Access Control Entry (ACE) is data within an access control list detailing the access privileges assigned to an individual user or a collective group of users. In the Access Control Entry system each ACE is associated with an identification (ID) that distinguishes the specific individual or group of subjects.

SDDL, or Security Descriptor Definition Language, defines the string format that the ConvertSecurityDescriptorToStringSecurityDescriptor and ConvertStringSecurityDescriptorToSecurityDescriptor functions use to describe the security settings of an object in Windows as a text string. Think of it like a simple language for defining who can access an object (like a file, folder, or registry key) and what they can do with it.

The PCI Security Standards Council requires all payment processors and merchants to move to TLS 1.2 and above. Organizations that don’t follow this standard do not meet PCI DSS.

The NIST SP 800-123 Guide to General Server Security contains NIST recommendations on how to secure your servers. It offers general advice and guideline on how you should approach this mission. Its aim is to assist organizations in understanding the fundamental activities they nee dto undertake to secure their servers. Regulations such as HIPAA, HITRUST, CMMC, and many others rely on those recommendations, demanding organizations to enforce and comply with the guide.

Print Spooler is a component integrated into the Windows operating system, designed to temporarily hold print jobs in the computer’s memory until the printer is prepared to execute them.

Windows Task Scheduler, previously known as Scheduled Tasks, is a powerful job scheduler built into Microsoft Windows. Its primary function is to launch computer programs or scripts at specific times or intervals predetermined by the user. Introduced as System Agent in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95, Task Scheduler Windows has evolved into a core component of the Windows operating system.

When planning a hardening project for information security, there are two types of impact analysis to consider – policy impact analysis and security impact analysis. Policy impact analysis refers to generating a report that indicates each policy rule’s impact on your production. It is especially important for avoiding system downtime caused by configuration changes. The second type of impact analysis is Security Impact Analysis.

Setting and enforcing a policy for strong passwords should be a top priority for organizations in their cyber hygiene practice. Best practices and recommendations keep being updated since this issue is so critical for attack prevention. In fact, compromised passwords are responsible for 81% of successful attacks.

Best practices for mitigating various attack vectors are changing depending on the environment and server functionality. CIS baselines cover most of the relevant scenarios by addressing the first stage of your Windows server hardening project. Microsoft has been doing some work related to default security configuration, but there is still a big gap between security best practices (i.e. common benchmarks) and the default Windows configuration.

Server hardening refers to the actions performed to reduce the server OS and application attack surface. this is done by changing the default configurations of the system’s components (servers, applications, etc.) and removing unnecessary components. Out of the box, Server OS are more function-oriented rather than for security, which means that unnecessary functions are enabled. Default, insecure configurations reflect a potential attack vector.