Active Directory Security Logs

A solid event log monitoring system is a crucial part of any secure active directory design.

Active directory security logs.

To configure active directory to record other events you must increase the logging level by editing the registry. Under event logs select security. The registry entries that manage diagnostic logging for active directory are stored in the following registry subkeys. Eternal vigilance is the price of security.

It is free and included in the administrative tools package of every microsoft windows system. Many computer security compromises could be discovered early in the event if the victims enacted appropriate event log monitoring and alerting. Auditing active directory is necessary from both a security point of view and for meeting compliance requirements. Organizations majorly favor native active directory audit methods provided by event viewer a large pool where events are stored in an unorganized manner.

The security event log registers the following information. Active directory security effectively begins with ensuring domain controllers dcs are configured securely. How do you monitor events in active directory. Viewing active directory security logs using adaudit plus.

To track the changes in active directory open windows event viewer go to windows logs security use the filter current log in the right pane to find relevant events. Active directory diagnostic event logging. The following are some of the events related to group membership changes. At blackhat usa this past summer i spoke about ad for the security professional and provided tips on how to best secure active directory.

The best way is to collect all the logs on a centralized server then use log analyzing software to generate reports. 10 immutable laws of security administration. For instance event viewer provides information on the programs that don t start as expected automatically downloaded updates unexpected shut downs and more. Some log analyzers come pre built with active directory security reports and others you will need to build them your self.

This way you don t need to scroll endlessly through a jumble of security logs spend hours filtering out events or worry about events being overwritten due to limited storage. Here are some of the most popular log analyzers. To configure you will need access to configure the default domain controller policy and access to the event logs on a domain controller. After you enable active directory auditing windows server writes events to the security log on the domain controller.

This post focuses on domain controller security with some cross over into active directory security. Adaudit plus lets you view ad event logs in the form of neat categorized reports. Active directory event logging tool event viewer is a console where you can view all significant activity happening on your windows device.