From the Field: Security Baselines

🔎𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱: Real-World Findings from Security Assessments

📊 𝟴𝟭% 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 I analyzed did not apply 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 to their Windows devices.

This is a critical security gap. Without Security Baselines:

❌ Windows can be forced to downgrade to older, insecure protocols.

❌ Essential security settings remain dangerously weak.

❌ Hundreds of hardening configurations are missing — leaving your environment exposed.

Security Baselines aren’t optional anymore. Even if you don’t have a custom baseline, Microsoft provides free baselines you can apply right now. They’re a strong starting point — and skipping them puts your entire infrastructure at risk.

If you want to truly lock down your environment, I dive into Security Baselines (and how to apply them safely) in my Windows Infrastructure Security course.

➡️ Are you using Security Baselines in your environment—or still relying on defaults?