Semperis Introduces New Tool to Enhance Security for Active Directory Service Accounts
Semperis has launched a new edition of its Directory Services Protector (DSP), named Service Account Protection Essential, to enhance the security management of Active Directory and Entra ID service accounts. Service accounts, which are non-human identities utilised by applications to interact with directory services, often present significant security challenges due to their unmanaged proliferation and tendency to accumulate excessive privileges over time. These characteristics render them vulnerable to exploitation by cyber attackers. Service Account Protection Essential aims to provide organisations with a comprehensive inventory of these accounts and facilitate ongoing monitoring for vulnerabilities, leveraging intelligence from the Semperis research team. The tool can also identify previously unknown or misplaced service accounts, detect stale and misconfigured ones, and highlight risky configurations while issuing real-time alerts in response to malicious or anomalous activity.
The focus on service accounts is particularly relevant in light of recent high-profile supply chain attacks. Ran Harel, Semperis AVP of Security Products, emphasised the challenges organisations face in managing service accounts, which often remain ungoverned and pose a significant risk. Alex Weinert, Semperis Chief Product Officer, noted that these accounts are attractive targets for attackers, especially when they proliferate in legacy Active Directory applications and acquire excessive privileges. Service Account Protection Essential provides organisations with unprecedented visibility into their service account security posture, enabling them to identify, inventory, and continuously monitor these accounts to reduce the overall attack surface of the hybrid Active Directory environment. The updated DSP platform also introduces new features that streamline the management of Active Directory and Entra ID object lists, allowing security practitioners to categorise both privileged and service accounts directly within the tool, thereby supporting administrative tasks and facilitating swift policy changes.
Categories: Service Account Security, Active Directory Management, Vulnerability Monitoring
Tags: Service Account Protection, Active Directory, Entra ID, Security Management, Vulnerabilities, Monitoring, Cyber Attackers, Inventory, Configuration, Privileges