๐ Secure Bits ๐ก
๐๐ผ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐?
Security Baselines are one of the ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ for locking down your Windows infrastructure.
They allow you to enforce a ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ across your environment via Group Policy or Microsoft Intuneโhundreds of settings, centrally managed. Microsoft provides free Security Baselines. Stricter ones exist tooโoften behind a paywall. Or you can build your own.
(I break this down in detail inside my ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ.)
But hereโs the catch: ๐๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐.
๐กWhy?
Because most real-world environments still rely on ๐ผ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐ and ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐น๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ต๐บ๐ like:
โช๏ธRC4
โช๏ธLM Hashes
โช๏ธNTLM
โช๏ธDES
โช๏ธOlder TLS versions
…and more.
๐ And Security Baselines rightfully ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
โSo how do you implement baselines safely?
Treat it as a ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ณ๐ถ๐
. Years of ignoring best practices canโt be reversed overnight.
โ
Use Microsoftโs ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ to:
โช๏ธCompare your current configuration vs. the baseline
โช๏ธIdentify exactly what will change
โช๏ธAssess potential impact to applications or services
Even though it takes time and careful planning, ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐โtheyโre one of the strongest foundational measures in Windows security.
๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐?
