Cayosoft Guardian Protector is recognized for redefining real-time identity threat detection across Active Directory and Entra ID
Columbus, Ohio – May 19, 2026 – Identity attacks rarely begin with malware. They begin with quiet, often invisible changes inside Active Directory and Entra ID—privilege escalations, dormant account reactivations, and policy tampering that unfold long before traditional security tools raise an alert. This growing gap between identity compromise and detection is why Cayosoft was named a Gold Stevie® Award winner in the Identity & Access Security Solution category at the 2026 American Business Awards®, recognizing the impact of Cayosoft Guardian Protector on how organizations detect and respond to identity‑layer threats.
The American Business Awards are the U.S.A.’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.
More than 3,700 nominations were submitted this year across industries and categories ranging from innovation and leadership to product excellence. Cayosoft was recognized for addressing one of the most persistent and dangerous realities in modern security environments: identity systems are the primary attack surface—and most organizations still lack real time visibility into what’s happening inside them.
Guardian Protector is a free always-on solution that operates in a growing category known as identity threat detection and response (ITDR)—focused on detecting and monitoring identity-layer attacks in real time across Active Directory, Entra ID, and Microsoft 365 environments. Unlike traditional SIEMs or audit tools that rely on delayed log analysis, ITDR tools surface risky identity changes as they happen.
This approach earned Cayosoft Guardian Protector a Gold Stevie® Award in the Identity & Access Security Solution category at the 2026 American Business Awards®, recognizing its impact on how organizations detect and respond to identity-based attacks.
“Most identity breaches aren’t missed because teams aren’t paying attention—they’re missed because the tools were built for hindsight,” said Dmitry Sotnikov, Chief Product Office of Cayosoft. “Real time identity detection fundamentally changes the economics of an attack. When defenders can see identity changes as they happen, attackers lose time, persistence, and leverage.”
In addition to real time detection, Guardian Protector provides continuous monitoring and a unified view across hybrid identity environments, closing long standing visibility gaps between on premises Active Directory and cloud identity platforms. The free solution also includes access to the Guardian Threat Library, giving administrators and security teams practical context on how attackers exploit identity misconfigurations and how to respond effectively.
More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year’s Stevie Award winners.
“Organizations across the United States continue to set a high standard for innovation and performance,” said Stevie Awards president Maggie Miller. “The breadth and quality of nominations submitted to The 2026 American Business Awards reflect a dynamic and competitive business environment, where organizations are finding new ways to drive growth, deliver value, and make an impact. We congratulate all of this year’s Stevie Award winners and look forward to celebrating their accomplishments at our June 9 awards ceremony in New York.”
Learn more about Cayosoft Guardian Protector always free always on at https://www.cayosoft.com/products/guardian/guardian-protector/.
Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2026 Stevie winners are available at https://ABA.StevieAwards.com.
About Cayosoft
Cayosoft delivers the only unified solution enabling organizations to securely manage, continuously monitor for threats or suspect changes, and instantly recover their Microsoft platforms, including on-premises Active Directory, Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Microsoft 365, Intune, and more.
Unlike legacy solutions, Cayosoft builds with hybrid, cloud, and mobile users in mind, fully supporting an organization throughout its IT cloud journey. Manage by offering roles, rules, and automations for Active Directory user governance. Monitor for critical changes, risks, vulnerabilities, and threats that could compromise operations. Recover from simple objects up to multiple forests. Cayosoft is the only vendor offering instant AD forest recovery, in contrast to the hours, days, and weeks traditional solutions require. Satisfaction with Cayosoft is exceptionally high, with an average customer retention rate of 99% over the past three years.
To learn more, visit cayosoft.com and follow @cayosoft on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Facebook.
About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, and the new Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes, as well as the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding workplace performance worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at https://www.StevieAwards.com.
Media Contact:
Michelle Schafer
Merritt Group for Cayosoft
cayosoft@merrittgrp.com