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Downtime Is Dangerous: Why Identity Resilience is Now Mission-Critical for Healthcare

Beyond Access: How Healthcare IT Can Cut Costs, Shrink Attack Surfaces, and Protect Patient Data with Smart Automation

In healthcare, behind every login is a nurse, a physician, and—most importantly—a patient in need. When identity systems fail, care delivery comes to a halt. That reality has been underscored by recent breaches, where stolen credentials, dormant admin accounts, and lateral movement across hybrid systems have caused not just IT outages, but also treatment delays, patient diversions, and canceled surgeries.

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NTLM Relay Attack Prevention: A Checklist for Active Directory Security

TL;DR Active Directory environments face severe risks from an NTLM relay attack, which exploits the lack of mutual authentication in legacy protocols to intercept credentials and gain unauthorized network access. Organizations can mitigate these vulnerabilities by phasing out NTLM in favor of Kerberos, enforcing SMB signing, and implementing strict privilege

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Cayosoft joins the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association

Enhanced Windows LAPS Password View and Management

Introduction  In our commitment to provide robust Active Directory, Entra ID, and M365 security, monitoring, and recovery Cayosoft Guardian is rolling out new features designed to make your security processes more streamlined and secure. With the latest update, we’re introducing modern LAPS management capabilities directly in the product.  Feature Highlights 

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Enhanced Security and Deployment with gMSA and AD Connector

In our commitment to provide robust Active Directory, Entra ID, and M365 security, monitoring, and recovery Cayosoft Guardian is rolling out new features designed to make your security processes more streamlined and secure. With the latest update, we’re introducing Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) integration and the AD Connector feature,

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Active Directory Security Best Practices: Key NSA Guidelines

Most global businesses run hybrid AD environments, and following active directory security best practices is critical when combining on-premises and cloud services to secure both Active Directory (AD) and Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD). Both systems manage identity and access control, making them prime targets for attackers aiming to

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K-12 Ransomware Protection: Securing Schools’ AD & Entra ID

As K-12 schools increasingly rely on digital services and key infrastructure such as Active Directory and Entra ID for authentication and access to support education services. We continue to see an increase with being targeted by Ransomware groups and falling victim to ransomware attacks, putting sensitive data and education services

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Qilin Ransomware: How to Detect & Protect Against This Exploit

Qilin ransomware has emerged as a significant threat to organizations, particularly those relying heavily on Active Directory for managing their IT infrastructure. Qilin ransomware has adopted a new method for stealing credentials from Google Chrome browsers by leveraging Active Directory Group Policy. In this guide, we will explore how Qilin

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FSMO Roles: The Hidden Key to Resilient Active Directory

At the heart of every well-functioning Active Directory (AD) environment lies a set of unsung heroes: Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) roles. These specialized roles hold the keys to your AD’s resilience, stability, and recoverability. While they may not be the most glamorous aspect of AD management, understanding and safeguarding

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Mastering Microsoft 365 Governance: Active Directory Guide

TL;DR Effective Microsoft 365 governance relies on strategic Active Directory management to secure user identities, enforce role-based access control, and automate the user lifecycle in hybrid environments. By utilizing automation and centralized reporting, organizations can mitigate security risks, streamline administrative tasks, and maintain strict regulatory compliance across all group types.

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Managing Active Directory in a Zero Trust World

Applying a Zero Trust strategy to Active Directory management reduces your identity threat landscape, enhances access controls and segmentation, enforces just-in-time access, and improves monitoring and incident response. Overall, this approach strengthens your identity platform and makes it more resilient. In this blog, learn how Zero Trust strategy and principles

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Securing Active Directory Against DCSync Attacks

DCSync attacks remain a persistent threat to Active Directory (AD) security. These attacks cleverly exploit normal AD replication processes, allowing hackers to secretly extract sensitive password hashes. This access can pave the way for widespread exploits across your network. Given the prevalence of DCSync attacks, IT professionals must be equipped

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Active Directory Best Practices for Management in 2026

TL;DR Modern organizations must prioritize Active Directory best practices by transitioning from manual management to automated workflows to mitigate risks like human error and sophisticated cyberattacks. Implementing strategies such as the principle of least privilege, automated user lifecycle management, and continuous auditing ensures a secure and resilient IT infrastructure. In

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Securing SYSVOL: Threats, Protection, and Recovery

What is SYSVOL and Why is it Important? For many IT professionals, the system volume (SYSVOL) might seem like just another shared folder. However, if not properly protected, it represents a critical security vulnerability within every Active Directory domain controller. SYSVOL stores the essential files and scripts that govern user

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Active Directory Software: Top 7 Enterprise Requirements

Understanding the Complexities of Enterprise IT Security The Microsoft Digital Defense Report reveals a concerning trend: 93% of Microsoft’s ransomware incident response engagements uncovered insufficient controls on privilege access and lateral movement. This illustrates that companies need to strengthen their user management and security in 2024. The growing trend underlines

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Active Directory Authentication Explained

Getting Smart with Active Directory Authentication Let’s talk about Active Directory authentication, a key player in your IT environment’s security. In simple terms, it’s like the main gatekeeper of your organization’s IT environment, deciding who gets in and what they can do. This isn’t just about keeping bad guys out,

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Active Directory Cleanup: Top 8 Best Practices

TL;DR Regular Active Directory cleanup optimizes system performance and strengthens security by removing obsolete objects, inactive accounts, and unoptimized Group Policy Objects. Implementing automated monitoring and metadata maintenance ensures long-term regulatory compliance while reducing the risks associated with unauthorized access and replication errors. Top Best Practices for Optimal Performance |

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Active Directory Schema: Essentials & Backup Strategy

Understanding Active Directory Schema Before we dive into the backup, let’s clear up what an Active Directory schema is. Simply put, the Active Directory schema is a set of definitions that outline what kinds of objects and information about those objects can be stored in Active Directory. Think of it

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Why You Need to Recover Active Directory Forest

Essential Considerations to Recover Your Active Directory Forest Active Directory isn’t just a part of your IT infrastructure, it’s the forgotten central hub that keeps everything running smoothly. But with great power comes great responsibility – and vulnerability. It’s a primary target for attackers and any disruption will send ripple

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Enhancing IT Agility with Automated User Provisioning in Active Directory

Understanding Automated User Provisioning in Active Directory In the world of IT, manual management of user provisioning and deprovisioning feels as outdated as a floppy disk. Just imagine trying to juggle countless user profiles across diverse on-premise and cloud environments—it’s a logistical nightmare. Enter the era of automated user provisioning

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Selecting the Right Tools to Manage Active Directory in 2024

How to Choose the Best Tools to Manage Active Directory In the changing world of IT management, choosing the right tools to manage Active Directory is very important. Active Directory is the main system for managing identities and access in your organization. It needs a strong solution that simplifies operations,

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Is it Time for your Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Renewal?

Resources to Optimize Microsoft 365 (Formerly Office 365) License Management and Reduce Costs For organizations with 500 or more users or devices, that want a more manageable volume licensing program, the Microsoft Enterprise Agreement (EA) provides the ability to buy cloud services and software licenses under one agreement. These enterprise agreements are

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7 Benefits of an Exchange Online Migration

7 Benefits of Moving Your Mailbox to Exchange Online

Is your enterprise still using on-premises email? It’s time to consider moving your operations to the cloud. You can easily migrate users to a Microsoft Exchange server online, an industry-leading cloud solution. Used by small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and Fortune 500 companies, Exchange Online has numerous features and advantages not

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Pros and Cons of an Exchange Hybrid Environment

Pros and Cons of a Hybrid Exchange Environment

Last Updated On: Hybrid Exchange Environment Considerations | Understanding Exchange Hybrid Deployments Is your organization considering a hybrid Microsoft Office 365 deployment? There’s a lot to think about. In a hybrid exchange environment, an organization is able to connect its on-premises Microsoft Exchange users and cloud users into a single

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Azure File Sync Now Generally Available for Hybrid File Storage

Call Now for Fast Cache After almost a year in public preview, Azure File Sync is now generally available. Like all good hybrid solutions, Azure File Sync solves both some problems unique to on-premises and to cloud while emphasizing the strengths of both options. Here’s how it works.  Organizations centralize

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Microsoft Q4 Growth Earnings In Cloud Surpass Expectations

Microsoft Q4 Growth, Earnings in Cloud Surpass Expectations

Growing Gains Microsoft recently released their Q4 earnings report, and the results are impressive. Analysts were projecting $29.21 billion in overall revenue but actual results were $30.09 billion, a 17% increase year-over-year. Per share, that shakes out to $1.13, a nickel more than the expected $1.08/share. Most legacy, non-cloud based

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Top 5 Methods to Reduce Office 365 License Costs

Free Whitepaper: Top 5 Methods to Reduce Office 365 License Costs

Office 365 licenses are incredibly diverse in both function and price. With a smart license strategy and a few tips, your organization can optimize license usage and minimize costs while simplifying day-to-day license administration.   This whitepaper will illustrate 5 key areas where you can build this critical strategy. You’ll explore how

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Have Teams and Skype for Business Reached Feature Parity?

Have Teams and Skype for Business Reached Feature Parity?

Inequal to the Task As discussed frequently on this blog, updates to Teams have been pouring in over the last year. Teams will eventually replace Skype for Business, so it was big news at Microsoft’s Inspire partner show when it was announced that the two solutions had achieved feature parity.

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Exchange Web Services Fossilizes, Loses Basic Authentication

Exchange Web Services Fossilizes, Loses Basic Authentication

Exchanged for a Graph –  The word is out. Exchange Web Services (EWS) will receive no more feature updates, though security and “certain non-security” updates will continue going forward. The same applies to EWS’s SDKs for Java and .NET. EWS will remain available and supported in production environments, but the

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Exchange Online Mailbox Sizing Gets a Fix (Sadly)

Exchange Online Mailbox Sizing Gets A Fix (Sadly)

License to Overfill –  When dealing with complex and constantly evolving technologies, sometimes documentation doesn’t accurately reflect a tech’s actual state. An example of this recently cropped up in Exchange Online mailbox sizing, but with a twist. This time, it’s the documentation that’s correct and the reality that doesn’t match

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Microsoft Teams Goes Through a Growth Spurt

Microsoft Teams Goes Through a Growth Spurt

Like any 1-year-old, Microsoft Teams is growing at a cracking pace. New features are popping up by the day—so many that most can only be discussed in amalgam. Accordingly, here are our top twelve recent and any-day-now updates for Microsoft Teams. Why twelve? Depending on your setup, any one of

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We’re Hiring!

Customer Success Coordinator Reports to: COO or CRO/VP of Sales Classification: Full Time, Non-Exempt Last updated: February 2019 About the Company Cayosoft Inc., a fast-growing global independent software vendor, delivers exciting and innovative products that help organizations manage their Microsoft infrastructures throughout their journey from on-premises, to hybrid, to public and private cloud.   Applying deep expertise in

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Hybrid Configuration Wizard Finally Gets Policy Transfer Support

Hybrid Configuration Wizard Finally Gets Policy Transfer Support

Expecto Transferrum –  The Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) tool has been around since 2011, used to link on-premises Exchange servers to Exchange Online. Now too it’s gaining the capability to transfer policy settings to Online. Exchange Servers 2010, 2013, and 2016 are all supported and, intriguingly, HCW will also be

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New Traffic Analytics for Azure Generally Available

New Traffic Analytics for Azure Generally Available

Trafficking in Insight –  Microsoft’s Traffic Analytics for Azure recently became generally available, and it’s shaping up to be a valuable addition to IT’s network monitoring capabilities. The solution uses Network Watcher network security group (NSG) flow logs to create a comprehensive view of an organization’s traffic flows within Azure and

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Digital Transformation Spending to Pass $1 Trillion

Digital Transformation Spending to Pass $1 Trillion

Transforming IT and Budgets Alike –  As a recent report from market analysis firm IDC reveals, digital transformation (DX) spending is due to surpass $1 trillion this year. And much of this spend is pouring into IT. DX is a large umbrella, covering everything from customer-facing virtualization technology to autonomous

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Windows Server 2019 Build 17677 Rolls Out to Insiders

Windows Server 2019 Build 17677 Rolls Out to Insiders

A Small Serving of Updates –  Soon after the release of Windows 10 Insider build 17677, the new Windows Server 2019 Insider preview build 17677 is following hot on its heels. Insiders, grab these new updates now; for everyone else, here’s a hint of what’s on the horizon. Storage Spaces

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