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Hardening Principles
Hardening Principles Hardening means removing needless risk: fewer packages, fewer open ports, fewer privileges. CIS Benchmarks list hundreds of settings per OS. Lynis checks a server against them and gives a score. Hardening once and forgetting. A new package, user or port needs another check. Run
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Hardening means removing needless risk: fewer packages, fewer open ports, fewer privileges.
Helpful tools
CIS Benchmarks list hundreds of settings per OS.
Lynis checks a server against them and gives a score.
Common mistake
Hardening once and forgetting.
A new package, user or port needs another check. Run Lynis monthly.
| Principle | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Least privilege | Every user, process and service gets only the access it… |
| Reduce attack surface | Fewer running services and open ports means fewer ways in |
| Defence in depth | Several layers, so one failure is not fatal |
| Secure defaults | Change default passwords, disable sample pages and debug |
| Patch and monitor | Known bugs fixed quickly, activity logged |
Learn more in the lesson: 32.1 Hardening Principles