EG2762 Cyber Security

Essentials Project
Sng Xuan Zhi, Eunice (191530q)
OS Hardening?
 What is OS hardening?
The idea of OS hardening is to minimize a computer's exposure to current and
future threats by fully configuring the operating system and removing
unnecessary applications.

 Why OS hardening is required?

Operating System hardening, helps minimize these security vulnerabilities. The
purpose of system hardening is to eliminate as many security risks as possible.
This is typically done by removing all non-essential software programs and
utilities from the computer.
Background Story
Nowadays, there has been many reported cases of hackers are commandeering
victims PCs by exploiting at least one remote-code-execution flaw in an
application included with the Microsoft Operating System. An increase of hacks
is affecting everyone. Because of this, my boss is worried about this happening
as he scared that hackers would hack into our database server which contain our
customer personal information from Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook is an
email platform for Microsoft, therefore I am tasked to harden our company’s
security system.

The VM I will be using is Ubuntu.

Now, I will be sharing 5 different measures on how to prevent hacker from

commandeering our company PCs.
Different types of hardening measures
 Disable USB

Prevent installation of USB device drivers. If no USB storage device is installed on the computer, assign users or groups Deny
permission on the files usbstor.pnf and usbstor.inf, located at %systemroot%\inf. Doing so will prevent users from installing a USB
storage device on the computer.

 Enabling Password Complexity

Having strong passwords in an Active Directory (AD) network ensures that hackers can’t crack user’s passwords with methods
such as brute-force dictionary attacks.

 Installing Malware Scanner

It’s necessary to have a standard antivirus software installed in your network devices to catch these malware as they appear. On
an enterprise level, auditing the antivirus protection would become challenging due to a significant number of machines in the
network and constant addition of new machines to the existing horde.

 Enabling SSH Option

SSH can be very helpful when configuring your server, setup domains or anything else you need to do. It also one of the first
point of entry of hackers. Therefore it is very important to secure your SSH

 Adding Firewall

Firewalls provide protection against outside cyber attackers by shielding your computer or network from malicious or
unnecessary network traffic. Firewalls can also prevent malicious software from accessing a computer or network via the
internet.
Disable USB Storage Devices

 Before
Disable USB Storage Devices

 After
Steps to Disable USB Storage Devices
Enable password complexity

 Before
Enable password complexity

 After
Steps for enabling password complexity
Steps for enabling password complexity
Installing Malware Scanner

 Before
Installing Malware Scanner

 After
Steps for Installing Malware Scanner
Adding Firewall

 Before
Adding Firewall

 After
Steps for adding firewall
Enabling SSH

 Before
Enabling SSH

 After
Steps to Enable SSH
Thank You!!!!!