Its a great base reference for securing your Windows infrastructure. the Start menu and the Action Center), the forced updates, the integration of cloud services, and the logging of user behavior have all caused annoyance. This function should therefore be activated. In Microsoft Defender ATP, the secure score is the path to achieving this. Regulatory Compliance: Not provided. This Windows 10 Setup Script turns off a bunch of unnecessary Windows 10 telemetery, bloatware, & privacy things. You don’t want to go deliberately misleading your peers in the industry – in fact, one thing I’m deeply passionate about is improving cooperation among the people on the side of good. Considering your system’s security settings leads to a better understanding of the system and your requirements, which in turn improves the security of the overall system. It takes newly released malware an average of just four hours to achieve its goal—steal financial information, extort money, or cause widespread damage. We are defining discrete prescriptive Windows 10 security configurations (levels 5 through 1) to meet many of the common device scenarios we see today in the enterprise. DEVELOP HARDENING CHECKLIST FOR WINDOWS 10 5 such as expelling backing for AciveX, Browner Helper Objects (BHO), VBScript, and VML. Installing Windows updates promptly is key to maintaining the system’s security and the process should not be deactivated under any circumstances. Because bad people have, through innovations of commerce on the dark web, devised a system of cooperation that is shockingly effective. We are eager to gather feedback on how we could make this guidance more useful, and if there are security controls and configurations you feel may be misplaced (or missing)! Windows 10 Hardening: What should you do? Security-related events must be logged and assessed on a hardened system. Operating System: Regular Updates. Windows 10 Hardening Introduction. Rather than making an itemized list, we grouped recommendations into coherent and discrete groups, which makes it easier for you to see where you stand in terms of your defensive posture. Microsoft is a leader in cybersecurity, and we embrace our responsibility to make the world a safer place. Microsoft has officially stopped support for Windows XP on April 8th, 2014. EMET should therefore continue to be operated on a correctly hardened system. Microsoft’s standard settings form a solid basis but need to be revised in order to ensure a secure operating system. Use dual factor authentication for privileged accounts, such as domain admin accounts, but also critical accounts (but also accounts having the SeDebug right). This is a hardening checklist that can be used in private and business environments for hardening Windows 10. This guide builds upon the best practices established via the CIS Controls® V7.1. Mimicking the DEFCON levels used to determine alert state by the United States Armed Forces, lower numbers indicate a higher degree of security hardening: How do you choose the configuration that’s best for your organization? - Windows 10 Workstation - Windows Server 2019 File Server - Windows Server 2019 Internet Facing SFTP Server. The Windows 10 operating system was released about 15 months ago and is being used increasingly for both private and business purposes. To protect against unauthorized physical access, the hard drive should be encrypted. The security configuration framework is designed to assist with exactly this scenario. Not guaranteed to catch everything. Windows Defender offers adequate protection against known malware and has not been found to have any serious weaknesses. The “per-machine” checklist. You see, there is no perfect score in security; everyone could always get better. The following recommendations, listed in alphabetical order, should be treated as high priorities when hardening Microsoft Windows 10 workstations. For Microsoft Windows Desktop 2004 (CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Release 2004 Benchmark version 1.9.1) CIS has worked with the community since 2009 to publish a benchmark for Microsoft Windows Desktop The main record made when you install Windows is an authoritative record. It is tempting to think that the process of securing a Windows 10 device can be reduced to a simple checklist. EMET includes measures against known exploits such as heap spraying, and Return Oriented Programming. The maximum size of the event log should therefore be expanded in order to ensure that no entries can be lost by being overwritten. Questions, concerns, or insights on this story? The integrated BitLocker function can be used for this. In a Security Research of Anti-Virus … Operational security hardening items MFA for Privileged accounts . Secure installation. Gone are the bloat of Xbox integration and services and the need for third-party security solutions to fill security gaps. The integrated Windows Defender solution can be used as anti-virus software. ; BitLocker is an obvious one, enable it on all machines. In order to detect an attempted attack or the misuse of access data at an early stage, failed login attempts should be logged. There are other unintended consequences of being the “best” to be mindful of as well. Ideally, Bitlocker should be used in combination with SecureBoot. This IP should... 3. There are way more, but this is to describe how basic of a checklist I'm looking for if that makes sense. Most of these issues can be managed using group policies and deactivated if required. Windows Defender offers adequate protection against known malware and has not been found to have any serious weaknesses. a clean install of Windows 10 is pretty good, that said, I do have the following advice: It is important to properly configure User Account Control on all machines; out of the box it is very insecure meaning anything can bypass it to grab admin privileges. Windows 10 Anniversary Edition (v1607), for better or worse! P.S. After a certain amount of time, Windows updates are installed automatically and the system is re-started. One of the questions we’ve been asking is – what should you do if you have not yet purchased or deployed Microsoft Defender ATP in order to compute your secure score? We are also exploring ways to provide useful comparisons using this framework. Routine file backups are essential for protecting yourself from losing important … [ The essentials for Windows 10 installation: ... Device Guard relies on Windows hardening such as Secure Boot. A few vulnerabilities were found in Windows which enable a privilege escalation up to kernel level of the operating system when a font is opened or viewed. Featured image for Inside out: Get to know the advanced technologies at the core of Microsoft Defender ATP next generation protection, Inside out: Get to know the advanced technologies at the core of Microsoft Defender ATP next generation protection, Featured image for Executing on the vision of Microsoft Threat Protection, Executing on the vision of Microsoft Threat Protection, Featured image for Windows Defender Antivirus cloud protection service: Advanced real-time defense against never-before-seen malware, Windows Defender Antivirus cloud protection service: Advanced real-time defense against never-before-seen malware, https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-security-configuration-framework/windows-security-configuration-framework. 1.1 MB. The preferred method to begin hardening a PC is to install the operating system from scratch using a Windows 10 image with the latest security patches. Join discussions at the Microsoft Defender ATP community. Through the top recommendations, we suggest a prioritized list for securing your devices, with a relative ranking of the overall impact to your security posture. Ideally, Bitlocker should be used in combination with SecureBoot. Set up file backups. While building out this framework, we thought: what are key considerations for a security professional in today’s world? Scant attention was paid to improving security functions and settings. Although it says its for Windows Server 2016, you can apply it to Windows Clients as well. This links the hard drive to the individual system’s hardware. Ideally, NTLM should be completely deactivated or restricted to specific IP addresses. Another benefit is that it's simple enough to use that anyone can enjoy its benefits. In Windows 10, the properties of Windows Update were altered. To protect against unauthorized physical access, the hard drive should be encrypted. These include the storage function OneDrive and the speech recognition software Cortana. So, I heavily advise that you take the necessary steps to privatise your Windows 10 installation. Per-Windows 10 System Security Checklist These items apply to every endpoint individually. For this, there is the HailMary mode from HardeningKitty. This document is meant for use in conjunction with other applicable STIGs, such as, but not limited to, Browsers, Antivirus, and other desktop applications. What if you don’t know exactly how to configure a given set of features? What if you haven’t even deployed Windows 10? I want to be careful not to overemphasize the competitive aspect here. This blog was written by an independent guest blogger. Clearly, a key aspect for a security configuration framework is to help drive a smart set of priorities. The settings should be seen as security recommendations; before accepting them, check carefully whether they will affect the operation of your infrastructure or impair the usability of key functions. What’s more, cloud functions are active in the default settings which users may not want to utilize at all. We thought we should supplement secure score to help people in all these scenarios with the security configuration framework. Device Guard Enabled Check this if the system is running Device Guard. Michael Schneider has been in IT since 2000. To do this, the default settings need to be extended. If an attacker can capture the NTLM challenge response process, such as by manipulating the network traffic, they can use this to work out the user’s password. The checklist can be used for all Windows versions, but in Windows 10 Home the Group Policy Editor is not integrated and the adjustment must be done directly in the registry. An eight-digit password can be worked out in just a few hours. According to an analysis, by Will Dormann, this is not yet the case with the current version of Windows 10. Search Google, or Bing ;), for the Windows hardening guide from the University of Texas at Austin. A balance should be struck between security and usability. Windows 10 Version 1507 Security Baseline.zip. Based on the CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Benchmarks, I have created a checklist that can be used to harden Windows 10 in both the private and business domain. The checklist can be used for all Windows versions, but in Windows 10 Home the Group Policy Editor is not integrated and the adjustment must be done directly in the registry. … We sat down and asked ourselves this question: if we didn’t know anything at all about your environment, what security policies and security controls would we suggest you implement first? ; It is important to make sure that Secure Boot is enabled on all machines. This is the question security professionals must constantly ask themselves. The software runs in the background, scanning your files and offering a basic level of protection for all Windows 10 users. We’re at a significant disadvantage if we don’t learn to cooperate at least as well! CIS Controls Microsoft Windows 10 Cyber Hygiene Guide This guide provides detailed information on how to accomplish each of the CIS Sub-Controls within Implementation Group 1 (IG1). Windows 10 comes with a range of functions which, in the default settings, have a negative impact on the user’s privacy. This chapter outlines system hardening processes for operating systems, applications and authentication mechanisms. Passwords You ought to have solid passwords to safe protect your records, especially the administrator accounts. Clean up unwanted programs. Network Configuration. 1.5 MB: Windows 10 Version 1803 Security Baseline.zip. Windows 10 Hardening Introduction. In 2009, Microsoft published the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET), which can be used as a Defense in Depth measure against the exploitation of vulnerabilities. As you go through it, you may recognize a need for policies you haven’t thought of before. The graphical interface (e.g. Multiple next-generation protection engines to detect and stop a wide range of threats and attacker techniques at multiple points, providing industry-best detection and blocking capabilities. But without an absolute target to pursue, how do you get a sense of how good is good enough? Get quick, easy access to all Canadian Centre for Cyber Security services and information. This has not been popular with users and has led to the recommendation to deactivate the Windows update processes. Installation Media. 904 KB. This year, there have been at least three privilege escalation vulnerabilities (MS16-032, MS16-111, and MS16-124), for which functioning exploits were published within a few days of the patch being released. This Windows IIS server hardening checklist will ensure server hardening policies are implemented correctly during installation. For example, user behavior can be analyzed by capturing telemetry data. As a result, we saw as many different configurations as we saw customers. Windows Server 2016 Hardening Checklist The hardening checklists are based on the comprehensive checklists produced by the Center for Internet Security (CIS). Initial enthusiasm for Windows 10 was muted and has not increased much since the launch. Also,... Motherboard: Secure Boot. If you’re an organization that’s already looking to Windows security baselines to provide advanced levels of security (now also available in preview for Intune), then level 3 incorporates these baselines as the foundation. Welcome to my Windows 10 hardening guide. Our experts will get in contact with you! System hardening is the process of securing systems in order to reduce their attack surface. Checklist Summary: The Windows 10 Security Technical Implementation Guide (STIG) is published as a tool to improve the security of Department of Defense (DoD) information systems. Learn about how we’re already executing on the vision of Microsoft Threat Protection—the premier solution for securing the modern workplace across identities, endpoints, user data, apps, and infrastructure. Free to Everyone. In a recent report, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that cybercriminals will use hacked or stolen information within nine minutes of posting…. We are defining discrete prescriptive Windows 10 security configurations (levels 5 through 1) to meet many of the common device scenarios we see today in the enterprise. We are releasing this draft version to gather additional feedback from organizations looking to organize their device security hardening program. Encryption. Review and tweak before running. The use of NT LAN Manager (NTLM) is also a security-related topic for Windows 10. We worked with a select group of pilot customers, experts from Microsoft’s engineering team, and the Microsoft sales field to develop this guidance. A best practice is to format the hard drive and install legitimate and still supported software. Security configuration may be at odds with productivity or user experience; imagine if you worked for a software company and couldn’t test your own code because it wasn’t on your organizational safe programs list yet? The checklist can be used for all Windows versions, but in Windows 10 Home the Group Policy Editor is not integrated and the adjustment must be done directly in the registry. (ORCID 0000-0003-0772-9761), Block CIS Cloud Cortana Detect Exploit GitHub Google Hardening Logging Malware Microsoft Password Research Scan Storage Tool Twitter VulDB Windows Windows 10. While Windows Defender Antivirus makes catching 5 billion threats on devices every month look easy, multiple advanced detection and prevention technologies work under the hood to make this happen. In Windows 10, Windows Defender comes with real-time antivirus capabilities. Used systems with pre-loaded software may contain malware. What we really need to drive is a cycle of continuous improvement. In the past, we left defining the security configuration for Windows 10 as a task for every customer to sort out. The hardening checklists are based on the comprehensive checklists produced by The Center for Internet Security (CIS), when possible.The Information Security Office has distilled the CIS lists down to the most critical steps for your systems, with a particular focus on configuration issues that are unique to the computing environment at The University of Texas at Austin. In a Security Research of Anti-Virus Software project, Travis Ormandy, researcher in Google’s Project Zero, found that, unlike competitor products, Windows Defender did not have any critical vulnerabilities that impaired the security of the operating system. The Windows Server Hardening Checklist 1. Support for EMET will stop at the end of July 2018, as Microsoft has integrated the majority of the functions into Windows 10. Looking at the posture of others is helpful. Adjustments/tailoring to some recommendations will be needed to maintain functionality if attempting to implement CIS hardening on standalone systems. Windows 10 Hardening Techniques. It is now possible to deactivate the support for untrustworthy fonts in order to mitigate the vulnerability. Nearly every security architect I’ve met with has a pile of security assessments on their desk (and a list of vendors eager to give them more); their challenge is never identifying something that they can do, but identifying which is the next most important thing to do from the massive list they have already identified! Thanks! In an environment of inherent distrust (think about it – literally everyone involved is, by definition, untrustworthy), they work together. In addition, access rights should be restricted to administrators. The seventh Windows 10 hardening tip involves securing it against its overlord: Big Microsoft. NTLM should now only be used in version 2 (NTLMv2); all other versions (NTLMv1 and LM) should be rejected. Application hardening When applications are installed they are often not pre-configured in a secure state. The security configuration framework is designed to help simplify security configuration while still allowing enough flexibility to allow you to balance security, productivity, and user experience. This links the hard drive to the individual system’s hardware. A step-by-step checklist to secure Microsoft Windows Desktop: Download Latest CIS Benchmark. Being the best in security is of course aspirational, but being the worst is something you must avoid! 1.1 MB: Windows 10 Version 1809 and Windows … The integrated Windows Defender solution can be used as anti-virus software. The hardening checklist can be used for all Windows versions, but the GroupPolicyEditor is not integrated into Windows 10 Home; adjustments have to be carried out directly in the registry. The full checklist with all settings can be downloaded in text format. This is a hardening checklist that can be used in private and business environments for hardening Windows 10. Why is this so important? In this initial draft, we have defined 5 discrete levels of security configuration. I cannot do direct links on this form for some reason. For cybercriminals, speed is the name of the game. Microsoft loves to collect your data, and they love to do this a little bit too much. Strengthening the log settings, however, only helps if the integrity of the logs is assured and they have been recorded properly. 904 KB: Windows 10 Version 1607 and Windows Server 2016 Security Baseline.zip. This is a hardening checklist that can be used in private and business environments for hardening Windows 10. Bootkit type of malware can infect the master boot record of the system. Achieving early wins is a key aspect to driving business value from the investment in this deployment. Target Operational Environment: Managed; Testing Information: This guide was tested on a machine running Microsoft Windows 10 1803. You can find the draft security configuration framework documentation and provide us feedback at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-security-configuration-framework/windows-security-configuration-framework. 1.5 MB. Windows Server 2019 ships and installs with an existing level of hardening that is significantly more secure compared to previous Windows Server operating systems. User Configuration. He is an expert at penetration testing, hardening and the detection of vulnerabilities in operating systems. Hardening an operating system (OS) is one of the most important steps toward sound information security. Since 2010 he is focused on information security. Understanding where you lie in a continuum of security is also valuable. Modern Windows Server editions force you to do this, but make sure the password for the local... 2. Secure score represents our best recommendations for securing your endpoint devices (among other things). It’s context-aware, driven by your existing configuration and the threats impacting your environment. It is therefore possible to switch off the logging and transmission of error messages to Microsoft, reduce the capturing of telemetry data to a minimum (it can only be switched off completely in the Enterprise version), and deactivate cloud applications such as OneDrive or Cortana. Some of these functions were even withheld from enterprise customers, such as Credential and Device Guard. If you’re earlier in your journey, then you should find level 5 a great starting point and can then balance the enhanced security of higher levels against your application readiness and risk tolerance. Production servers should have a static IP so clients can reliably find them. As operating systems evolve ... What is hardening? He is well-known for a variety of tools written in PowerShell to find, exploit, and mitigate weaknesses. Different tools and techniques can be used to perform system hardening. scip AG, Badenerstrasse 623, 8048 Zürich, Switzerland, Data Privacy Notice | Vulnerability Disclosure | Jobs, RSS News | RSS Blog | Alexa Flash Briefing, VulDB | Titanium Report | Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Quotient Scale | Secure Transfer Server, Security Research of Anti-Virus Software project, https://benchmarks.cisecurity.org/tools2/windows/CIS_Microsoft_Windows_10_Enterprise_RTM_Release_1507_Benchmark_v1.0.0.pdf, https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/srd/2016/11/03/beyond-emet/, https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/list?can=1&q=owner%3Ataviso%40google.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privilege_escalation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return-oriented_programming, https://github.com/0×6d69636b/windows_hardening/, https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/author/will-dormann/, https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/cert/2016/11/windows-10-cannot-protect-insecure-applications-like-emet-can.html, https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/jj653751, Interdisciplinary Artificial Intelligence Quotient Scale.