Security Assessment and Hardening

What You Get

• Verify Anti-Virus Software Status and Settings

  A good anti-virus program will protect you and your computer with real time file scanning, connected media scanning, and a firewall to block incoming connections. Besides installing an anti-virus program, it is important to ensure that the settings are optimized and automated scans are scheduled appropriately.

  • We will verify your security software settings to ensure that settings are configured properly.
  • We will verify that quick scans and full scans are scheduled.
  • We will verify that the firewall is configured to block incoming connections.

• Create Separate Administrator User and Password

  Running Windows as an administrator instead of as a standard user for day-to-day use, as most users do, creates an excessive risk of the system being compromised by malware. Creating a separate administrator account and reducing priveleges on the day-to-day user account substantially reduces this risk.

  • We will ensure that the day-to-day user account has only standard priveleges.
  • We will create a separate administrator account.

• Modify hosts File

  The hosts file is a way for computers to resolve domain names to IP addresses loaclly. This file can be modified to block connections to malicious websites and malicious computers on the internet and also block ads on visited webpages.

  • We will modify the hosts file to block ads and connections to malicious sites.

• Ensure Windows Updates Are Applied

  A system with all released updates and patches applied is more secure and will have the latest performance improvements.

  • We will update Windows to the current release.

• Ensure Essential Software is Current

  Essential software that is not part of the operating system also needs to be updated for maximum security. This includes web browsers, Java, Flash, etc.

  • We will update all of your installed browsers to the current release.
  • We will update Java to the current release (if installed).
  • We will update Adobe Flash Player to the current release (if installed).