8-Step Windows & Linux Server Hardening Security Checklist

Server hardening is the identification of security vulnerabilities in your Linux or Windows servers so as to configure changes and other remediation steps required to scale back these vulnerabilities. Server hardening involves applying the principles of system hardening to servers specifically.

The goal of server hardening is to make your server a harder goal for hackers, thereby protecting your operations and saving you money in the long term. Nonetheless, server hardening has the added advantage of improving your organization’s compliance with industry and state information security regulations.

User accounts are identities created to permit authenticated access to a server or related system. Different user accounts have different levels of access to core functions of the server, with administrator accounts having the best level of access. Due to this fact, enforcing a strong password policy for these accounts is essential to keep up security. This policy should include recommendations for a minimum password length, password complexity, account lockout duration, and maximum password age.

Along with the password policies, managing how users log in to access server resources can be essential. Security hardening measures here should include restrictions on where users can log in from and enforcing two-factor authentication. It’s best to also delete guest accounts and unused accounts.

Key Server Hardening Checklist Questions:

• Do you might have a longtime password policy?
• Do you might have controls in place for managing where and the way users log in to access server resources?
• Do you frequently delete guest and unused accounts?

Your server hardening checklist should include a plan for installing software patches and updates. Vendors often release them to repair recently discovered security vulnerabilities and improve performance, hence their importance to server security. If possible, run your updates on a test installation to be sure that they are going to not cause problems before applying them to your live environment.

Configuring automatic updates to your operating system and other software components as a part of your checklist will keep you updated with the newest patches and software fixes. For instance, Microsoft frequently releases hotfixes and updates for its Windows servers, and the identical goes for many Linux-based server operating systems. It’s best to also configure third-party software running in your servers to receive and install updates routinely.

Key Server Security Checklist Inquiries to Ensure Proper Configuration and Patching:

• Have you ever configured automatic updates to your server operating system?
• Did you furthermore may arrange automatic updates for third-party applications running in your servers?
• Do you run each update on a test server to examine for problems before pushing it to your production servers?

Everyone who needs access to applications and resources managed by your server needs an account, but not everyone needs complete access to all server resources. That’s why account management is an important a part of your server hardening checklist.

Restrict access to administrator-level accounts and only assign users barely enough privileges to their accounts to enable them to do their jobs. You may manage this from a website controller by creating user groups for multiple accounts with similar privileges. Access to file systems and other resources will likely be assigned to the groups somewhat than individual accounts.

Key Server Hardening Questions for User Permissions Management:

• Do you utilize a gaggle policy or similar tools to administer user privileges?
• What restrictions have you place in place for access to administrator-level accounts?

Your network firewall is your first line of defense against all external attacks, so be certain it’s enabled and set it as much as block all inbound traffic by default. Then only allow incoming network traffic based on an evaluation of what’s essential to your operations. Windows Firewall is a good enough tool for accomplishing this, but a physical firewall offers higher protection by separating traffic management from the server.

If distant access to your server via distant desktop protocol (RDP) is required, ensure you might have the best level of encryption enabled for this. For users connecting to their accounts or programs running on the server from external locations, you may arrange a virtual private network (VPN) to secure their access over the Web.

Key Server Hardening Checklist Questions for Windows and Linux System Administrators:

• Is your firewall configured to dam all incoming traffic except what’s essential?
• Do you utilize a VPN for all distant connections and logins to your server?
• Do you encrypt your distant desktop connections?

Antivirus and anti-malware programs protect your systems by actively scanning for malicious software and removing them when detected. Make sure that you might have one installed and configured to run regular scans in your server. Also, configure your antivirus software to update its virus definition database as often as possible, as it will keep your server protected against the newest identified viruses and malware.

For those putting together a Windows hardening checklist, ensure you might have User Account Control (UAC) to administer the extent of access that third-party programs must system resources and data. Check this off your server hardening list for blocking malicious software that runs within the background.

Key Antivirus and Anti-Malware Hardening Checklist Items:

• Do you might have antivirus and anti-malware software installed in your servers?
• Do your antivirus applications get updates and scan your server routinely?
• Do you might have User Account Control enabled in your Windows servers?

Your server operating system probably comes with several services and features which are unnecessary to your working environment. Add to your hardening checklist to disable these unnecessary services and uninstall all unused applications so as to significantly reduce the chance of your attackers compromising your Windows or Linux server through a vulnerability in a number of of them.

Along with security measures to limit unauthorized physical access to your servers, you too can disable support for external storage devices like USB drives that are popular attack vectors for hackers who could have physical access to your servers.

Key Checklist Questions for Physical Server Security:

• Have you ever removed/disabled all unnecessary software and services in your server?
• Do you might have USB devices disabled in the safety settings to your server?
• What form of measures do you might have for restricting physical access to your servers?

Your server hardening checklist wouldn’t be complete with out a proper backup and recovery plan. Backups can protect your servers from data loss, ransomware attacks, and other disaster-level events that affect information security.

Whether you select an onsite, distant, or cloud-based backup solution, be sure that the backup process is automated and continuous.

Key Checklist Items for Backups and Recovery:

• How often do you backup your server?
• Are your backups automated?
• Where are your backups stored?
• What number of backups do you might have?

Enabling logging and monitoring for all system events will help construct a repository of data essential for performing system audits. System audits involve reviewing server activities using event logs to discover the source of an issue or security threat. Due to this fact, creating an audit policy that specifies the form of system activities it’s best to log, the duration of those event logs, and the way they’re backed up is crucial for hardening your server security.

Along with this, it’s best to maintain documentation for all of your security settings, policies, and system configurations. This documentation is an important a part of your disaster recovery plans and must be updated each time you modify your security configuration.

Log Management and Systems Monitoring Items for Your Hardening Checklist:

• Do you log your server activities?
• How often do you review your event logs?
• Do you document changes to your server configuration?

The role of servers in today’s business operations can’t be overstated. Incorporating a server hardening checklist into your risk management processes will ensure the protection of one of the crucial critical components of your IT infrastructure.