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How to check if an AD account is locked out

The Account Lockout Policy in Active Directory Group Policy sets the number of failed sign-in attempts before a user account is locked out. This can be checked with the AD account lockout status. Once the account is locked out,... Read More

password entropy

All About Password Entropy

This article takes a look at the Password Entropy calculation in Specops Password Auditor. What is entropy? Entropy is a concept borrowed from information theory. In the password context, entropy can be summarized as: how many guesses would it... Read More

HIPAA Security Rule Guidance for passwords

There are an alarming number of cyberattacks targeting the healthcare industry. In October 2020, the FBI released a security warning to hospitals and government agencies of an imminent danger of ransomware attacks. Attackers were said to be targeting healthcare... Read More

Password policy enforcement

German Federal Office for Information Security password guidance

The German Federal Office for Information Security (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, abbreviated as BSI) is an agency responsible for information security for the German federal government. The BSI is also the central certification body for IT systems.... Read More

specops password auditor interface

CNIL password guidance

Data privacy has become a priority for global businesses due to sweeping regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At the same time, other regulatory bodies continue to enforce local data privacy laws. In France, for example,... Read More

Programming your own password filter .dll

Organizations can increase the security of Active Directory passwords by filtering specific passwords from being used in their environment. Password filters help bolster the security protections of Active Directory Password Policy settings by ensuring that end-users cannot use passwords... Read More