Posted by Chennai: Zoho Corp‘s enterprise IT management division ManageEngine has announced new enhancements to its identity and access management (IAM) platform, ManageEngine AD360. The latest update introduces identity risk exposure management and local user multi-factor authentication (MFA) features, aimed at strengthening defences against identity-based cyber threats.
With identity continuing to be a primary attack vector in the enterprise landscape, the new capabilities offer security teams greater visibility and control over vulnerabilities commonly exploited by attackers. These include privilege escalation paths and unmanaged local accounts, both of which have been cited in a significant proportion of recent security breaches.
“With this release, ManageEngine AD360 moves beyond traditional IAM by embedding identity threat defenses into core identity operations. By turning identity data into actionable security insights, we’re helping customers make IAM the first line of defence, not a check box,” said Manikandan Thangaraj, VP of ManageEngine.
Key features introduced
Identity Risk Exposure Management
This graph-based capability maps lateral movement and privilege escalation paths in Active Directory (AD). It automatically identifies risky configurations and recommends remediation actions. The system visualises AD objects and privilege relationships, revealing multi-step attack chains and offering real-time guidance to close those exposure points.
Local User MFA
The new feature allows organisations to enforce adaptive MFA on local accounts that are not linked to a domain, such as those on test environments, DMZ assets, or standalone servers, reducing the risk of credential stuffing and persistence techniques often used by attackers.
Machine Learning–Driven Access Recommendations
ManageEngine AD360 now employs machine learning during provisioning and access reviews to analyse permission patterns and suggest modifications. This helps enforce least privilege access, thereby preventing unnecessary or excessive entitlements.
Compliance and Governance Enhancements
In addition to the core security features, the update brings improvements to AD360’s access certification module, offering expanded entitlement coverage for comprehensive reviews. Risk monitoring is also enhanced through new indicators that track identity-related threats across both AD and Microsoft 365 environments.
These updates are designed to help enterprises meet evolving compliance demands. The features align with the Zero Trust architecture principles outlined in NIST SP 800-207, support PCI DSS Version 4.0 Requirement 8, and facilitate governance under SOX, HIPAA, and GDPR.
With these developments, ManageEngine AD360 positions as more than a traditional IAM solution, evolving it into an active security control that can help enterprises detect, prevent, and respond to identity threats in real time.