IT managers must continuously work to ensure that their systems remain state of the art. System Hardening plays an important role in this. However, implementing this in a profound and sustainable manner cannot be achieved with standard (manual) tools. Why? You can find the answer here.
System Hardening and state of the art technology go hand in hand
“System Hardening is an effective measure for reducing the attack surface of IT systems.”
This statement could have come from us. But it didn’t. It comes from Teletrust. The German Federal Association for IT Security (German naming: Bundesverband IT-Sicherheit e.V.), which is behind the “Teletrust” label, goes on to say (translated):
“One-time System Hardening without ongoing maintenance of the security level is ineffective.”
In addition, Teletrust emphasizes in its latest guide, “State-of-the-Art in IT Security” (version 2025), that System Hardening fulfills all three protection goals of information security: availability, integrity, and confidentiality. As a result, System Hardening is now highly regarded by experts when it comes to achieving the goal of “state of the art.”
For all IT managers, this means that if you want to secure your systems as effectively as possible while also complying with growing regulatory requirements, System Hardening is a must. This will enable you to achieve the equally fundamental status of “state of the art.”
State of the art technology: The meaning
“State of the art technology”, “state of the art techniques” or “state of the art” – this term is increasingly heard and read. Since it is an indeterminate legal term, the meaning of “state of the art technology” turns out to be vague and sometimes subjective. In the german Jura Forum it is explained thus:
“The state of the art summarizes the technical possibilities that are guaranteed at the current point in time and that are in turn based on scientific and technical knowledge.
The following paragraphs explain what the “best available techniques” or “state of the art techniques” mean in IT and especially in information security.
Another approach to defining the term “state of the art” is provided by the three-stage model. In this model, the state of the art lies between the state of science and research and the generally accepted rules of technology.
And Teletrust explains the term in its guide as follows:
“The state of the art refers to the best performance of an IT security measure available on the market for achieving the legal IT security objective. From a technical point of view, best performance is understood in particular to mean the efficiency and effectiveness of the security measures.”
Examples: What does _not_ correspond to the state of the art?
➡ Floppy disks and fax machines are definitely no longer state of the art. The technologies are far outdated and unreliable.
➡ Extended support for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 ended in early 2020. From that point on, the Microsoft OS was no longer the best and most sensible system.
➡ The official end of support for Windows 10 is approaching. It is therefore advisable to implement a Windows 11 rollout project. This is the only way to achieve the state of the art.
➡ The use of the SMBv1 protocol is definitely no longer up to date – and extremely dangerous! You can see how attackers can exploit this vulnerability in this video:
State of the art: Its significance in information security
Hardware and software are constantly and rapidly evolving. All systems that were considered high-end or state of the art just a few years ago are now outdated.
Unlike hardware, software can be continuously improved, optimized, and adapted with updates. But at some point, even software reaches the end of its useful life. The product life cycle ends and a new generation takes over. At that point, the hardware and software used up to that point no longer corresponds to the current state of the art and science.
This means:
🛑 Software that is provided with security updates by the respective manufacturer is generally recognized as state of the art.
🛑 Conversely, this means that software without manufacturer support is generally no longer considered state of the art!
🛑 Software that does not receive regular updates and patches is considered insecure – and therefore a risk. This is because hackers and other attackers will exploit the security vulnerabilities sooner or later.
🛑 Measures must therefore be taken if the software in question is to continue to be used.
State of the art, information security, laws, and regulations
In the context of information security, every company must…
➡ … keep its customers’ information and its own information secret and secure [confidentiality].
➡ … protect its own systems against deliberate or unintentional manipulation through various measures [integrity].
➡ … provide information in a stable and efficient manner [availability].
Compliance with state of the art is therefore of crucial importance! The authors of laws and standards have also recognized this. That is why these IT laws, regulations, and standards, among others, advocate securing systems using state of the art technology:
ISO 27001
NIS2
DORA
GDPR
BSI Act
TISAX
What does the state of the art techniques have to do with the General Data Protection Regulation?
One reason why the state of the art is particularly important for managers and IT managers is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
An example: Supposedly simple things such as transferring data from “A to B” or using personal data for purposes other than those for which it was collected are prohibited under the GDPR without permission. And state of the art measures for protecting personal data are required.
🛑 If companies collect and process employee and customer data using systems that do not meet the state of the art, this may already constitute a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation applicable throughout Europe
In the event of data protection violations, national supervisory authorities impose fines, some of which are very high. Even minor violations can cost a company six-figure sums, and serious incidents are punishable by fines of up to €20 million or up to 4% of total worldwide annual turnover.
Examples: Measures for state of the art technology
How can you secure your systems in line with state of the art technology? In June 2025, Teletrust published an update to its “State of the Art” brochure.
The 140-page document lists numerous organizational and technical measures, for example:
✅ Evaluation and enforcement of strong passwords
✅ Implementation of multi-factor authentication
✅ Use of cryptographic methods (e.g., AES, ECIES)
✅ Use of encrypted VPN solutions
✅ Secure data processing in the cloud
✅ Network monitoring with an IDS system
✅ Attack detection and evaluation with a SIEM
✅ Secure Configuration (aka System Hardening)
State of the art: Why is System Hardening so important?
What good is it to implement complicated attack detection solutions if your operating systems and applications are full of security gaps and vulnerabilities? In other words, what good is an expensive alarm system for your house if you leave the doors open all the time?
The answers: Not much! That’s why System Hardening is an essential measure for securing your systems using state of the art technology.
The fact that System Hardening is extremely important is demonstrated, on the one hand, by the fact that all current IT regulations require this preventive cybersecurity measure. On the other hand, Teletrust uses the term “hardening” dozens of times in its current handbook.
In addition, Teletrust has given System Hardening a higher priority in achieving the state of the art. Here is a comparison between the old and new versions of the compendium (click on the images for a larger view):
| Old Version | New Version |
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👉 The new, higher classification shows that System Hardening is now widely recognized by experts in the field. This means that the IT security measure itself is definitely state of the art!
How do you implement System Hardening correctly?
Integrate system hardening into your processes! There are various approaches to this – for example, Rapid Hardening, Layered Hardening & Lifecycle Hardening.
Rapid Hardening is about providing basic protection as quickly as possible. This involves starting to harden client systems (Tier 2) by securely configuring just 200 to 300 settings.
Layered Hardening: First, the assets that are most in need of protection (Tier 0) are thoroughly hardened. Then you work your way through level by level (Tier 1, Tier 2).
Another very common method is Lifecycle Hardening. This involves integrating hardening directly into a rollout project – for example, when introducing Windows 11. This approach is very efficient because you harden new operating systems and applications before they are deployed company-wide.
Important: Manual configuration is not feasible for most IT teams in large system landscapes. Centralized configuration using GPO is also a no-go, as Group Policy Objects quickly reach their limits when faced with complex challenges. In addition, some regulations now prohibit the use of GPOs.
A more sensible approach is automated System Hardening using PowerShell scripts or PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC). You have to implement these yourself, which takes just as much time. Or you can use Enforce Administrator as a “shortcut.”
Achieving state of the art: How Enforce Administrator helps
Let’s repeat a quote from the Teletrust guide:
“One-time System Hardening without ongoing maintenance of the security level is ineffective.”
👉 This means that the days of “I’ll quickly implement a few GPOs” or “I found a script on the internet that improves our configuration a little” are over!
👉 All System Hardening measures must be thorough. In addition, you must continuously review, adjust, and log your configurations.
👉 These high requirements cannot be met with manual activities! This is all the more true since many IT departments are already working at their limits.
👉 You need a solution that simplifies and automates the essential measures of professional System Hardening. That’s exactly what Enforce Administrator does.
✅ With the help of the hardening tool, you can perform System Hardening based on proven standards with minimal effort, for example, according to the recommendations of Microsoft, DISA, and CIS.
✅ In addition, the application, which officially bears the “Software made in Germany” seal of approval, creates a kind of “self-healing system.” This is because unwanted changes are immediately detected and reversed by Enforce Administrator.
⏬ Download: Enforce Administrator Product Brochure
Conclusion
Securing state-of-the-art IT systems is not a “nice to have” but a “must have” these days!
After all, protecting data and information is no trivial matter! It is essential for daily business and the continued existence of companies. This is especially true as digitalization continues to gain momentum and permeate all our lives more intensively. At the same time, the threat of cyberattacks is increasing massively.
👉 Therefore, keeping hardware and software up to date with the latest technology is a fundamental component of IT security to protect your systems!
Do you have any questions?
Would you like to know more about System Hardening? Or would you like to know how you can professionally implement (automated) System Hardening in your company? Contact us – our experts are happy to help!
Images: Freepik, Teletrust