๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ โ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฑ
Real configs. Real fixes. Windows & AD security.
๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐?
I am actually surprised how rarely I see this security measure implemented.
Why disable services at all? โ Simple:ย ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ.ย Fewer unnecessary services running means fewer components and potential vulnerabilities you need to care about.
โก๏ธ And it is really straightforward to implement.
๐ ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ณ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ that categorizes Windows services based on whether they should be disabled, can be disabled, should not be disabled, or have no specific guidance. It is older, but still useful as a starting point. You can also take inspiration fromย ๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ต๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐, which include service configuration recommendations.
โ๏ธ Once you know which services you do not need, you can centrally enforce their state throughย ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฝ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐.
So if you are not doing this already, take a look at the services running across your Windows environment. It does not take much to start controlling them centrally.
โก๏ธ If you are interested in securing Windows infrastructures, I cover this and many other practical hardening measures in myย ๐ช๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ย course. Free trials are available.
