Active Directory is central to an organization’s security as it is the source behind authenticating users and authorizing user access to resources on the network. One of its many uses is to sort users into different groups based on their departments, job roles, and managers – in short, attributes that represent the access they require. This classification into groups allows enterprises to grant permissions easily and manage sensitive data.
Table Of Contents
-
Key Differences Between Security Groups and Distribution Lists
-
Active Directory Security Groups
-
Active Directory Distribution Groups
-
Can Distribution Groups be Managed by Security Groups?
-
Is it Safe to Delete Distribution Groups and Security Groups?
-
How do Distribution Groups Differ from Shared Mailboxes?
-
How to Manage Distribution Groups and Security Groups?
Key Difference between Security Groups and Distribution Lists?
It is crucial to understand the key differences between security groups and distribution lists.
Security Groups
Security groups are used for managing user and computer access to shared resources within an organization. By setting permissions once for a security group, you can extend them to multiple users (by adding users to the membership of the group).
Distribution Lists
Distribution lists are used for sending out emails through an email server, like Exchange and Outlook. While you can also use security groups for email distribution, you cannot use distribution lists to assign permissions.
Active Directory Security Groups
Active Directory security groups manage user and computer access to shared resources. The two primary functions of a security group are:
- Assign User Rights: Assigning user rights to a security group determines what the members of that particular group can do within the scope of a domain.
- Assign Permissions for Resources: Permissions determine who can access the shared resources along with the level of access, such as Read.
Administrators can set permissions for a security group and add members to the group. These permissions pertain to folders, printers, computers, and other resources owned by an organization. All users added to such active directory groups as members receive the set of rights and permissions assigned to the group. Any change to the rights or permission set applies to all group members. Hence, the entire process of granting permissions is simplified.
Security groups can be created and managed through the Active Directory Users and Computers console, and users can be added or removed from membership as needed.
What are Active Directory Security Group Permissions?
Permissions in Active Directory are a set of rules and regulations that define how much authority an object must view or modify other objects and files in the directory. Users should never have access to all the resources within an organization. Therefore, to ensure that users only have access to the resources they need, IT administrators assign permissions through Access Control Lists (ACL).
What are Access Control Lists (ACLs) in Active Directory?
Access Control Lists in Active Directory define entities that have access to an object and the type of access. These entities can be user accounts, computer accounts, or groups. For example, if a file object has an ACL that contains (Mary: read; Sarah: read, write), it would give Mary permission to read the file and give Sarah permission to read and write it.
An Access Control List can be configured on an individual object and also on an organizational unit (OU), which means all the descendent objects of the OU inherit the ACL.
Types of Access Control Lists
There are two types of ACLs, each of which performs a distinctive function:
Discretionary Access Control List (DACL)
This list states the access rights assigned to an entity over an object. When an entity or a process attempts to access an object, the system will determine access based on the following:
- If an object does not have a DACL, the system allows everyone full access to it.
- If an object has a DACL, the system allows only the access that is explicitly allowed by the access control entries (ACEs) in the DACL.
- If a DACL has ACEs that allow access to a limited set of users or groups, the system implicitly denies access to everyone not included in the ACEs.
- If an object’s DACL has no ACEs, the system does not allow access to anyone.
System Access Control List (SACL)
This list generates audit reports that state which entity was trying to gain access to an object. It also states if the entity was denied access or granted access for that object and the type of access provided.
Can Security Groups be used for Sending Emails?
In a normal setup, distribution groups created in Exchange and Microsoft 365 are assigned email addresses by default, but security groups are not. This means that security groups cannot be used for email distribution.
However, it is possible to mail-enable security group, to use it for granting access to resources and sending emails. Nevertheless, it is not a good practice to use security groups for email because their primary purpose is to control access to resources. Using them for email distribution might compromise network security. For instance, if you are using a security group for emails and you receive a malicious link in one of your messages, it might intrude your organization’s privacy by disrupting certain settings.
If you have a requirement to send an email to all members of a security group, it is best to create a distribution group with membership mirroring that of the respective security group.
Active Directory Distribution Groups
Distribution groups are used to send emails to a group of users rather than sending them to individual recipients one by one. For instance, IT can create a distribution group with all users in the Marketing team as its members. When a user in the organization wants to address an email to all the Marketing team members, he or she can simply send an email to the Marketing distribution group (rather than adding recipients individually). This saves time and simplifies communication.
What are Distribution Group Permissions in Active Directory?
Distribution groups are used for establishing a single point of contact for email messages within an organization. Therefore, you cannot assign permissions to distribution lists.
Can Distribution Groups be Managed by Security Groups?
An active directory security group can be made the owner of a distribution group, which would empower all members of the security group to manage that distribution group. If security group members have higher privileges than end-users, they can conveniently manage advanced settings for distribution groups, such as authorizations, non-delivery report recipients, and send/receive message restrictions.
On the other hand, a distribution group cannot be made the owner of a security group. Since distribution groups serve a lesser purpose than a security group, it makes sense that Active Directory does not support this for security concerns.
Read More: Distribution Lists Managed by Security Groups
Is it Safe to Delete Distribution Groups and Security Groups?
Deleting distribution groups is safe and does not pose a threat to your organization’s security. At the most, you would lose group membership. But for that, you can easily create another distribution group with the same members when required.
Nonetheless, deleting a security group can have serious implications. Consider this scenario:
- A security group restricting members’ access to certain resources would, on deletion, grant access to those very members.
- Similarly, a security group that grants access to its members to certain resources would, on deletion, revoke that access.
To avoid these risky situations, keep a check on the deletion of security groups.
Distribution Groups vs. Shared Mailboxes?
Shared mailboxes come into play when multiple people require access to the same mailbox in an organization. For instance, departments like Helpdesk Service, Support, and Reception Desk often use a shared mailbox to send and receive emails so that they can easily collaborate on the assigned tasks.
A shared mailbox is an individual mailbox with its own Inbox, Sent Items, and Drafts. When a user sends an email from a shared mailbox, it is sent from the shared mailbox address rather than the user’s own email address. A copy of that email is sent to the shared mailbox for all the other members to see.
In addition to this, when a user deletes an email in a shared mailbox, that email is deleted for all users who have access to that mailbox. Nonetheless, when a user deletes an email from a distribution list, that email is only deleted for him/her and not for other recipients of that email.
Managing Security Groups & Distribution Groups
Groups in Active Directory are used for collaboration between users working in an organization. While distribution groups are simply used for sending emails, active directory security groups serve a broader purpose of managing user rights and permissions within an enterprise. Overall, security groups are more complex than distribution groups and require monitoring. A security group breach may result in the loss and misuse of vital data.
To guard your network against cyber-attacks, make sure your groups are secure and well-managed. If you are facing challenges in managing directory groups, we highly recommend using a comprehensive software solution like GroupID, which implements strong and stringent checks to the effect that:
- Every group in your directory serves a purpose
- Every group has an owner
- Users are not granted unnecessary memberships
- No groups are overloaded with excessive permissions
- Outlived groups are successfully expired or deleted
- Duplicate groups do not exist or overlap other groups
GroupID empowers you to sort the groups with utmost reliability, precision, and security so that you can conveniently differentiate and manage security groups and distribution lists in your environment.
Jonathan Blackwell
View ProfileSince 2012, Jonathan Blackwell, an engineer and innovator, has provided engineering leadership that has put GroupID at the forefront of group and user management for Active Directory and Azure AD environments. His experience in development, marketing, and sales allows Jonathan to fully understand the Identity market and how buyers think.