Five Eyes backs Purple Knight for Active Directory defence

The Five Eyes Alliance has highlighted Semperis's Purple Knight tool as a recommended resource for evaluating and mitigating security dangers in Microsoft Active Directory environments.

The new guidance from the alliance points to Purple Knight for its ability to detect and address common attack methods that exploit Microsoft Active Directory. Purple Knight, available at no cost, is designed to analyse vulnerabilities in Active Directory, Entra ID, and Okta specifically for UK companies. With Active Directory being the most widely used identity system, present in over 80% of companies globally, the significance of this recommendation is considerable.

"The Five Eyes' comprehensive report on mitigating Active Directory risks highlights the urgent need to secure hybrid identity systems against today's cyber threats. We are honoured that Purple Knight is a recommended tool in the report," stated Mickey Bresman, CEO of Semperis.

The report 'Detecting and Mitigating Active Directory Compromises' is co-authored by several agencies including the Australian Signals Directorate, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the U.S. National Security Agency, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, the New Zealand National Cyber Security Centre, and the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre. It offers insights and guidance on 17 prevalent attack techniques used by threat actors.

Ray Mills, Regional Director, Iberia, Semperis, remarked, "Active Directory, Entra ID, and Okta vulnerabilities can give attackers unrestricted access to an organisation's network and resources. Semperis built Purple Knight to help companies discover indicators of exposure and indicators of compromise in their hybrid identity environments. The tool has been downloaded by more than 30,000 organisations."

The results of a 2023 Semperis Purple Knight report illustrated that companies using Active Directory face challenges in identifying and addressing vulnerabilities that expose them to cyber threats. On their initial security assessments using Purple Knight, most organisations scored an average of 72, revealing significant potential for improvement.

Chris Inglis, former U.S. National Cyber Director and now Strategic Advisor for Semperis, commented, "Recent guidance in the Five Eyes nations' report is welcomed. While perfect security is impossible, you can make your network defensible—and then you must defend it. That defence is a mix of doctrine, upskilling, and technology, all of which are essential; none on their own is sufficient. Organisations such as Semperis offer hybrid identity system security that will help global organisations improve their operational resilience against today's ever-present attacks."