๐ย Secure Bits ๐ก
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐โ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐?
After helping many environments secure their Windows infrastructure, I keep seeing theย same ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ย that break functionality once you apply tighter controls โ especially when enforcing Microsoft security baselines.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒย ๐
๐นย ๐จ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐
Many older apps or services tweak privileges during install (e.g., logon as service, debug privileges). These get overwritten by baseline GPOs, often causing silent failures.
๐นย ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ
Windows 11 and Server 2025 improved this with Credential Guard being on by default. Problems I often see:
โข 802.1x + MSCHAPv2 breaks with CG
โข โDo not allow storage of passwords and credentials for network authenticationโ disables RDP saved creds, Task Scheduler creds, mapped drive auth and Credential Manager.
โข Default credentials delegation (still sadly seen!) stops working
๐นย ๐๐ถ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ / ๐ง๐๐ฆ ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Enforcing modern TLS + cipher suites is great, but older apps often break silently. These issues rarely appear in logs โ Wireshark can be your best friend here.
๐นย ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ผ๐, ๐ก๐ง๐๐ , ๐ฆ๐ ๐, ๐๐๐๐ฃ, ๐ฆ๐๐ -๐ฅ, …,
Common and expected โ but the good news is these areย trackable. Start logging usage, then decide whether to mitigate, harden, or eliminate.
๐ง ย ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ?
These issues arenโt a bad thing โ theyโre signals that something needs to be fixed. Every break is a chance to harden your infrastructure. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐.
What is your experience with this?