Usage of administrative accounts must be monitored for suspicious and anomalous activity.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-243490	AD.AU.0001	SV-243490r723505_rule		Medium

Description
Monitoring the usage of administrative accounts can alert on suspicious behavior and anomalous account usage that would be indicative of potential malicious credential reuse.

STIG	Date
Active Directory Domain Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-08-26

Details

Check Text ( C-46765r723503_chk )
Verify account usage events for administrative accounts are being monitored. This includes events related to approved administrative accounts as well as accounts being added to privileged groups such as Administrators, Domain and Enterprise Admins and other organization defined administrative groups. Event monitoring may be implemented through various methods including log aggregation and the use of monitoring tools. Monitor for the events listed below, at minimum. If these events are not monitored, this is a finding. Account Lockouts (Subcategory: User Account Management) 4740 - A user account is locked out. User Added to Privileged Group (Subcategory: Security Group Management) 4728 - A member was added to a security-enabled global group. 4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group. 4756 - A member was added to a security-enabled universal group. Successful User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon) 4624 - An account was successfully logged on. Failed User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon) 4625 - An account failed to log on. Account Login with Explicit Credentials (Subcategory: Logon) 4648 - A logon was attempted using explicit credentials.

Check Text ( C-46765r723503_chk )

Verify account usage events for administrative accounts are being monitored. This includes events related to approved administrative accounts as well as accounts being added to privileged groups such as Administrators, Domain and Enterprise Admins and other organization defined administrative groups. Event monitoring may be implemented through various methods including log aggregation and the use of monitoring tools.

Monitor for the events listed below, at minimum. If these events are not monitored, this is a finding.

Account Lockouts (Subcategory: User Account Management)
4740 - A user account is locked out.
User Added to Privileged Group (Subcategory: Security Group Management)
4728 - A member was added to a security-enabled global group.
4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group.
4756 - A member was added to a security-enabled universal group.
Successful User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon)
4624 - An account was successfully logged on.
Failed User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon)
4625 - An account failed to log on.
Account Login with Explicit Credentials (Subcategory: Logon)
4648 - A logon was attempted using explicit credentials.

Fix Text (F-46722r723504_fix)
Monitor account usage events for administrative accounts. This includes events related to approved administrative accounts as well as accounts being added to privileged groups such as Administrators, Domain and Enterprise Admins and other organization defined administrative groups. Event monitoring may be implemented through various methods including log aggregation and the use of monitoring tools. Monitor for the events listed below, at minimum. Account Lockouts (Subcategory: User Account Management) 4740 - A user account is locked out. User Added to Privileged Group (Subcategory: Security Group Management) 4728 - A member was added to a security-enabled global group. 4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group. 4756 - A member was added to a security-enabled universal group. Successful User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon) 4624 - An account was successfully logged on. Failed User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon) 4625 - An account failed to log on. Account Login with Explicit Credentials (Subcategory: Logon) 4648 - A logon was attempted using explicit credentials. The "Account Usage" section of NSA's "Spotting the Adversary with Windows Event Log Monitoring" provides additional information. https://www.iad.gov/iad/library/reports/spotting-the-adversary-with-windows-event-log-monitoring.cfm.

Fix Text (F-46722r723504_fix)

Monitor account usage events for administrative accounts. This includes events related to approved administrative accounts as well as accounts being added to privileged groups such as Administrators, Domain and Enterprise Admins and other organization defined administrative groups. Event monitoring may be implemented through various methods including log aggregation and the use of monitoring tools.

Monitor for the events listed below, at minimum.

Account Lockouts (Subcategory: User Account Management)
4740 - A user account is locked out.
User Added to Privileged Group (Subcategory: Security Group Management)
4728 - A member was added to a security-enabled global group.
4732 - A member was added to a security-enabled local group.
4756 - A member was added to a security-enabled universal group.
Successful User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon)
4624 - An account was successfully logged on.
Failed User Account Login (Subcategory: Logon)
4625 - An account failed to log on.
Account Login with Explicit Credentials (Subcategory: Logon)
4648 - A logon was attempted using explicit credentials.

The "Account Usage" section of NSA's "Spotting the Adversary with Windows Event Log Monitoring" provides additional information.
https://www.iad.gov/iad/library/reports/spotting-the-adversary-with-windows-event-log-monitoring.cfm.