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System hardening practices are essential because they fundamentally work to reduce the surface of vulnerability to attacks. When a system is hardened, unnecessary services, applications, and ports are disabled or removed, which decreases the opportunities for malicious entities to exploit vulnerabilities. The primary goal of hardening is to minimize the attack surface, ensuring that systems are only running the services required for their intended function.

By systematically reducing unnecessary exposure, hardening enhances the overall security posture of the system, making it less likely to be targeted successfully by attackers. This proactive approach helps safeguard sensitive data and maintain the integrity and confidentiality of information systems.

The other options suggest outcomes that contradict the purpose of system hardening. For example, increasing potential attack vectors or making systems more complex would undermine security rather than enhance it. Limiting user access can be a part of a broader security strategy but is not the primary aim of system hardening itself.