Ace the CISM Challenge 2025 – Become a Cybersecurity Superstar!

System hardening practices are aimed at reducing vulnerabilities in a system by minimizing potential attack surfaces. This is achieved primarily by identifying and disabling unnecessary services and removing software that is not required for operational needs. By limiting the functionalities of a system, the risk of exploitation through unmonitored or poorly secured applications is significantly decreased.

This approach involves conducting regular audits of the system to determine which services are currently running and assessing whether they align with the necessary operational requirements. When unnecessary services are turned off and surplus software is uninstalled, it not only streamlines system performance but also fortifies security by closing off pathways that could be exploited by attackers.

In contrast, increasing the number of applications, adding more user accounts, or implementing redundant systems typically expands the attack surface rather than reducing it. More applications and user accounts can introduce additional vulnerabilities, while redundancy primarily focuses on availability rather than security. Thus, minimizing services and removing unnecessary software is a foundational practice in effectively hardening a system against cyber threats.