Azure AD Password Protection DC Agent for Enhanced Security

The Azure AD Password Protection DC Agent is a game-changer for enhanced security. It helps prevent the use of weak passwords in your Active Directory.

One of its key features is the ability to block weak passwords, including those that are commonly used by attackers. This is done by monitoring Active Directory for password attempts and blocking them if they match a known weak password.

Having this agent installed can significantly reduce the risk of password-based attacks, such as brute force attacks. By blocking weak passwords, you're making it much harder for attackers to gain access to your system.

Azure AD Password Protection is a powerful feature that helps eliminate weak passwords in cloud and on-premise hybrid environments. It works by checking user-set passwords against a banned password list, which can include company names, abbreviations, and other common weak passwords.

You can define a list of weak passwords that users cannot use, and the password protection feature can run in audit mode to understand how many users are using weak passwords in your organization before enforcing the policy.

Azure AD password protection helps to identify and block weak passwords, including variants of common words like "password". If a user tries to set a password like P@ssw0rd, it will be blocked because Azure is intelligent to identify it as a variant of the word "password".

The password protection process involves a proxy service that securely connects to the Azure Password Protection service on cloud and forwards the requests from domain controller agents. This way, you don't need internet connectivity on domain controllers to implement password protection.

Here's a breakdown of the password validation outcome events:

The password protection agent and proxy can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center, and after installation, you need to configure the proxy in Active Directory using specific commands.

Password security is a top priority for any organization, and Azure AD Password Protection DC Agent is a powerful tool to help achieve this goal. Complex passwords are often recommended, but users may still use easily guessable passwords like "terminalworks@123" or "P@ssw0rd".

In fact, attackers often try to gain access to an organization by guessing these types of passwords. But with Azure Password Protection, you can define a list of weak passwords, including company names or abbreviations, to prevent users from using them.

Azure Password Protection works by checking every password attempt against a banned password list. If a password matches or is a variant of a banned password, it will be denied. For example, if the word "password" is added to the banned list, attempts like "P@ssw0rd" or "password@123" will be blocked.

To support on-premise Active Directory, you need to install the Password Protection agent on domain controllers. This agent will communicate with the Azure Password Protection service through a Password Protection proxy service, which ensures that domain controllers don't need internet connectivity to implement password protection.

Here are some common causes of weak passwords being accepted:

By following these best practices and using Azure AD Password Protection DC Agent, you can significantly improve the security of your organization's passwords and prevent attackers from gaining access to your systems.

If you're experiencing issues with your Azure AD Password Protection DC Agent, don't worry, we've got you covered. One common problem is the proxy service being unable to communicate with Azure.

To fix this, ensure the proxy machine has connectivity to the endpoints listed in the deployment requirements. You can check the Azure tenant registration by running the Get-AzureADPasswordProtectionProxy and Get-AzureADPasswordProtectionDCAgent PowerShell cmdlets. If the reported tenant name is not the same across all DC agents and proxy servers, run the Register-AzureADPasswordProtectionProxy and/or Register-AzureADPasswordProtectionForest PowerShell cmdlets as needed.

If the DC agent service is causing problems, you can immediately shut it down to prevent further issues. The DC agent password filter dll will still log warning events, but all incoming passwords will be accepted during this time.

If you're experiencing issues with your proxy service, the first step is to ensure the proxy machine has connectivity to the required endpoints. This can be checked by running the deployment requirements.

A common problem is an Azure tenant registration mismatch, which can be fixed by running the Register-AzureADPasswordProtectionProxy and/or Register-AzureADPasswordProtectionForest PowerShell cmdlets as needed, making sure to use credentials from the same Azure tenant for all registrations. This ensures that all DC agents and proxy servers are registered against the same Azure tenant.

To verify this, you can run the Get-AzureADPasswordProtectionProxy and Get-AzureADPasswordProtectionDCAgent PowerShell cmdlets and compare the AzureTenant property of each returned item. If the reported tenant name is the same across all DC agents and proxy servers, you're good to go.

Here are the steps to troubleshoot an Azure tenant registration mismatch:

In an emergency situation where the DC agent service is causing problems, it can be shut down immediately.

This action will cause the DC agent password filter dll to log warning events (10012, 10013) as it attempts to call the non-running service, but all incoming passwords will be accepted during this time.

The DC agent service can then be configured via the Windows Service Control Manager with a startup type of “Disabled” as needed.

Setting the Enable mode to No in the Microsoft Entra Password Protection portal is another remediation measure that can be taken.

Once the updated policy has been downloaded, each DC agent service will go into a quiescent mode where all passwords are accepted as-is.