Active Directory Group Management Tool

What is Active Directory group management?

Active Directory (AD) group management is the classifying and managing of users and devices across a network by bundling them together into AD groups.

There are a number of group types in Active Directory, including:

• Security groups - Security groups in Active Directory allow network administrators to give permissions to multiple users, devices, and groups all at once, rather than manually giving permissions to each user one at a time.
• Distribution groups - Distribution groups function similarly, but they are used to easily send messages to many users via a single recipient (the group) instead of entering addresses for each of the eventual recipients contained within that group.
• Dynamic distribution groups - Dynamic distribution groups function much like distribution groups, except that the members of the group are not static and are instead determined by different filters or conditions each time a message is sent to the group.

Why is Active Directory group management important?

Active Directory management is important for several reasons, especially related to efficiency and security. Active Directory functions as the system that users, customers, devices, and other entities authenticate through and receive permissions from when accessing that system. Many cybercriminals today target Active Directory systems precisely because they contain a vast number of users, servers, and computers, and having entry into these systems can allow hackers to quickly access data and resources from across the organization’s networks.

Active Directory Group Management Best Practices

Network infrastructure and firewall security are important, but maintaining best practices for managing Active Directory permissions is also vital to preventing credentials from being stolen or abused. With effective AD group management in place, admins have better control over which users are accessing which data and better visibility into unusual activity, like multiple login attempts. Typically, group permissions should be as restrictive as possible, while still allowing users to access the files and folders they need to do their work. Once users are in their correct group, their login credentials should grant them one consistent level of access to company data, no matter which device they log into.

How do Active Directory group management tools work?

Active Directory group management tools allow systems administrators to easily manage users and computers across multiple domains, allowing them to troubleshoot issues and ensure users have correct access, as needed. Active Directory allows your network administrators to organize your company’s devices and users into manageable groups. By grouping users and computers with an Active Directory group management tool, network administrators can easily add, remove, or modify permissions for large numbers of users and devices at once. The Active Directory nested groups feature allows you to even add groups as members of other groups, when convenient. Being able to assign users according to group policy quickly saves administrators time and energy, so they can instead focus on more pressing matters.

An Active Directory group management tool also allows a network administrator to group users and devices across a network to easily assign policies and permissions. Groups can be created, removed, modified, or even added to other groups. This allows for greater control over user credentials, which is essential to maintaining a network environment that is protected and operates smoothly.

How does Active Directory group management work in Access Rights Manager?

Access Rights Manager is built to provide monitoring, analysis, and auditing of permissions within Active Directory, allowing you to see and track what changes that have been made to group policies, who made them, and when they when into effect. Access Rights Manager can also display permissions in a tree structure, so administrators can swiftly determine which users have access to specific resources. The robust reporting tools in ARM also help track modifications made to permissions. 

Access Rights Manager includes data loss prevention features from external as well as internal security threats by monitoring which users have access to which services and servers—all displayed on an intuitive dashboard that gives easy visibility into AD group memberships.

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