Special accounts in Active Directory designed for managing non-human identities.
Description
Active Directory Service Accounts (AD Service Accounts) are specialized accounts in Active Directory (AD) that are intended to manage non-human identities, typically used for services and applications. They help to ensure that services run securely and with limited privileges, thus reducing the risk of security breaches. There are three primary types of service accounts: Local Service Accounts, Network Service Accounts, and Managed Service Accounts (MSAs). MSAs are particularly useful as they automatically manage passwords and can be used for applications that require domain credentials. By leveraging service accounts, organizations can implement least privilege access principles, allowing services to interact with other resources without exposing user credentials. Service accounts are often used by applications that run on servers, such as database services, web services, and application servers. Proper management of these accounts involves monitoring usage, ensuring they have appropriate permissions, and regularly auditing them to prevent unauthorized access.
Examples
- Managed Service Accounts (MSA)
- Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA)
Additional Information
- Service accounts should have strong, unique passwords.
- It's crucial to regularly audit service account permissions and usage.