ITDR is the next stage in enterprise security as attackers increasingly target credentials.. However, while the industry discusses ITDR at length, one fact continues to be overlooked: Any serious ITDR strategy must begin with protecting the user credentials within the directory services, for example, Microsoft Active Directory (AD).
Over 90% of global enterprises rely on Active Directory or hybrid AD/Azure AD environments as their primary identity store. That’s not by chance—AD is deeply integrated into authentication, access control, and business continuity. That same centrality makes it a prime target: studies show that 90% of attacks involve AD in some capacity.
2025 Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) reports that stolen credentials were still the most common initial access vector. Attackers understand how to weaponize AD misconfigurations and default settings, whether it’s lateral movement, privilege escalation, or maintaining persistence post-compromise. Conversations with CISOs across industries consistently reveal one truth: AD downtime would lead to catastrophic operational disruption. And yet, many strategies still overlook AD, leaving organizations vulnerable.
ITDR isn’t a single product. It’s a framework. A mature ITDR strategy should cover the full attack lifecycle: prevention, detection, automated response, and recovery.
Successful ITDR implementations are those that tightly integrate with AD, extend to Azure AD, and incorporate actionable intelligence from external sources like the Dark Web. Here’s what that entails:
1. Security Posture Assessment and Continuous Monitoring
Traditional SIEMs and log-based tools often miss sophisticated identity attacks. That’s why ITDR requires telemetry from beyond the log stream—including the AD replication stream, credential misuse signals, and indicators from Dark Web data.
An effective ITDR platform should assess security posture in real-time, identify stale or misconfigured AD accounts, and detect credential exposures before they’re exploited. At Enzoic, we enhance this with continuous monitoring of the Dark Web for leaked usernames and passwords—intelligence that can be used to disable exposed accounts immediately or force password resets.
Want to dive deeper into how Dark Web intelligence enhances ITDR? Explore how Enzoic integrates real-time Dark Web data into ITDR solutions.
2. Automated Remediation for Rapid Response
Because attackers move quickly, your response must be even faster. That’s why ITDR solutions must include policy-based automation to respond to threats in real-time—disabling accounts, triggering password resets, or integrating with tools that enforce MFA or privilege changes.
For related protections, see how Enzoic helps with stopping MFA fatigue attacks at the credential layer.
Past breaches show human intervention alone rarely stops an active identity attack. Enzoic’s ability to surface credential exposures from the Dark Web enables preemptive action—blocking compromised credentials before they’re used in attacks such as credential stuffing.
3. Risk Scoring and Remediation Guidance
Not all risks are equal. Prioritizing vulnerabilities based on likelihood and impact allows security teams to focus on the biggest threats. An ITDR solution should score risks within AD and Azure AD, correlate those with threat intel (like leaked credentials or attacker behavior), and provide guided remediation paths.
With Enzoic, credential risk is assessed dynamically using real-time exposure data from the Dark Web—factoring in not just whether a password is weak, but whether it’s already known to be compromised.
4. Post-Breach Forensics and Resilience Building
True resilience begins with prevention: Enzoic’s real-time credential data lets organizations automatically and continuously disable credentials exposed on the Dark Web, stopping the most common attacks before they start. If an incident does occur, that same intelligence accelerates forensics by tracking attacker movement, confirming whether stolen credentials opened the door, and guiding long-term policy fixes.
Identity-based attacks aren’t slowing down. Most ransomware, phishing, and supply chain breaches involve compromised credentials. ITDR works only when it starts with AD, incorporates external intelligence such as Dark Web data, and spans the full attack lifecycle.
At Enzoic, we help organizations operationalize ITDR by integrating our real-time credential exposure intelligence directly into Active Directory environments. We monitor billions of credentials circulating on the Dark Web, enabling organizations to detect compromised passwords, flag suspicious activity, and automate remediation—before a breach occurs.
Ready to integrate ITDR with real-time credential threat intelligence? Explore Enzoic for Active Directory →