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Do you also need to harden Office products or Microsoft 365 applications?

Yes! Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and others have a very large installed base worldwide and are therefore popular targets for attacks. For this reason, it is essential that you secure your Office products and Microsoft 365 applications.

So-called “Office hardening” includes, among other things, disabling VBA macros, blocking (insecure) ActiveX controls, restricting file downloads, and disabling telemetry services.

Would you like to know how well your Office programs and your operation system are hardened? Then run a quick check with AuditTAP and take a look at the risk score!

How can hybrid system landscapes be hardened?

Manually hardening hybrid environments – which encompass on-premises and cloud-based systems, as well as Windows and Linux platforms – requires an immense amount of effort. This is because a suitable configuration must be created, applied, continuously monitored, and optimized for each target system.

Therefore, you need a cross-platform System Hardening strategy that relies on automated solutions. One way to implement such a strategy is by using Enforce Administrator. This hardening tool enables centralized system management, allowing you to apply both established hardening benchmarks and custom hardening configurations.

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Can systems be hardened against AI-driven attacks?

Yes! Generally, most AI-based cyberattacks rely on known patterns and methods. This means attackers exploit existing attack surfaces – albeit much faster and more efficiently than in the past. Consequently, professional System Hardening serves as a proven defense against AI attacks.

Why? Hardening a system significantly reduces the attack surface. It also disables numerous services and interfaces typically found in standard configurations. As a result, many attack vectors are rendered ineffective. Even polymorphic malware loses its threat potential.

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How can System Hardening be centrally managed in large IT environments?

In IT environments comprising 100, 500, 1,000, or even more systems, professional System Hardening quickly becomes highly complex – especially if configurations are maintained manually or via disparate tools. Central management using a single tool – capable of deploying, monitoring, and adjusting Secure Configurations – is therefore the sensible approach.

Enforce Administrator is one such tool. It enables the central management and automated enforcement of hardening standards across Windows and Linux systems, regardless of whether the IT environment consists of 500 or 2,000 clients and servers. This allows even complex, hybrid system landscapes to be secured with consistent standards, managed effectively, and continuously improved.

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How can you verify whether Windows and Linux servers are properly hardened?

To check a server’s hardening status, its current configuration should be compared against the recommendations of a hardening standard (such as CIS Benchmarks, Microsoft Security Baselines, or DISA STIG). Use a tool like Enforce Administrator for this purpose.

This allows you to compare Windows and Linux server systems against defined hardening specifications, among other things. Consequently, deviations can be detected, documented, and corrected if necessary.

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Is there a tool that automatically corrects System Hardening configurations?

Yes, modern hardening solutions can not only verify compliance with security configurations but also automatically correct any detected deviations. This is important because hardened systems can change during operation due to software updates, administrative actions, or hacker attacks. Any such change can increase the attack surface, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the System Hardening.

With Enforce Administrator, desired hardening configurations can be defined as the target state and managed centrally. The hardening tool automatically detects deviations or changes and reverts them. This prevents the accidental introduction of insecure configurations.

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Which tools help achieve a NIS2-compliant configuration?

A key requirement of NIS2 is the reduction of attack surfaces through configuration management. This is highlighted, for instance, in the “NIS2 – Technical Implementation Guidance” issued by the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). In this document, ENISA establishes System Hardening as a mandatory task within configuration management. All network, software, and system configurations must comply with established security and operational standards. Any deviations must be identified, documented, and approved.

This means that implementing these requirements is virtually impossible without a professional hardening tool. One such solution is Enforce Administrator. This tool enables the centralized application, monitoring, customization, and documentation of standards such as CIS Benchmarks or DISA STIGs.

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Secure Configuration: How can hardening configuration drift be prevented?

“Configuration drift” refers to the phenomenon where a system’s actual configuration gradually diverges from its originally defined target state. This can be caused by updates, administrative changes, software installations, or even hacker attacks. Consequently, performing System Hardening just once is insufficient; instead, you should regularly verify – or have verified – that the Secure Configuration remains intact.

An effective process involves three steps: First, define a mandatory target state. Next, regularly check the systems for deviations. If deviations are detected, they should be reported and corrected as quickly as possible.

Enforce Administrator supports this approach. It allows for the centralized management of hardening specifications while simultaneously automatically comparing the actual state with the target state. Any detected deviations are corrected immediately, thereby permanently preventing hardening configuration drift.

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How can you create your own System Hardening configurations?

There are already excellent, well-established hardening standards – such as the BSI SiSyPHuS recommendations, Microsoft Security Baselines, DISA STIGs, and CIS Benchmarks. However, you should not apply these exactly as-is. Instead, you should tailor them to your specific hardening strategy and existing systems.

Creating your own System Hardening configuration can be very time-consuming – especially if you rely on Group Policy Objects (GPOs) or develop custom hardening scripts. Enforce Administrator makes the process significantly easier. This outstanding hardening tool allows you to customize existing standards or even combine them with one another.

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How can 100% System Hardening be achieved?

Have you discovered – using AuditTAP, for instance – that your system is only 60, 70, or 80 percent hardened according to established standards? Does it bother you that the hardening report consequently still shows many “red” items? Are you aiming for the best possible System Hardening?

You can never achieve that goal. Why? If you configure your systems to meet every single benchmark, working with them becomes extremely inconvenient or even impossible. This is because you would likely have disabled or removed applications, services, and functions that are essential for daily use.

Therefore, 100% System Hardening should never be your objective. Nor is it required by auditors. Instead, you need the best possible compromise between practicality and security. A sensible, balanced approach is more important than slavish adherence to benchmarks.

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Can different servers be hardened in different ways?

Yes. And that is a good thing, because not every server requires the same security configuration! For instance, a domain controller has different requirements than a web server or a database server. Therefore, you should differentiate your System Hardening based on system type, role, operating system, or security zone.

How is this done? With Enforce Administrator, you can centrally manage various hardening policies and apply them selectively to the specific systems or system groups for which they are intended. This prevents an “all-in-one” solution from creating unnecessary vulnerabilities and attack surfaces.

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How often should the System Hardening status be checked?

Your IT landscape changes daily – due to updates, new applications, new hardware, or new requirements, for instance. Consequently, a one-time check of existing System Hardening measures is insufficient. It makes sense to regularly review, document, and adjust hardening configurations. An increasing number of IT regulations, such as NIS2, also mandate this practice.

This process of monitoring, documentation, and optimization is highly resource-intensive if performed manually. It becomes significantly easier with the right hardening tools. For example, you can use AuditTAP to perform spot checks on your hardening status and generate a hardening report.

Enforce Administrator offers continuous monitoring, automated adjustments, and simplified documentation. This hardening solution is used by banks, insurance companies, and organizations operating critical infrastructure.

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What are the advantages of a specialized hardening tool over scripts?

Custom-developed scripts can be highly effective for individual hardening tasks. However, as the number of operating systems, applications, workstation and server environments, and security requirements grows, the effort involved in development, versioning, troubleshooting, reporting, and maintenance increases.

A specialized hardening application, on the other hand, consolidates all relevant hardening functions into a central interface. With a solution like Enforce Administrator, for instance, you can apply established standards (such as CIS Benchmarks and Microsoft Security Baselines) with just a few clicks, as well as create custom configurations and essential documentation.

While custom scripts can be a cost-effective solution for small IT environments, a professional hardening tool is the better choice for large, heterogeneous system landscapes comprising dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of server and client systems.

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Do you have any questions? Would you like to learn more about System Hardening? Do you want to know how to implement automated System Hardening within your organization? Or would you like to see our hardening solutions in action? Then get in touch with us or schedule an appointment directly.

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