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In this section of the course,

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we're going to be covering hardening.

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Now, hardening refers to the process

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of enhancing the security of a system,

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application, or network

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by implementing a series of measures and configurations

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that reduces its exposure to vulnerabilities

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and potential threats.

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Now, these measures typically are going to include

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applying security patches, configuring access controls,

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disabling unnecessary services,

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and adopting best practices

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to strengthen the overall security posture

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and resilience against cyber attacks.

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Now, in this section of the course,

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we're going to focus on domain two and domain four.

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I'll be covering objectives 2.5, 4.1, and 4.5.

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Objective 2.5 states that you must be able to explain

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the purpose of mitigation techniques used

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to secure the enterprise.

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Objective 4.1 states that given a scenario,

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you must be able to apply common security techniques

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to computing resources.

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And objective 4.5 states that given a scenario,

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you must be able to modify enterprise capabilities

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to enhance security.

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Now, first, we're going to cover default configurations

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and how to change them.

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These default configurations apply to the default password,

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default open ports and protocols,

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and other insecure default configurations

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that may exist in your system.

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Next, we're going to cover how to restrict applications.

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Application restriction is a security approach

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where only explicitly approved or allow listed applications

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are going to be allowed to be run on a system or network,

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while all other applications

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are going to be blocked by default.

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This proactive measure is going to ensure

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that only trusted and authorized software can be executed

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while minimizing the risk of malware

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or unauthorized programs

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that can compromise your system security.

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Then we'll take a look at unnecessary services

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on your system and how we can disable them.

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Unnecessary services refer to software processes

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or network services running on a computer or network

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that are not required for essential system functionality

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or business operations.

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These services may consume system resources,

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introduce security vulnerabilities,

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and increase the attack surface,

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which makes your system more susceptible to a cyber attack.

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After that, we'll cover trusted operating systems.

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Now, trusted operating systems

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are specialized operating systems

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that have undergone rigorous security evaluations

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and certifications to ensure their trustworthiness

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and reliability for handling sensitive

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or classified information.

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These operating systems are designed

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with strict security controls and access restrictions

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to protect against unauthorized access, data breaches,

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and other security threats.

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Next, we'll explore updates and patches.

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Updates are software modifications or improvements

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released by developers to enhance the features, fix bugs

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or improve security, stability

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and performance of their software.

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Patches, on the other hand, are specific software updates

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that are designed to address identified vulnerabilities

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or security issues inside of a program,

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system or application.

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Then we'll discuss patch management.

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Now, patch management is the systematic process

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of identifying, testing, deploying

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and monitoring software patches and updates

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to maintain the security and functionality

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of a computer system.

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After that, we'll explore group policies.

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Group policies are a set of rules and configurations

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in Windows environments that allow administrators

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to centrally manage and control user and computer settings,

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ensuring compliance and security

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with your operational standards.

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Next, we're going to cover SE Linux.

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Now SE Linux or Security Enhanced Linux

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is a security framework for Linux-based operating systems

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that implements mandatory access controls

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to confine and limit the actions of processes and users

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to enhance the system's overall security.

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Then we'll take a look at data encryption levels.

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Data encryption is the process

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of converting data into a secret code

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to prevent unauthorized access.

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When it comes to data encryption,

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data can be encrypted at different levels,

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including the full-disk level, partition level, file level,

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volume level, database level, or record level.

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After that, we're going to dive into the world

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of secure baselines.

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A secure baseline is a predefined,

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standardized configuration and its associated settings

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for computer systems, applications, or networks

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that establishes a secure starting point

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to minimize security risk and vulnerabilities.

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Finally, we'll take a short quiz to see what you learned

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during this section of the course

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and review each of those quiz questions fully

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to ensure that you can explain each answer

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and why it was right.

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So let's go ahead and get started in the world of hardening

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and how to better protect our systems

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in this section of the course.