Cyber Security Interview Prep. Q6: "Active Directory Part 1"

Category: General IT

Question: What is Active Directory (AD) and why would a company use it?

My answer:

Active Directory (AD) is a system composed of a central database and a network of machines that allows for an organisation to better manage their users, their authentication into the system and their authorisation to use resources. The AD database stores all these records.

An organisation may choose to use AD so it can more easily manage their users and the machines those users log into. It can potentially cut down on a lot of IT micromanagement e.g. when setting up an account for a new member of staff, or when staff use different machines on different days.

Note that the above, like with many of these questions, is only the tip of the iceberg; there is a lot more to know about Active Directory, but the above is a good introduction, and from there you may be asked about more details, or the interviewer may move on to a different topic. Some common follow-on topics are:

• AD Groups and OUs (Organisational units)

• AD structure, Domain Controllers

• Forest Trusts

• NTLM and Kerberos Authentication

These follow-on topics already have, or will have, their own blog posts in due time.

For further reading:

What is Active Directory? How does it work? | Quest

Onward and Upward 🚀