Which Secure-Baseline Phase?

About this interactive

A secure baseline is the checklist of what must be done to harden a given kind of device, the minimum required configuration for deployment. The lesson lists where baselines come from: the product's developer, the product vendor, government and nonprofit bodies such as NIST, and security vendors. In practice you research these and merge them into your own baseline. Managing a baseline has three phases. Establish it: decide and document what the standard will be, choosing and combining sources. Deploy it: apply the baseline to devices as they go into service, often by imaging from a hardened build. Maintain it: keep it up to date as threats, settings and vendor guidance change, and keep fielded devices in line with it. To sort a card, ask whether the activity is deciding the baseline, rolling it onto devices, or keeping it current.

What you'll learn

Sort a secure-baseline activity into its lifecycle phase — establish, deploy, or maintain — and recognize that baselines come from vendors, NIST and other security organizations

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

4.1 Given a scenario, apply common security techniques to computing resources.

Key terms

Baseline: A documented set of minimum security standards or performance metrics used as a reference point.
Hardening: The process of securing a system by reducing its attack surface — disabling unnecessary services, applying configuration best practices, removing default credentials, and keeping software patched. Hardened systems offer fewer opportunities for exploitation.
Imaging: The process of capturing a preconfigured and hardened system snapshot that can be replicated onto other devices to ensure consistent deployment.

Topics

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