After 25 years as the backbone of enterprise IT infrastructure, Active Directory remains the number one target for cybercriminals�and most organizations are woefully unprepared. According to new research commissioned by Cayosoft and conducted by Petri.com, a staggering 88% of organizations report needing unified visibility across their hybrid AD environments but lack the tools to achieve it. Even more alarming, only 17% effectively monitor sensitive AD changes, while 48% lack proper privilege management processes, leaving critical systems exposed to insider threats and misconfigurations that could spell disaster.
In this exclusive VMblog Q&A, Bob Bobel, CEO of Cayosoft, reveals why the traditional approach to Active Directory management is failing in today’s threat landscape and how his company’s purpose-built solutions are addressing the identity crisis plaguing modern enterprises. From the IRS consolidating 11 tools into one platform to Fortune 500 companies strengthening their ransomware resilience, Bobel explains how organizations are finally getting the unified hybrid identity management they desperately need�and why waiting any longer could leave them vulnerable to attacks that treat compromised AD as the keys to the entire kingdom.
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VMblog: Please give VMblog readers a quick overview of your company.
Bob Bobel: Cayosoft delivers purpose-built solutions for securely managing, monitoring and recovering hybrid Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 environments. As identities are now seen as the control plane for both security and productivity, Cayosoft enables IT teams to simplify operations, enforce compliance, and strengthen resilience against modern threats. The platform unifies user provisioning, granular delegation, real-time monitoring, and automated policy enforcement to reduce administrative drift and enforce least-privilege access. Cayosoft bridges on-premises AD, Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and Intune deployments and helps organizations defend against the constant threat of ransomware, meet regulatory demands, and accelerate recovery. Cayosoft ensures streamlined identity management that protects today’s enterprise, while preparing for tomorrow’s hybrid cloud.
VMblog: What IT challenges do Cayosoft’s solutions solve?
Bobel: Cayosoft solves the challenges of administration, visibility and control over changes and bringing resilience to hybrid identity environments. Most organizations struggle with multiple-fragmented tools, inadequate delegation, and limited change control across on-premises Active Directory, Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and Intune. These gaps create risks such as administrative drift, excessive privileges, and stale accounts that attackers can exploit and ultimately catastrophic outages. Cayosoft addresses these issues by unifying hybrid identity management, automating policy enforcement, and providing real-time monitoring, alerts, and automated remediation. IT teams gain the ability to enforce least-privilege access, simplify routine operations, ensure compliance, and strengthen ransomware resilience. Cayosoft eliminates identity blind spots while streamlining administration and reducing security exposure.
VMblog: Active Directory recently celebrated its 25-year anniversary, and continues to be the backbone of many IT infrastructures. Are organizations putting enough emphasis in how they manage and monitor their AD infrastructure in today’s digital era?
Bobel: The short answer is no. Caysoft recently commissioned research designed to examine Active Directory threat awareness and preparedness, identifying glaring gaps in resilience, security, and operational efficiency that could leave critical systems exposed to attack. The survey of more than 1000 IT and security professionals, conducted by Petri.com, revealed that the majority of organizations rely on insufficient recovery solutions, while modern automation and security practices lag alarmingly behind. The research found that 88% of organizations reported a need for unified visibility across hybrid AD environments but lacked the tools to achieve it. On top of that, 48% of organizations lack proper privilege management processes and only 17% effectively monitor sensitive AD changes, exposing critical systems to insider threats and misconfigurations. Also, 47% of IT teams still rely on native tools that lack modern functionality. This research, detailed in our 2025 Active Directory Insight Report, lays bare the widespread lack of readiness for an AD breach.
VMblog: Attacks within organizations are not slowing down. Why is it so important to make sure Active Directory infrastructure is resilient in an evolving threat landscape?
Bobel: Active Directory remains the backbone of identity for up to 90% of enterprises worldwide, making it the number one target for attackers. If AD is compromised, everything from user authentication to application access and compliance controls can collapse. Considering how rapidly the threat landscape is evolving with the advent of ransomware-as-a-service, AI-driven attacks, and insider threats, prevention alone is no longer enough; resilience is essential. Organizations need to assume a breach can happen and ensure AD can be quickly recovered and secured. Without resilient identity infrastructure, even the most advanced security stack is undermined, which could leave enterprises unable to operate, meet regulatory obligations, or recover from a major incident.
VMblog: It’s been said often that if your AD is hacked, the hackers have the keys to the kingdom. How does a breach of your AD infrastructure spell disaster for your organization?
Bobel: A breach of Active Directory is a breach of the central authority for identity and access across the enterprise. Once attackers gain control, they can escalate privileges, create or manipulate accounts, and move laterally to access critical systems and data. That means they can disable security tools, deploy ransomware at scale, or exfiltrate sensitive information, while appearing to act as legitimate users. Since most business applications, cloud services, and compliance frameworks depend on AD for authentication, its compromise can easily cripple operations, undermining trust, and making recovery both costly and complex.
VMblog: Let’s dive into your company’s technology. Can you give readers a few examples of how your offerings are unique and/or what differentiates your technology from others in the market?
Bobel: What makes Cayosoft unique is that it is purpose-built for the realities of hybrid identity. Many of our competitors’ tools focus on either on-prem Active Directory or cloud directories. Cayosoft spans on-prem AD, Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and Intune through a single platform. Our technology stands out in three ways:
- Improves security and control with Granular delegation and role-based controls that enforce least privilege without native permissions or leaving long-lived elevated rights behind
- Business resilience for AD and Entra ID by Reducing hybrid AD downtime risk with patented, instant recovery that automates recovery operations while strengthening ransomware resilience and compliance
This combination of hybrid coverage, continuous enforcement, and operational simplicity is why organizations are increasingly choosing Cayosoft over our competitors. This is why the IRS chose to move off of a legacy AD vendor’s tools to Cayosoft, reducing 11 tools and untold number of scripts into one platform.
VMblog: What organizations have benefited from Cayosoft?
Bobel: Our customers range from mid-sized enterprises to Fortune 500 companies that need to secure and simplify hybrid AD and Microsoft Entra ID environments. For example, heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services use Cayosoft to enforce least privilege and meet compliance requirements, while universities and public sector agencies leverage automation to manage large, dynamic user populations efficiently. Our solutions ensure that IT teams reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen resilience against evolving threats.
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