PKI Modernization & Hardening Services
Your certificate infrastructure runs silently in the background — until an attacker exploits a misconfigured template to become Domain Admin, or a failed CA brings authentication to a halt. Assess, harden, and modernize your PKI before it becomes your most critical vulnerability.
What Is PKI Modernization & Hardening?
PKI modernization is the work of evaluating, securing, and updating your public key infrastructure — the foundation that uniquely identifies clients and encrypts data as it moves across public and private networks. Together with hardening, it brings an aging or inherited certificate environment up to a defensible, modern security baseline.
Most organizations run their PKI on Microsoft's Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS). It's cost-effective and integrates natively with Active Directory — but its "out-of-the-box" default configurations are increasingly targeted in attacks, because those defaults leave exploitable gaps that attackers know how to find.
That's the problem this service addresses. We assess your environment to surface the vulnerabilities, then remediate them, redesign an insecure hierarchy, or move you to managed cloud PKI — whichever best fits your risk tolerance and business goals.
A Known Path to Domain Admin
Misconfigured certificate templates can let an attacker with a foothold request a certificate and escalate to Domain Admin — these are well-documented, actively exploited vulnerabilities.
Catastrophic When It Fails
A compromised or failed certificate authority causes authentication-wide outages or gives an attacker the keys to your domain — and the warning signs are invisible until it's too late.
Quiet Compliance Exposure
Expired certificates, weak cryptography, and missing revocation controls generate audit findings and create regulatory exposure that compounds over time.
Cloud Strategy Needs Modern PKI
A cloud and Zero Trust initiative built on aging on-premises PKI has a critical gap at its foundation — one that managed Cloud PKI is designed to close.
Why PKI Modernization Matters
Organizations that operate with unhardened or aging PKI face compounding exposure:
Direct Path to Domain Compromise
Without proper controls, attackers can use certificate-based privilege escalation to move from a standard foothold to full domain control — and default AD CS configurations leave that path wide open.
Invisible Until It's Catastrophic
Certificate infrastructure runs silently in the background, so weaknesses accumulate unnoticed for years — and when a CA is exploited or breaks, the impact is immediate and extremely difficult to recover from.
Quiet Compliance Exposure
Weak cryptography, expired certificates, and ungoverned CAs generate audit findings that grow harder to remediate the longer they persist.
Cloud Strategy Built on a Weak Foundation
Zero Trust and cloud initiatives that depend on certificate-based authentication are only as strong as the infrastructure issuing those certificates — and most organizations haven't examined that foundation in years.
Don't wait for an incident to force action.
Get a Free Security AssessmentSecurity & Operational Challenges We Address
Ravenswood's PKI modernization and hardening services address the architectural weaknesses and configuration vulnerabilities that turn a silent certificate infrastructure into a critical security exposure.
Misconfigured Certificate Templates
Permissive certificate template configurations allow an attacker with an existing foothold to request a certificate and instantly escalate to Domain Admin — one of the most dangerous and commonly overlooked attack paths in enterprise environments.
Our Solution: We audit every template configuration and remediate the ESC-class misconfigurations that make certificate-based privilege escalation possible.
Insecure One-Tier CA Hierarchies
A single-tier CA architecture with no offline root leaves the entire chain of trust exposed — one compromise brings down your entire certificate infrastructure.
Our Solution: We redesign insecure hierarchies to a secure multi-tier model with an offline, air-gapped Root CA issuing to online Subordinate CAs.
Weak Revocation and Key Protection
CRL distribution over LDAP and private keys stored without Hardware Security Module protection are two of the most common and consequential PKI weaknesses.
Our Solution: We move revocation to HTTP-based distribution points and implement HSM-backed key protection across your CA infrastructure.
Aging and Inherited AD CS Environments
Legacy AD CS deployments that have never been reviewed against modern security baselines carry years of configuration drift, expired certificates, and ungoverned CAs that generate audit findings and create real attack surface.
Our Solution: We assess your environment against current best practices and remediate what we find.
Modern Device Enrollment Gaps
Organizations deploying iOS, Android, and BYOD devices without a secure, automated certificate enrollment path are either blocking those devices or accepting uncontrolled certificate issuance.
Our Solution: We deploy NDES and the Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune to enable secure SCEP-based enrollment across your modern device fleet.
On-Premises vs. Cloud PKI Decision
Many organizations aren't sure whether to harden their existing AD CS environment or move to Microsoft Cloud PKI — and the wrong choice creates either unnecessary complexity or an incomplete migration.
Our Solution: We help you evaluate both paths against your risk tolerance, infrastructure, and business goals, then execute whichever approach fits.
Assessment-led Methodology
Ravenswood follows an assessment-led methodology that ensures every PKI modernization engagement is tailored to your organization's unique certificate environment, risk tolerance, and infrastructure goals.
Assess
We evaluate your existing PKI architecture to identify critical vulnerabilities — including ESC-class misconfigurations — and confirm the Active Directory foundation your certificate authority depends on is itself sound.
- Audit certificate templates, CA configuration, and revocation controls against current security baselines
- Identify ESC-class misconfigurations and other certificate-based privilege escalation paths
- Confirm Active Directory health as the foundation your PKI relies on
Remediate and Harden
We fix misconfigured templates and other AD CS vulnerabilities to stop certificate-based privilege escalation before it can be exploited.
- Remediate misconfigured certificate templates and CA permissions
- Implement proper revocation controls with HTTP-based CRL distribution points
- Enforce HSM-backed key protection across your CA infrastructure
Redesign Securely
Where the existing architecture is fundamentally insecure, we redesign it — moving inadequate one-tier hierarchies to a secure, resilient multi-tier model.
- Deploy an offline, air-gapped Root CA that issues only to online Subordinate CAs
- Implement HSM-protected private keys and HTTP-based CRL distribution
- Document the target architecture and validate against Microsoft security baselines
Modernize to Cloud
For organizations ready to offload complex on-premises infrastructure, we guide the transition to Microsoft Cloud PKI for Microsoft Intune.
- Migrate certificate issuance, renewal, and revocation to a fully managed cloud service
- Eliminate on-premises CA servers and the operational overhead that comes with them
- Integrate Cloud PKI with Microsoft Entra ID for phishing-resistant, device-based authentication
Integrate Modern Devices
We deploy NDES and the Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune to enable secure, automated certificate enrollment for iOS, Android, and BYOD devices.
- Configure SCEP-based enrollment for iOS and Android through Microsoft Intune
- Automate certificate lifecycle management across your modern device fleet
- Enable phishing-resistant authentication from compliant, managed devices through Microsoft Entra ID
Measurable Improvements Across Security, Operations, and Compliance
Partnering with Ravenswood for PKI modernization delivers a hardened, resilient certificate infrastructure — with documented remediations and architectural improvements you can demonstrate to auditors, executives, and your security team.
Zero
Exploitable TemplatesHardened Against Certificate-Based Attacks
Your PKI environment is assessed and remediated against ESC-class misconfigurations and other certificate-based privilege escalation paths — closing the attack vectors that default AD CS configurations leave wide open.
Resilient
CA ArchitectureResilient Multi-Tier Architecture
An offline, air-gapped Root CA, HSM-protected private keys, and HTTP-based CRL distribution points give your certificate infrastructure the architectural resilience it needs to withstand both attacks and operational failures.
Fewer
Audit FindingsReduced Audit and Compliance Exposure
Proper revocation controls, strong cryptography, governed CAs, and documented configurations eliminate the PKI-related audit findings that accumulate in aging, unreviewed certificate environments.
Simpler
Cloud MigrationA Clear Path to Cloud PKI
For organizations ready to offload on-premises certificate infrastructure, we provide a structured path to Microsoft Cloud PKI — reducing operational complexity and eliminating the maintenance burden of self-managed CAs.
Automated
Device EnrollmentSecure Modern Device Enrollment
iOS, Android, and BYOD devices receive certificates through a secure, automated SCEP-based enrollment path — no manual issuance, no uncontrolled certificate sprawl.
Phishing
Resistant AuthPhishing-Resistant Authentication
Certificate-based authentication through Microsoft Entra ID enables phishing-resistant verification of both user and device identity — a foundational control for any Zero Trust architecture.
Organizations Where an Unexamined PKI Is a Breach Waiting to Happen
Industries We Serve
Commercial Enterprises
Managing distributed workforces and multi-cloud environments
Educational Institutions
Supporting diverse user populations with varying access needs
Regulated Industries
Finance, healthcare, and the defense industrial base
Roles That Benefit
CISOs & Security Leaders
PKI Administrators & identity Engineers
Compliance & Audit Teams
PKI and Identity Security Experts You Can Trust
We're industry-recognized PKI and identity experts who integrate certificate infrastructure seamlessly across the Microsoft security ecosystem. Our depth spans both on-premises and hybrid AD CS and cloud-native Cloud PKI with Intune — so we're credible on whichever path actually fits you, rather than the one we happen to sell.
That consultative, risk-tolerance-driven approach is what clients value most. As one Senior Security Director put it: the Ravenswood team listened to their needs and tailored solutions to their specific business and risk tolerance, and the expertise provided across Active Directory, PKI, and BYOD empowered them to make decisions that strengthened their IT and security environment. If you want a low-commitment starting point, our Active Directory Health Check confirms the foundation your PKI relies on.
Deep Microsoft Expertise
Our team includes Microsoft MVPs and Microsoft Certified Masters with decades of experience delivering enterprise identity programs. We don't just know the technology - we've shaped best practices.
Assessment-Led Methodology
We don't apply templates. Every engagement begins with a thorough assessment of your current environment, ensuring our recommendations address your specific challenges and risk profile.
Proven Results
Our clients report measurable improvements: critical ESC-class vulnerabilities remediated before exploitation, aging CA hierarchies redesigned to modern multi-tier architectures, and certificate environments that now hold up under compliance scrutiny.
Microsoft Solutions Partner
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner with certified Entra ID and Active Directory consultants, we maintain direct access to Microsoft resources and stay current with the latest platform capabilities.
Industry Standards Alignment
Our services align with Microsoft and CISA guidance, ensuring adherence to industry-leading security standards and frameworks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PKI modernization and hardening?
It's the process of evaluating, securing, and updating your public key infrastructure — fixing the vulnerabilities in an aging or default deployment, redesigning insecure architecture, and, where it fits, moving to managed cloud PKI.
Why is a default AD CS deployment risky?
AD CS ships with permissive "out-of-the-box" settings. Misconfigured certificate templates, in particular, can let an attacker who already has a foothold request a certificate and escalate to Domain Admin — these are the well-known ESC-class privilege escalation paths.
Should we harden our on-premises AD CS or move to Microsoft Cloud PKI?
It depends on your risk tolerance, infrastructure, and goals. We help you weigh both: a hardened on-premises AD CS deployment gives you full control, while Microsoft Cloud PKI removes the on-premises burden and the entire lifecycle becomes a managed service.
What is an offline Root CA and why does it matter?
An offline, air-gapped Root CA sits disconnected from the network and issues certificates only to online Subordinate CAs. Because the root is never exposed, an attacker can't compromise the top of your trust chain — the cornerstone of a secure multi-tier PKI.
Can you enable secure certificate enrollment for iOS and Android or BYOD devices?
Yes. We deploy NDES and the Certificate Connector for Microsoft Intune to enable secure SCEP-based enrollment, so modern and personal devices get certificates through a controlled, automated path.
How does this support a Zero Trust strategy?
Modern PKI underpins Zero Trust by enabling phishing-resistant authentication from compliant, managed devices through Microsoft Entra ID — verifying both the user and the device before granting access.
Have more questions? Contact Ravenswood Technology Group for expert answers.
Microsoft Products We Use for Hybrid Identity Strategy
We leverage the full power of Microsoft's identity and security platform to deliver enterprise grade hybrid identity solutions.
Active Directory Domain Services
On-premises directory service that provides centralized authentication, authorization, and policy enforcement for users, devices, and resources across your enterprise environment.
Get Started with Ravenswood Technology Group
Find and fix your PKI weaknesses — or modernize to managed Cloud PKI — before an attacker does it for you. Book a PKI assessment with Ravenswood, and we'll map the right path for your environment, whether that's hardening your on-premises AD CS or moving to the cloud. Want to start with the foundation? Our Active Directory Health Check is a natural first step.
Find and fix your PKI weaknesses before an attacker does it for you.