Do you know the real impact of implementing CIS Security Baselines?

๐Ÿ”’ Secure Bits ๐Ÿ’ก

๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—–๐—œ๐—ฆ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€?

โ€œJust apply the baselineโ€ is easy to sayโ€ฆ but in production itโ€™s rarely easy to do.

When I implement Security Baselines for customers, itโ€™s usually a ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด-๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ท๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ because teams often donโ€™t know:

โš ๏ธ what their Windows servers/desktops are actually using today

โš ๏ธ what their applications require to keep working

So the rollout becomes careful and slow. You apply changes in phases, often device by device, because you expect ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€ – and without clear app requirements, you canโ€™t prepare properly.

โธป

Recently I started collaborating with Forestall Security on their ๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—ฃ๐—  platform. The main value of ISPM is continuous detection of Active Directory misconfigurations and vulnerabilities (the stuff that builds up over years and quietly creates attack paths).

But one extra feature I also like is this:

โœ…ย ๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜„

ISPM can compare the current Windows OS configuration against a baseline you choose (e.g., CIS) and show you what will change before you enforce it.

Yes – there are other ways to do this (Policy Analyzer, manual comparisons, testing waves, etc.). But I simply like having this capability built into the same platform thatโ€™s already ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—”๐—— ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ธ๐˜€.

๐Ÿงช ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜?

Because of the collaboration you can get a free trial – https://academy.horizon-secured.com/p/forestall-ispm

Do you already use Security Baselines (CIS/Microsoft/custom)?