๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ โ Real-World Findings from Security Assessments
๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ญ.๐ฐ%ย of infrastructures Iโve assessed ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
To be honest, I donโt even remember seeing it in use by most customers โ the 28.6% might just be environments I secured myself in the past and later reassessed.
So, is there really a benefit to using Windows Server Core?
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ โ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐.
โ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ โ fewer components = fewer vulnerabilities.
Just compare running services:
โข GUI: 72
โข Core: 45
โข Nano (for curiosityโs sake): 32
โ ย ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ โ needs less RAM, CPU, and disk.
โ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ & ๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ โ perfect for patching cycles.
โ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ โ manage through jump hosts or PAWs in the right tier.
โ ๐ฆ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐ โ you can use Features on Demand to run tools like eventvwr, diskmgmt, etc., remotely.
Of course, it comes with a learning curve. If things break, you might need to troubleshoot via console (like in VMware) โ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ?ย Thatโs how we learn.
๐ So what do you think โ is Windows Server Core worth it?
