How to Analyze and Harden Server Security Configurations
1 min read
Summary
The importance of securing servers is growing alongside the increasing use of digital technologies in many areas of life and business.
This article analyses how to analyse and strengthen these defenses, providing a step-by-step guide to doing so.
Firstly, it is essential to assess current security levels, doing this safely with secure access methods and using tools to find areas of weakness.
Vulnerabilities in passwords, user privileges and unnecessary services should be identified and dealt with.
The network security needs hardening through configuring firewalls to restrict incoming and outgoing traffic to essential ports only, with a VPN added for extra security.
Harder authentication methods should be implemented, and where passwords are used, they should be strong and regularly changed.
Updates to OS and applications should be automatic, and system integrity and logging need configuring to detect changes and anomalies quickly.
Security best practices should be applied, and changes tested first in a staging area.
The importance of regularly backing up configurations and data is highlighted, and the article warns against unnecessary exposure and documentation of configuration changes.