No business is too small to consider their cybersecurity. At GFI Digital, we encourage managed IT customers to utilize Active Directory. Active Directory, by definition is a database that creates trust between computers, servers, and users. Whether your company has 15 employees or 500, this database system is essential for operating an organized, productive, and cyber-secure business.
Active Directory gives companies the ability to have “member computers” with specific permissions. Each member—or employee—uses the same password to login to anything tied to the active directory, such as logging onto their work computer at the office or logging onto the VPN from a laptop at home.
Active Directories create job-specific permissions. Not every employee needs access to information that does not relate to his or her job. For example, Active Directory can keep your sales representatives from accessing accounting information, or keep your delivery drivers from accessing the administration documents. “Least Privilege Access” keeps people from being distracted by an overload of data that doesn’t pertain to them. It also keeps employees from seeing things they aren’t supposed to see.
Because it is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it is a great time evaluate. We can help! How cyber-safe is your organization?
Having Active Directory is more secure because you have control over what people can access. 66% of organizations consider internal attacks to be more likely than external. Having Active Directory can decrease the likelihood of an internal attack and also pinpoint where an internal attack occurs, should one happen. Without Active Directory, a company will never know what the cyber problem is or where they were compromised.
Active Directory also gives you the ability to initiate multi-factor authentication for users across your organization. This is when something requires you to provide two or more pieces of evidence to prove your identity. An example of this would be logging into your computer with a username and password, then having to confirm it is in fact you logging in with an app on your phone.
Not only is Active Directory more secure, it also is time-saving and productive. The automation allows IT administrators to activate mass installs when needed. The benefit is sending updates and new information to the directory all at once, instead of computer-by-computer.
Lastly, Active Directory can give your company fast and secure onboarding and off boarding. Employees are added and deleted in a single place, instead of having to remove them on multiple computers and applications. Disabling an employee from all access can be done quickly to prevent any incidents.
