Hardening
Hardening reduces risk by securely configuring systems and removing unnecessary features.
Updated: 2026-03-05
Definition
Hardening includes disabling unused services, applying secure configurations, enforcing strong auth, and patching.
It reduces attack surface and makes exploitation harder.
Key points
- Remove/disable what you don’t need
- Secure configs + patching
- Baseline and monitor changes
Common mistakes
- Hardening once and never revisiting (drift happens).
- Breaking apps due to no testing of changes.
Related exams
Related terms
Want to practice this in exam-style questions?
Use the mini tests on each exam page, then continue in the app for offline packs and detailed explanations.
Go to exams