System hardening

Secure systems by reducing vulnerabilities, enforcing controls, and strengthening configurations – gain practical skills to improve resilience and cyber security posture.

Stronger Systems. Safer Applications.

System hardening means making systems more secure by reducing potential attack points. Turn off unnecessary features, apply updates, and enforce strong security controls to run operating systems and applications more safely. The key principles behind system hardening include secure configuration, patch management, access control and system monitoring. These practices help maintain the security and reliability of systems throughout their lifecycle. Learn essential knowledge to improve your system’s resilience and maintain strong cyber security posture.

Featured publications

Discover resources to help you implement system hardening across your applications and IT equipment.

Detecting and mitigating Active Directory compromises

Learn how to find and respond to Active Directory compromises by identifying suspicious activity and using controls to limit attacker access.

Hardening Microsoft Windows 11 workstations

Harden Windows 11 workstations by using security settings and controls to reduce vulnerabilities and protect against threats.

Hardening Microsoft 365, Office 2021, Office 2019 and Office 2016

Harden Microsoft Office applications by using security controls to reduce risk from malicious and unsafe content.

Further resources

Hardening Linux workstations and servers

Harden Linux systems by using security controls to reduce vulnerabilities and protect workstations and servers from being compromised.

Hardening Microsoft Windows 10 workstations

Harden Windows 10 workstations by using security controls to reduce vulnerabilities and protect against common threats.

Restricting Microsoft Office macros

Learn about the different approaches organisations can take to protect their systems and data from malicious Microsoft Office macros.

Microsoft Exchange Server security best practices

Learn how to secure Microsoft Exchange Server by using security best practices to reduce vulnerabilities, protect email services and prevent unauthorised access.

Implementing application control

Use application controls to prevent unauthorised software from running and so reduce the risk of malware infecting your system.

Implementing multi-factor authentication

Improve your organisation’s account security by implementing multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of unauthorised access.

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