Mikhailen Vostorov Persistence in Active Directory

Persistence is the quiet art of staying put. In Active Directory environments, it's the difference between a minor security incident and a months-long breach that costs millions. I'm Mikhailen Vostorov, and in Persistence in Active Directory: Red Team Tactics and Evasion Methods, I'll show you exactly how attackers establish long-term footholds in AD environments - and how defenders detect, hunt, and eliminate them. What You'll Learn This book delivers hands-on, practical knowledge of Active Directory persistence techniques used in real-world attacks: Account-Based Persistence - Hidden admins, skeleton keys, and DSRM abuseGPO Exploitation - Group Policy manipulation for persistent accessService & Scheduled Task Abuse - Maintaining access through legitimate Windows featuresRegistry & WMI Tricks - Stealthy persistence using built-in mechanismsKerberos Attacks - Golden Tickets, Silver Tickets, and certificate-based persistenceAD Object Tampering - Schema modifications and AdminSDHolder abuseDLL & COM Hijacking - Application-level persistence without detectionFileless Techniques - Memory-resident payloads that evade traditional defensesCloud & Hybrid Persistence - Azure AD Connect exploitation and cross-environment attacks Every technique includes defender-focused detection methods, SIEM hunting queries, and incident response playbooks you can implement immediately. Who This Book Is For Red Teamers & Penetration Testers: Refine your offensive tradecraft with realistic, ethical persistence scenarios that mirror actual APT campaigns. Blue Teamers & SOC Analysts: Build robust detection rules and hunting strategies to identify covert access before it becomes a breach. Incident Responders: Get actionable containment steps and forensic indicators to evict persistent attackers from compromised environments. Security Architects: Understand attacker methodology to design resilient Active Directory infrastructures. Part of the Active Directory Exploited Series This volume integrates seamlessly with the complete ethical hacker's collection, covering AD reconnaissance, initial access, privilege escalation, lateral movement, persistence, cloud attacks, and comprehensive defensive strategies. New to Active Directory? Start with Active Directory for Beginners. Want hands-on practice? Pair this with the Active Directory Hacking Lab Manual. Prefer defense-first approaches? Complement with Active Directory Defense: Detecting and Stopping Real-World Cyber Attacks. Why This Book Is Different Practical, Not Theoretical: Real attack scenarios from actual investigations (anonymized and ethically presented)Defender-First Mindset: Every offensive technique paired with detection and mitigation strategiesSIEM-Ready Content: Copy-paste hunting queries and detection rules for Splunk, Elastic, Microsoft Sentinel, and moreNo Reckless Recipes: Responsible disclosure of techniques with emphasis on authorized testing and ethical boundariesEngaging Writing: Coffee-fueled, witty, and candid - cybersecurity content that refuses to be boring Your Next Step Whether you're hardening an enterprise network, building detection capabilities, or conducting authorized security assessments, this book teaches you to think like an attacker so you can stop one. Ready to master Active Directory persistence and elevate your cybersecurity skills? Open the book, pour a strong coffee, and let's get to work.