[Editor’s note: This article is a guest post by TAG CEO and founder Ed Amoroso.]
Broad cybersecurity support encompasses a wide variety of obligations, ranging from compliance documentation to user training. But the most challenging—and essential—aspect of Microsoft Active Directory (AD) security involves the detection of attacks, before, during, and after their initiation. Without such ability, teams in all sectors—including State and Local Government and Education (aka SLED)—will have serious security operational deficiencies.
Our research and advisory team at TAG regularly tracks issues raised by our base of enterprise security team customers. Without question, challenges securing Active Directory are some of the most intense problems that arise amongst Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)-led teams. This should come as no surprise to any practitioner who reviews common attacks, many of which use AD as an essential compromise resource.
AD serves as the backbone of identity and access management (IAM) for most enterprises, making it a prime target for attacks. As AD controls permissions and access to critical systems, applications, and data, any compromise can lead to security breaches, including privilege escalation, data theft, or even ransomware. Strengthening AD security is thus essential to safeguard business operations, particularly as organizations shift toward hybrid networks.
In addition, attackers often exploit AD misconfigurations, unpatched vulnerabilities, or stolen credentials, allowing them to move laterally and gain control of resources. Given the role AD plays in user access, ensuring security is essential for maintaining the safe posture. We’ve learned at TAG that modern security strategies need to prioritize AD hardening, continuous monitoring, and rapid detection to prevent unauthorized access.
What is AD attack detection?
AD attack detection involves monitoring and identifying signs of malicious activities targeting AD. This includes detecting abnormal behavior, privilege escalations, or attempts to exploit AD vulnerabilities. Attack detection solutions leverage real-time monitoring, artificial intelligence, and behavioral analysis to spot indicators of compromise (IOCs) such as unauthorized changes to group policies, abnormal logins, or unexpected privilege grants.
These detection methods are crucial for mitigating attacks early, particularly given the persistence of advanced threats like ransomware, where AD is frequently a high-value target. Effective AD attack detection enables security teams to respond quickly to potential breaches, limiting damage and preserving the security of critical assets within an organization. TAG now tracks AD security as its own category of solution to help emphasize these points.
Current cyber threats to State and Local Government and Education sector
While every sector will find AD security to be a critically important concern, it’s been our observation that one critical sector—namely State and Local Government and Education—faces a particularly difficult set of challenges. It’s worth mentioning that our analyst team at TAG maintains close relationships in this sector through professorships and other appointments in various state and educational institutions.
What we see in this sector is an increasing number of cyber threats, driven by often-limited resources and aging infrastructure. Ransomware remains a significant threat, where attackers exploit AD vulnerabilities to gain access and demand payment in exchange for decrypting data. State and Local Government and Education institutions are also frequent targets of phishing aimed at credential theft, which can compromise AD and enable attackers to move laterally across networks.
Insufficient patch management and weak password policies also expose SLED institutions to a wide range of attacks. With the rise of hybrid work models and digital transformation initiatives, State and Local Government and Education environments are expanding their use of technology, including in classrooms, which makes them even more susceptible to attack. Given these vulnerabilities, a proactive approach to Active Directory security is essential for maintaining the resilience of these critical services.
U.S. federal agency support for AD security in State and Local Government and Education
While no specific U.S. federal agency or regulatory body exclusively mandates AD security by name, many regulations and frameworks in the public sector, including State and Local Government and Education environments, do emphasize cybersecurity practices that inherently cover AD security. This implies that security teams in the SLED sector must take the lead in leveraging key regulations to drive more robust AD cybersecurity. This includes the following frameworks:
- (Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy. Managed by the FBI, this policy outlines security controls for systems handling criminal justice information. Given that AD is often used in such systems for access control, securing AD is essential for compliance.
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In public healthcare environments (e.g., state or county hospitals), HIPAA mandates stringent security measures for handling protected health information (PHI). Securing AD would be critical in such environments to manage access to PHI.
- NIST 800-53 & NIST Cybersecurity Framework. These frameworks, widely adopted by government agencies, provide security controls that impact AD environments, such as IAM, incident response, and continuous monitoring.
- Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). Though it applies mainly to federal agencies, FISMA has a downstream effect on state and local governments that receive federal funding. It requires adequate security measures for information systems, making AD security essential for compliance.
- State-specific regulations. Certain states, like California (via the California Consumer Privacy Act [CCPA]) and New York (via the SHIELD Act), have their own cybersecurity regulations that affect SLED environments. AD security often becomes a key component of compliance under these broader cybersecurity mandates.
In summary, while there is no explicit and direct requirement for AD security in SLED environments (at least that we are aware of at TAG), compliance with broader federal, state, and sector-specific cybersecurity regulations indirectly demands it due to the central role AD plays in managing user identities and access.
Using Semperis for AD security in the SLED sector
For State and Local Government and Education, advanced Active Directory security solutions are available to protect, detect, and recover from AD-related attacks.
Cybersecurity company Semperis—founded in 2014 by a team of cybersecurity experts led by Mickey Bresman, Guy Teverovsky, and Matan Liberman—focuses specifically on identity-driven cybersecurity, with solutions for securing Active Directory. Semperis has developed a set of world-class tools, including Directory Services Protector (DSP), designed to provide continuous monitoring and real-time protection for AD environments.
Semperis’ identity resilience platform delivers automated threat detection, real-time monitoring, and response capabilities that help mitigate risks such as privilege abuse, ransomware, and AD exploitation. The platform ensures that any unauthorized changes to AD are identified and flagged immediately for SLED teams.
In addition to detection and monitoring, Semperis also gives State and Local Government and Education organizations the ability to engage disaster recovery tools to quickly restore compromised AD environments, an obvious priority in this sector. Given the limited IT resources that are so common in many SLED environments, Semperis’ automation and ease of use are crucial in ensuring that security teams can maintain control and recover from incidents with minimal downtime.
Action plan for cybersecurity leaders in SLED
TAG advises that CISOs in SLED institutions prioritize a multi-layered security approach that emphasizes AD security. This begins with regular audits and assessments to identify and remediate vulnerabilities within AD, such as misconfigurations or outdated policies. Implementing continuous monitoring solutions like Semperis to detect abnormal activities in real-time is crucial for maintaining a proactive defense.
State and Local Government and Education CISOs should also focus on ensuring that their teams are trained and prepared to respond to AD-related breaches. This is best done in conjunction with deployment of a world-class AD security platform, and our recommendation is that Semperis fits the bill. Readers are welcome to reach out to TAG research and advisory analysts for assistance in their source selection, or you can contact Semperis directly.
Need help improving AD security in your state or local government agency or school? Contact our team of AD experts.
About TAG: Recognized by Fast Company, TAG is a trusted next-generation research and advisory company that utilizes an AI-powered SaaS platform to provide on demand insights, guidance, and recommendations to enterprise teams, government agencies, and commercial vendors in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and climate science.
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