The Basics of Securing Workstations: Virtual#

A system strengthening strategy is a dynamic endeavor and needs continual assessment of the network and local assets. It is vital that we examine what we can do at the endpoints rather than depending just on the identification of an exploit.

Security and functionality balance#

Endpoint hardening necessitates serious consideration of the balance between security and usability. We cannot make the system ineffective to the extent that no work can be done. As security practitioners, we need to guarantee that our systems are strengthened to the greatest capacity feasible while remaining functioning.

Basics of endpoint hardening#

We may take the following steps to safeguard our systems with the following easy rules:

  • If you do not require the service, it should be turned off. Running unneeded services not only opens up new attack vectors for an attacker, and also adds to the administrator’s workload. Non-used services are basically a waste of energy since the machines will continue to run the program while waiting for a connection.

  • Hosts should only be configured with the apps and services required for their function. For instance, don’t operate a web server on a system that you don’t need to.

  • Create useable policies. Settings may be unified and sent to all hosts on a domain using policies. As we try to improve usability while retaining strict protection, it’s critical that we recognize the constraints in our present systems so that we can make more informed security decisions.

  • Patches are critical for an organization’s overall security. We should always utilize the most recent version of a protocol and provide a method to upgrade its components if a patch or a newer, more secure version is released. Updates should be applied as quickly as available and feasible. Many upgrades include fixes for freshly found weaknesses in addition to functional enhancements.

  • Make a backup of your data. Backing up data often is the best protection against losing information due to ransomware, stealing, damage, or unintentional removal. Back up your files to an external device on a periodic basis.

  • To avoid losing both your backup disk and your computer at the very same time, store them in different locations. Alternatively, you may save time and money by using a cloud backup service.

Conclusion#

Upon completion of the blog page, now we have learned that we can harden our systems on the most basic level by uninstalling unnecessary apps, backing up our data regularly, disabling services we don’t require, applying critical updates when available, closing unnecessary ports and last but not least creating functional policies in the organization.

See also

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