Netwrix Auditor vs Netwrix Threat Prevention comparison

Netwrix Auditor is an IT auditing and risk visibility solution that provides detailed insight into changes, configurations, and access across critical IT systems. It enables organizations to monitor activity in Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365, Windows Server, file servers, databases, and other core infrastructure from a centralized platform.

The solution delivers real-time alerting, searchable audit trails, risk assessment dashboards, and automated compliance reporting. Its agentless architecture collects detailed activity data without degrading system performance, helping IT and security teams investigate incidents and respond to audit requests efficiently. Netwrix Auditor strengthens Active Directory security by providing real-time visibility into logons, privilege changes, group membership modifications, Group Policy updates, and other high-risk activities. It detects suspicious behavior, alerts on abnormal access patterns, and helps identify excessive permissions and dormant accounts before they increase risk. Searchable audit trails and risk-based insights support faster investigations and help reduce the likelihood of privilege escalation and unauthorized configuration changes.

Netwrix Auditor also supports least-privilege enforcement, broader security gap analysis across identities and infrastructure, and compliance efforts across on-premises and cloud systems. When integrated with Netwrix Data Classification, it extends visibility into activity around sensitive and regulated data, helping reduce overall data exposure risk.

Key use cases

• Detect suspicious activity and unusual behaviour with customizable real-time alerts

• Identify excessive permissions and reduce risk around sensitive data

• Monitor changes to Active Directory, Entra ID, Microsoft 365, and other critical systems

• Simplify compliance with prebuilt reports aligned with HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOX, GDPR, and other regulations

• Automate audit and reporting tasks to reduce manual effort

• Accelerate investigations with searchable audit trails and detailed activity records

• Gain centralized visibility across hybrid environments

Netwrix Threat Prevention is a real-time Active Directory protection solution and a core enforcement component of Netwrix identity threat detection and response (ITDR). It detects and proactively blocks identity-based attacks across Active Directory and hybrid identity environments, including Microsoft Entra ID, before they lead to compromise. The solution monitors authentication activity, privilege changes, directory modifications, and other high-risk events in real time. Unlike tools that rely solely on native Windows event logs, Netwrix Threat Prevention captures events directly at the domain controller and authentication source. This approach provides richer telemetry, faster detection, and increased resistance to log tampering. 

Organizations use Netwrix Threat Prevention to protect Tier Zero assets, prevent privilege escalation, and reduce exposure to threats such as credential abuse, suspicious authentication activity, unauthorized Group Policy changes, nested group manipulation, and LDAP reconnaissance. By combining real-time detection with blocking capabilities, it helps disrupt identity-based attacks before they enable lateral movement or persistence. 

Key use cases 

• Block suspicious activity and unauthorized changes as they occur

• Protect Tier Zero assets, including privileged groups, domain controllers, and Group Policy Objects 

• Detect and prevent privilege escalation and insider misuse 

• Identify risky logons, abnormal authentication patterns, and credential abuse

• Block escalation paths to limit attacker persistence 

• Receive contextual alerts that explain what was blocked and why

• Secure hybrid identity environments across Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID 

Organizations evaluating advanced Active Directory protection solutions choose Netwrix Threat Prevention for its direct event capture, real-time blocking capabilities, and focused protection of critical identity infrastructure.