{"id":7227,"date":"2024-02-05T10:44:42","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T15:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jumpcloud.com\/blog\/?p=7227"},"modified":"2024-11-05T18:35:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T23:35:41","slug":"active-directory-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/active-directory-bridge","title":{"rendered":"What is an Active Directory Bridge?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Active Directory<\/a>\u00ae<\/sup> (AD) bridge is a tool that allows organizations to continue using AD as their authoritative source of identity, while extending it to systems, apps, and protocols that it cannot natively manage as well as modernizing<\/a> their access control. Other terms for this type of solution are an Active Directory extension or a cloud identity bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re looking for information specifically on JumpCloud\u2019s AD bridge offering, it\u2019s called Active Directory Integration<\/a> (ADI). Visit the product page<\/a> for a full rundown of features and screenshots. The AD bridge extends identities to the cloud and enables these identities to be deployed to non-AD bound resources through JumpCloud\u2019s open directory platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll find a more detailed definition of an AD bridge below, along with some background on the state of AD, the directory services landscape, and why so many organizations are looking to modernize or replace legacy AD deployments with more productive alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Modernize Active Directory?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you look back to the turn of the century, you would see a primarily Windows on-prem environment across organizations. Users walked into the office each day, sat down at their desks, plugged into a private network, and authenticated their identities against an on-prem Active Directory domain controller<\/a> (DC). Microsoft stored user identities on private Windows servers in a data center somewhere on-site, which enabled seamless access to resources<\/a> like Windows-based applications, productivity platforms, and storage devices to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things look very different today. Other operating systems (e.g., Android, Linux, Mac, and Windows), wireless access points (WAPs) and networks, remote users, and cloud resources are the norm. While these and many other aspects have changed, one thing has stayed the same \u2014 namely, Active Directory. AD is a legacy technology that’s central to many digital estates, but it doesn\u2019t meet requirements anymore. Microsoft positions AD as a legacy technology<\/a> because of its functional constraints and security issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Active Directory Limitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many organizations still leverage AD<\/a> for directory services, and it\u2019s especially true when they have more mature IT infrastructures. The challenge for these types of organizations is extending user credentials to manage resources that fall outside of the Active Directory domain, namely, non-Windows systems, applications, and cloud resources. It also lacks modern authentication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cross-OS Device Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, centralized management for Mac and Linux systems has always been notoriously painful to implement and maintain with AD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, AD is so entrenched within the infrastructure of an organization that getting rid of it is improbable. As a result, it is not uncommon for these non-Windows systems to go unmanaged, which is something that Microsoft\u2019s new access control model<\/a> for AD and Zero Trust modernization plan<\/a> discourage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access Control<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AD was designed and built to manage Windows endpoints, and managing a heterogeneous OS environment requires additional solutions. More importantly, not every device that accesses resources via AD has to be compliant or managed. Therefore, it\u2019s possible for attackers to take advantage of poorly managed<\/a> trusted PCs as an entry point into networks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AD also fails to <\/strong>explicitly validate trust for all access requests. This weakness, along with security vulnerabilities within Windows, can lead to privilege escalation using techniques such as forged Kerberos trust tickets<\/a> to gain unauthorized access within AD domains. AD treats the firewall, not identities, as the only perimeter. That is a dated approach that has security risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AD also requires add-ons to provide single sign-on (SSO), privileged access management (PAM), and multi-factor authentication (MFA). AD lacks essential identity and access management (IAM) capabilities that are required for modern IT environments. Those include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n