7 Essential Reports You Can Create with Sysmalogic AD Report BuilderActive Directory (AD) environments grow complex quickly, and managing them securely and efficiently requires clear, actionable visibility. Sysmalogic AD Report Builder is a specialized reporting tool designed to simplify AD auditing, compliance, and day-to-day administration by letting you create, schedule, and export detailed reports from your domain. Below are seven essential report types every AD administrator should be able to produce with the tool, along with reasons they matter, key fields to include, sample use cases, and tips for optimizing each report.
1. Inactive and Stale Accounts Report
Why it matters:
- Inactive accounts are a major security risk: stale or unused accounts can be exploited by attackers or used for privilege escalation.
- Regular cleanup reduces license costs, reduces attack surface, and improves audit posture.
Key fields to include:
- Account name (sAMAccountName)
- Distinguished Name (DN)
- LastLogonTimestamp / LastLogonDate
- WhenCreated
- AccountEnabled state
- PasswordLastSet
- MemberOf (group memberships)
- ManagedBy (if applicable)
- Days since last logon
Sample use cases:
- Quarterly review to disable or delete accounts that haven’t logged in for 90+ days.
- Identify service or application accounts that appear unused before decommissioning systems.
Optimization tips:
- Use tombstone-safe attributes (LastLogonTimestamp aggregated) for domain-wide scans.
- Cross-reference with known service accounts list to avoid disabling needed automation.
2. Privileged Accounts and Group Membership Report
Why it matters:
- Privileged accounts (Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, etc.) hold broad control — their misuse causes the most damage.
- Group nesting can conceal privilege escalation paths.
Key fields to include:
- Account name and DN
- Primary groups and nested group memberships
- Direct and transitive (nested) membership in privileged groups
- Administrative roles (e.g., Schema Admin, Enterprise Admin)
- LastLogon and account status
- Credential hygiene indicators (e.g., password last set, password never expires)
Sample use cases:
- Audit for separation of duties and least privilege.
- Prepare evidence for compliance frameworks (ISO, SOC2, PCI).
Optimization tips:
- Expand nested groups to show indirect memberships clearly.
- Flag accounts with elevated privileges that haven’t had multi-factor authentication enforced.
3. Password and Account Policy Compliance Report
Why it matters:
- Ensuring domain password and account policies are enforced reduces risk from brute-force and credential-stuffing attacks.
- Useful for compliance checks and security baselining.
Key fields to include:
- Policy name and scope (domain, OU)
- Password complexity settings, minimum length, max age
- Account lockout thresholds and durations
- Users violating policy (e.g., password never expires)
- Accounts with reversible encryption or weak settings
Sample use cases:
- Demonstrate compliance with corporate or regulatory password standards.
- Identify OUs that have deviated from domain policy due to inherited GPOs or local settings.
Optimization tips:
- Combine GPO-resultant set of policy (RSoP) outputs with object-level attributes.
- Highlight exceptions like service accounts or delegated admin accounts.
4. Group Policy Objects (GPO) and Effective Settings Report
Why it matters:
- GPOs control security hardening, software deployment, and user settings; misconfigurations can create vulnerabilities or operational issues.
- Understanding effective settings at the OU/user/computer level helps troubleshoot and verify deployed policies.
Key fields to include:
- GPO name, GUID, and link location
- GPO status (enabled/disabled), last modified
- Scope (linked OUs, security filtering, WMI filters)
- Effective settings for selected users/computers (resultant set)
- Inheritance and enforced links
Sample use cases:
- Troubleshoot inconsistent application of security settings across OUs.
- Verify that a recently changed GPO is applied to targeted machines.
Optimization tips:
- Use targeted sampling for large environments — e.g., representative machines per OU.
- Include GPO modification timestamps to audit recent changes.
5. AD Object Change and Audit Trail Report
Why it matters:
- Tracking changes to AD objects (creation, deletion, attribute modifications) is essential for incident response and compliance.
- Rapid detection of unexpected changes helps contain potential breaches.
Key fields to include:
- Event timestamp
- Object type and DN
- Changed attributes (before/after values)
- Change initiator (user or service account)
- Event type (create, delete, modify, move)
- Event source (DC name) and replication metadata
Sample use cases:
- Investigate who changed group memberships or elevated privileges.
- Provide audit evidence for compliance or post-incident analysis.
Optimization tips:
- Ensure Domain Controllers have appropriate auditing enabled and that AD Report Builder is ingesting event logs or change records reliably.
- Correlate with security logs (authentication spikes, suspicious logon locations) for richer context.
6. Computer and Patch Inventory Report
Why it matters:
- Unpatched or unmanaged systems are common footholds for attackers.
- Knowing which machines are online, last contacted, and their patch levels helps prioritise remediation.
Key fields to include:
- Computer name and DN
- Last logon/last heartbeat
- Operating system and version
- Installed updates or patch level (if integrated with patch management)
- OU and site
- Endpoint management agent status
Sample use cases:
- Identify workstations missing critical security updates.
- Find stale or decommissioned machines still present in AD.
Optimization tips:
- Integrate with SCCM/Intune or other endpoint management data if possible for richer patch details.
- Use heartbeat/last contact to build a “stale machines” subset for cleanup.
7. Delegation and ACL (Access Control List) Report
Why it matters:
- Incorrect ACLs and delegated permissions can grant unintended access to AD objects, enabling privilege escalation and data exposure.
- Visibility into who can modify critical objects is crucial for security governance.
Key fields to include:
- Object DN and type
- Explicit and inherited ACEs (Access Control Entries)
- Principals with Write/Modify/Delete permissions
- Permission scope (attribute-level vs object-level)
- GPOs or admin roles granting delegation
Sample use cases:
- Review who has the ability to change group memberships or password attributes.
- Harden ACLs on critical containers (Domain Controllers OU, Admin groups).
Optimization tips:
- Normalize permission names and present them in readable form (e.g., “WriteProperty: member”).
- Prioritize reporting on sensitive containers and objects.
Putting Reports into Practice
- Schedule routine runs (daily/weekly/monthly) depending on report criticality: change/audit trails daily, inactive accounts quarterly, GPO reviews monthly.
- Export formats: use CSV/Excel for investigations and PDF for compliance bundles.
- Automate alerts for high-risk findings (e.g., new domain admin created, large spike in account lockouts).
Sysmalogic AD Report Builder can streamline these essential reports, helping you reduce risk, maintain compliance, and simplify AD operations. Tailor fields and schedules to your environment and combine reports with remediation workflows for maximum impact.
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