Defining and implementing a comprehensive server security policy is an essential step in the process of securing both Windows and Linux servers. Organizations should establish different hardening policies for each system component, aspiring to be as granular as possible (differentiating component’s type, role, version, environment, etc.).

In this article we will provide basic information regarding the Clipboard Redirection setting, which enables the copy past function in remote desktop. Once you have decided the setting’s desired value, be sure and test it to fully understand what will be its impact on your production. This is critical since you don’t want it to result in damage to production. Configuring RDS Clipboard Redirection settings is a fundamental step in the hardening project.

The latest Windows versions are compatible with NTLM and default NTLM implementation necessitates Active Directory. Microsoft has shared instructions on mitigating PetitPotam a type of NTLM relay attack that is used against Windows domain servers or controllers. Microsoft has referred to it as the ‘classic’ NTLM (ADV210003) relay attack allowing an attacker to take over domain controller or other Windows servers.

The DoD or Department of Defense of the United States of America implements the CMMC or Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification to standardize or normalize the overall preparedness for cybersecurity across the DIB (Defense Industrial Base) of the federal government against evolving threats.

A joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) was issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently warning organizations about a Russian state-sponsored cyber-attack. The cyber actors ran arbitrary code using system privileges by exploiting a Windows Print Spooler vulnerability, “PrintNightmare.”

The widespread popularity of the containerized infrastructure backed by the advancement in technology, has made Linux the top priority as a host of the enterprise production environment. Red Hat Enterprise Linux default configuration settings which are more functionality-focused than being security-oriented, are often faced with the risk of infrastructure breaches.

Privileged account exploitation remains at the core of targeted cyber attacks. An insight into some of the most high-profile breaches reveals a highly predictable pattern. Attackers are capable of crashing through hijack credentials, network perimeter, and utilize the same for moving laterally across the entire network. They also undertake additional credentials and enhance privileges towards achieving their goals.

When the credentials are submitted for a user account logon request, audit events are generated by the operating system which is determined by the Audit Credential Validation. The events occur as follow: As in an enterprise environment, domain accounts are used more often than local accounts so most of the user logon requests are in the Domain Environment for which Domain Controllers have the authorization. So, the event volume is high on Domain Controllers and low on member servers and workstations.

UNC (Universal Naming Convention) identifies servers, printers, and other resources in the UNIX/Windows Community. The name of a computer is anteceded in a UNC path by double slashes or backslashes. Local disk or directories UNC paths are separated by a single slash or backslash.

Password storage and encryption are an essential part of your password policy. Reversible encryption is known for being vulnerable to attacks. Therefore, it is crucial to map its usage and try to avoid it as much as possible.