windows-hardening

Windows Hardening

Secure Windows servers following Microsoft security baselines and CIS benchmarks.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Hardening new Windows Server deployments
• Implementing CIS benchmarks or Microsoft security baselines
• Preparing for compliance audits (SOC2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA)
• Configuring security features after a security incident
• Setting up Windows Defender and advanced threat protection
• Establishing Group Policy security standards for a domain

Prerequisites

• Windows Server 2019 or later (2022 recommended)
• Local Administrator or Domain Admin access
• PowerShell 5.1+ (built into Windows Server)
• Group Policy Management Console for domain environments
• Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit (recommended)

Security Baseline Deployment

# Download and apply Microsoft Security Baseline
# Download from: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55319

# Install Security Compliance Toolkit modules
Install-Module -Name SecurityPolicyDsc -Force
Install-Module -Name AuditPolicyDsc -Force
Install-Module -Name PSDesiredStateConfiguration -Force

# Import and apply a security baseline GPO (from Security Compliance Toolkit)
# Extract the toolkit, then:
Import-Module "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\SCT\LGPO.exe"

# Apply local group policy from baseline
.\LGPO.exe /g ".\GPO\{baseline-gpo-guid}"

# Export current security policy for review
secedit /export /cfg C:\SecurityAudit\current-policy.inf

Account Policies

# ============================================
# Password Policy Configuration
# ============================================

# Set password policy via net accounts
net accounts /minpwlen:14 /maxpwage:90 /minpwage:1 /uniquepw:24

# Or configure via PowerShell DSC
Configuration PasswordPolicy {
    Import-DscResource -ModuleName SecurityPolicyDsc

    Node localhost {
        AccountPolicy PasswordPolicy {
            Name                                = "PasswordPolicy"
            Minimum_Password_Length              = 14
            Maximum_Password_Age                = 90
            Minimum_Password_Age                = 1
            Enforce_password_history             = 24
            Password_must_meet_complexity_requirements = "Enabled"
            Store_passwords_using_reversible_encryption = "Disabled"
        }
    }
}

# ============================================
# Account Lockout Policy
# ============================================
net accounts /lockoutthreshold:5 /lockoutwindow:30 /lockoutduration:30

# ============================================
# User Account Hardening
# ============================================

# Rename and disable default accounts
Rename-LocalUser -Name "Administrator" -NewName "LocalAdmin"
Disable-LocalUser -Name "Guest"
Disable-LocalUser -Name "DefaultAccount"

# Remove unnecessary local accounts
$unnecessaryAccounts = Get-LocalUser | Where-Object {
    $_.Enabled -eq $true -and
    $_.Name -notin @("LocalAdmin", "SYSTEM", "NetworkService", "LocalService")
}
foreach ($account in $unnecessaryAccounts) {
    Write-Host "Review account: $($account.Name) - Last logon: $($account.LastLogon)"
}

# Configure Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)
# Install LAPS module
Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-AD-PowerShell
Import-Module AdmPwd.PS

# Configure LAPS for the OU
Set-AdmPwdComputerSelfPermission -OrgUnit "OU=Servers,DC=example,DC=com"
Set-AdmPwdReadPasswordPermission -OrgUnit "OU=Servers,DC=example,DC=com" -AllowedPrincipals "Domain Admins"