Security Hardening
Strengthening systems against attacks
Security Hardening is the process of securing a system by reducing its attack surface through configuration changes, removing unnecessary services, and applying security controls.
Hardening Areas
- Operating Systems - Windows, Linux, macOS hardening
- Applications - Web servers, databases, applications
- Network Devices - Routers, switches, firewalls
- Cloud Resources - IaaS, PaaS, SaaS configurations
- Containers - Docker, Kubernetes security
Common Hardening Steps
- Remove unnecessary software and services
- Apply security patches and updates
- Configure strong authentication
- Implement least privilege access
- Enable logging and monitoring
- Encrypt data at rest and in transit
- Configure host-based firewalls
Benchmarks and Guidelines
- CIS Benchmarks
- DISA STIGs
- Vendor security guides
- NIST guidelines
- Industry-specific requirements
Automation
- Configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet)
- Security configuration scanning
- Compliance as code
- Continuous monitoring
