who we are, we should always strive to be ...

Sincerely,
Sanjay.

October 26, 2018

What Lies at the Foundation of Organizational Cyber Security Worldwide?

Folks,

In days to come, I'm going to answer both, the most important, and the second most important question in all of Cyber Security

Today though, I just wanted to ask a simple (rhetorical) cyber security question, so that CEOs, CIOs, CISOs and IT Directors at organizations worldwide realize just what lies at the very foundation of the cyber security of their multi-billion $ organizations.

Microsoft Active Directory

Today, at the very foundation of organizational cyber security worldwide, lie their foundational Active Directory deployments.

Consequently, it logically follows that all organizations that operate on Microsoft Active Directory are only as secure as are their foundational Active Directory deployments. After all, no matter how tall, every skyscraper is only as strong as its foundation.

In days to come, I'll share with you just how secure foundational Active Directory deployments are worldwide today - right here.

Best wishes,
Sanjay

October 13, 2018

A Very Simple Trillion $ Cyber Security Multiple-Choice Question

Folks,

In days to come, I'll be helping organizations worldwide understand what constitutes a privileged user in Active Directory, how to correctly audit privileged access in Active Directory, and what the world's most important Active Directory security capability is.

Today though, I just wanted to ask a very simple and elemental cyber security multiple-choice question, so here it is -


Q. What are the minimum Active Directory Security Permissions that a perpetrator needs to be able to successfully run Mimikatz DCSync against an organization's foundational Active Directory deployment?

Is it -
A. The "Get Replication Changes" Extended Right 
B. The "Get Replication Changes All" Extended Right 
C. Both A and B above 
D. Something else

I already know the answer to this simple question. I'm only asking because I believe that today every Domain Admin and every CISO at every organization that operates on Active Directory MUST know the answer to this question, and here's why.

You may be surprised if I were to share with you just how many Domain Admins and CISOs (at so many of the world's most prominent organizations) don't know even seem to know what Mimikatz DCSync is, let alone knowing the answer!

If you know the answer to this question, and care to share, please feel free to share it by leaving a comment below.

Best wishes,
Sanjay.

September 26, 2018

Time to Ignite An Intellectual Spark at Microsoft Ignite 2018!

Folks,

This week, thousands of IT professionals, managers, CISOs and CIOs are in Orlando, attending, well, Microsoft Ignite 2018 !

Image Courtesy Microsoft. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ignite

Now, according to Microsoft's website, Microsoft Ignite has SOLD OUTGreat!  There are 900+ sessions, 100+ instructor-led technology workshops, 60+ Microsoft Immersion workshops, and 50+ hands-on labs with access to expert proctors!


Did I mention that of course, Microsoft's very own experts are also going to be there, and collectively, they covered numerous vital areas such as Securing the Enterprise, Simplified IT Management, Identity‚ Access & Compliance, Enterprise Security etc.


So, with over 1000 sessions, 1000s of attendees, access to "expert proctors", and 100s of Microsoft's very own IT experts, THERE MUST BE AT LEAST ONE PERSON AT MICROSOFT IGNITE who could answer A very SIMPLE QUESTION -


       Question - What's The World's Most Important Active Directory Security Capability?



Now, in case you're wondering why anyone and in fact everyone attending Microsoft Ignite should care about this question, its because in a Microsoft Windows Server based IT Infrastructure, NOT A SINGLE ONE of the numerous vital areas listed above i.e. Securing the Enterprise, Simplified IT Management, Identity‚ Access & Compliance, Enterprise Security etc. etc. can be adequately addressed without FIRST ENSURING THE SECURITY of their foundational Active Directory deployments!


Guess what?!  I'm willing to bet that 99% of experts (let alone attendees) at Microsoft Ignite don't have a clue as to the answer!


Unbelievable, haan?! So much so for a US $ 800 Billion company's  "Sold Out"  IT Conference, where 100s of world renowned IT experts, including Microsoft's finest, were presenting, and where 1000s of IT professionals (including Domain Admins of most Fortune 100 companies) were attending, yet no one likely knows the answer to this most basic of Windows Security questions!


Er, what's that millennial lingo again? Ah yes,  OMG  LOL ROFL !

Doesn't anyone RTM today?  (They don't, and here's likely why.)


On a serious note, if anyone attending Microsoft Ignite 2018 (including Microsoft's own experts) knows the answer to this 1 question, be my guest and answer the question by leaving a comment at the end of that blog post, and you'll earn my respect.


If you don't know the answer, I highly recommend reading, one, two and three, because without knowing the answer to this 1 question (and without possessing this capability,) you cannot secure anything in an Active Directory based Windows network.


Best wishes,
Sanjay

September 24, 2018

Pardon the Absence, and Get Ready!

Folks,

Hello again. I trust this finds you all doing well. It has been a few weeks since I last blogged. I hope you'll pardon my absence.

Yes I was supposed to answer a rather important question, in fact, possibly the world's most important cyber security question, for the whole world, back in July, but I had to postpone doing so, for a few good reasons, which I may reveal in days to come.

Let's just say that amongst other things (e.g. a rather interesting trip across the Atlantic), I was working on finalising a project that directly impacts cyber security worldwide today, you know, the kind of stuff that even James Bond doesn't have yet!



By the way, speaking of Mr. Bond, as you probably know, I'm a huge fan, so thought I'd share a catchy tune with you -



Oh, that project I was working is almost over (i.e. RC1), so its time for me to get back to blogging, and...     … well, get ready!

Best wishes,
Sanjay

July 9, 2018

A Trillion $ Cyber Security Question for Microsoft and CISOs Worldwide

Folks,

Today, to give a hint for the answer to this 1 question, I asked possibly the most important cyber security question in the world, one that directly impacts the foundational security of 1000s of organizations worldwide, and thus one that impacts the financial security of billions of people worldwide -


What's the World's Most Important Active Directory Security Capability?




Those who don't know why this is the world's most important cyber security question may want to connect one, two and three

I sincerely hope that someone (anyone) at Microsoft, or that some CISO (any ONE) out there, will answer this ONE question.

Best wishes,
Sanjay.

July 4, 2018

Happy 4th of July!

Folks,

Here's wishing you all a very Happy Fourth of July!  Hope you have a great one!


I was supposed to answer a certain question today, but I decided to take the day off, so I'll answer it in days to come.

Best wishes,
Sanjay.

July 3, 2018

Mimikatz DCSync Mitigation

Folks,

A few days ago I asked a (seemingly) very simple question ; no I'm not referring to this one, I'm referring to this one here  -

Can Anyone (i.e. any Cyber Security Company or Expert) Help Thousands of Microsoft's Customers MITIGATE the Risk Posed by Mimikatz DCSync?

Here's why I did so - While there's a lot of info out there on the WWW about how to use Mimikatz DCSync, and/or how to detect its use, there isn't one other* single correct piece of guidance out there on how to mitigate the risk posed by Mimkatz DCSync.

So, as promised, today I am (literally) going to show you exactly how thousands of organizations worldwide can now easily and demonstrably actually mitigate the very serious cyber security risk posed to their foundational security by Mimikatz DCSync.


In light of what I've shared below, organizations worldwide can now easily mitigate the serious risk posed by Mimikatz DCSync.




First, A Quick Overview

For those who may not know, and there are millions who don't, there are three quick things to know about Mimikatz DCSync.


Mimikatz DCSync, a Windows security tool, is the creation of the brilliant technical expertise of Mr. Benjamin Delpy, whose work over the years has very likely (caused Microsoft a lot of pain ;-) but/and) helped substantially enhance Windows Security.

Mimikatz DCSync targets an organization's foundational Active Directory domains, and instantly gives any attacker who has sufficient privileges to be able to replicate sensitive content from Active Directory, access to literally everyone's credentials!

Thus far, the only guidance out there is on how to DETECT its use, but this is one of those situations wherein if you're having to rely on detection as a security measure, then its unfortunately already TOO late, because the damage has already been done.



Detection Is Hardly Sufficient

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, so perhaps I'll paint a picture for you. Relying on detection as a security measure against Mimikatz DCSync is akin to this -

Castle romeo2

Lets say a nuclear weapon just detonated in a city, and the moment it did, detection sensors alerted the city officials about the detonation. Well, within the few seconds in which they received the alert, the whole city would've already been obliterated i.e. by the time you get the alert, literally everyone's credentials (including of all privileged users) would've already been compromised!

Make not mistake about it - a single successful use of Mimikatz DCSync against an organization's foundational Active Directory domain is tantamount to a complete forest-wide compromise, and should be considered a massive organizational cyber security breach, the only way to recover from which is to completely rebuild the entire Active Directory forest from the ground up!

This is why detection is grossly insufficient as a security measure, and what organizations need is the ability to prevent the use of Mimikatz DCSync's against their foundational Active Directory domains & thus the ability to mitigate this risk is paramount.



How to Mitigate Mimikatz DCSync

The key to mitigating this risk lies in identifying what it technically takes to be able to successfully use Mimikatz DCSync.

Specifically, if you know exactly what privileges an attacker needs to be able to successfully use Mimikatz DCSync against your Active Directory domain, then by ensuring that only highly-trustworthy, authorized individuals (and not a single other individual) actually currently possess those required privileges in your IT infrastructure, you can easily mitigate this risk.


Technically speaking, all that an attacker needs to successfully use Mimikatz DCSync is sufficient Get Replication Changes All effective permissions on the domain root object of an Active Directory domain, so all that organizations need to do is accurately identify exactly who has these effective permissions on the domain root object of each of their Active Directory domains.

While by default only the default administrative Active Directory security groups are granted this permission, since most Active Directory deployments have been around for years, and have likely gone through a substantial amount of access provisioning, in most Active Directory, a lot many more individuals than merely the members of the default AD admin groups may likely have this highly sensitive effective permission granted to them, either directly or via group membership, some of which may be direct, whilst others may be via nested group memberships, resulting in a potentially large and unknown attack surface today.

Now, it is paramount to understand ONE subtle but profound difference here - it is NOT who has what permissions on the domain root that matters, but who has what effective permissions on the domain root that matters, and this difference could be the difference between a $100 B organization being completely compromised or being completely protected from compromise.



The Key - Active Directory Effective Permissions

If you've followed what I've shared above, then you'll agree and understand that the key to being able to successfully mitigate the serious risk posed by Mimikatz DCSync lies in being able to accurately determine effective permissions in Active Directory.



In fact Effective Permissions are so important, essential and fundamental to Windows and Active Directory Security, that of the four tabs in all of Microsoft's Active Directory Management Tooling, one entire tab is dedicated to Effective Permissions.

Unfortunately, it turns out that not only is Microsoft's native Effective Permissions Tab not always accurate, it is substantially inadequate, and while I could elaborate on that, I'd rather let you come to the same conclusion yourself, and this ONE glaring inadequacy will be self-evident the moment you attempt to use it to try and find out exactly whom amongst the thousands of domain user account holders in your Active Directory domain(s), actually has the required effective permissions. In fact, the same is true of all tools/scripts that involve the use of Microsoft's APIs to do so, such as this dangerously inaccurate free tool.

Fortunately, in a world whose population is 7,000,000,000+ today, thanks to one (1) inconsequential individual, there's hope...



Finally, How to Easily and Reliably Mitigate the Risk Posed by Mimikatz DCSync

Here's a very short (and perhaps boring but insightful) video on how organizations worldwide can reliably mitigate this risk -


Note: This is NOT intended to demonstrate our unique tooling. It is solely intended to show what it takes to mitigate this serious risk. We have no particular interest in licensing our unique tooling to anyone. As such, over the years, we have NEVER, not once pitched our tooling to anyone; we've had almost 10,000 organizations worldwide knock at our doors completely unsolicited, so I hope that makes this point unequivocally.

Thus, as seen in the short video above, with the right guidance (knowledge) and capability (tooling), organizations worldwide can now easily and reliably mitigate the serious cyber security risk posed by Mimikatz DCSync to their foundational security.

Complete, illustrated, step-by-step details on how to easily and correctly mitigate Mimikatz DCSync can now be found here.


I'll say this one last time - a single successful use of Mimikatz DCSync against an organization's foundational Active Directory is tantamount to a forest-wide compromise and constitutes a massive cyber security breach, which is why mitigation is paramount.

Best wishes,
Sanjay


PS: *Here are 4 posts I've previously penned on Mimikatz DCSync - a summary, technical details, a scenario and the question.

PS2: In days to come, I'll answer this question too.