This subcategory reports the results of validation tests on credentials submitted for a user account logon request. These events occur on the computer that is authoritative for the credentials. For domain accounts, the Domain Controller is authoritative, whereas for local accounts, the local computer is authoritative. In domain environments, most of the Account Logon events occur in the Security log of the Domain Controllers that are authoritative for the domain accounts. However, these events can occur on other computers in the organization when local accounts are used to log on. Events for this subcategory include: 4774: An account was mapped for logon. 4775: An account could not be mapped for logon. 4776: The Domain Controller attempted to validate the credentials for an account. 4777: The Domain Controller failed to validate the credentials for an account. The recommended state for this setting is: Success and Failure. Rationale: Auditing these events may be useful when investigating a security incident.
Solution
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Success and Failure: Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Advanced Audit Policy Configuration\Audit Policies\Account Logon\Audit Credential Validation Impact: If no audit settings are configured, or if audit settings are too lax on the computers in your organization, security incidents might not be detected or not enough evidence will be available for network forensic analysis after security incidents occur. However, if audit settings are too severe, critically important entries in the Security log may be obscured by all of the meaningless entries and computer performance and the available amount of data storage may be seriously affected. Companies that operate in certain regulated industries may have legal obligations to log certain events or activities. Default Value: No Auditing.