A collection of awesome security hardening guides, best practices, checklists, benchmarks, tools and other resources. This is work in progress: please contribute by sending your suggestions. You may do this by creating issue tickets or forking, editing and sending pull requests. You may also send suggestions on Twitter to @decalage2, or use https://www.decalage.info/contact
- Security Hardening Guides and Best Practices
- Tools
- Books
- Other Awesome Lists
- CIS Benchmarks (registration required)
- ANSSI Best Practices
- NSA Cybersecurity Advisories & Guidance
- NSA Cybersecurity Resources for Cybersecurity Professionals and NSA Cybersecurity publications
- US DoD DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs) and Security Requirements Guides (SRGs)
- OpenSCAP Security Policies
- Australian Cyber Security Center Publications
- FIRST Best Practice Guide Library (BPGL)
- Harden the World - a collection of hardening guidelines for devices, applications and OSs (mostly Apple for now).
- ANSSI - Configuration recommendations of a GNU/Linux system
- CIS Benchmark for Distribution Independent Linux
- trimstray - The Practical Linux Hardening Guide - practical step-by-step instructions for building your own hardened systems and services. Tested on CentOS 7 and RHEL 7.
- trimstray - Linux Hardening Checklist - most important hardening rules for GNU/Linux systems (summarized version of The Practical Linux Hardening Guide)
- How To Secure A Linux Server - for a single Linux server at home
- nixCraft - 40 Linux Server Hardening Security Tips (2019 edition)
- nixCraft - Tips To Protect Linux Servers Physical Console Access
- TecMint - 4 Ways to Disable Root Account in Linux
- ERNW - IPv6 Hardening Guide for Linux Servers
- trimstray - Iptables Essentials: Common Firewall Rules and Commands
- Neo23x0/auditd - Best Practice Auditd Configuration
- CIRCL TR-83 - Linux Boot Hardening HOWTO - How to secure the boot sequence of your Linux based distribution (2024)
- Red Hat - A Guide to Securing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- DISA STIGs - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 (2019)
- CIS Benchmark for Red Hat Linux
- nixCraft - How to set up a firewall using FirewallD on RHEL 8
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP4 Security Guide
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Security and Hardening Guide
- Microsoft - Windows security baselines
- Microsoft - Windows Server Security | Assurance
- Microsoft - Windows 10 Enterprise Security
- BSI/ERNW - Configuration Recommendations for Hardening of Windows 10 Using Built-in Functionalities (2021) - focused on Windows 10 LTSC 2019
- ACSC - Hardening Microsoft Windows 10, version 21H1, Workstations
- ACSC - Securing PowerShell in the Enterprise
- Awesome Windows Domain Hardening
- Microsoft - How to detect, enable and disable SMBv1, SMBv2, and SMBv3 in Windows and Windows Server
- Microsoft recommended block rules - List of applications or files that can be used by an attacker to circumvent application whitelisting policies
- ERNW - IPv6 Hardening Guide for Windows Servers
- NSA - AppLocker Guidance - Configuration guidance for implementing application whitelisting with AppLocker
- NSA - Pass the Hash Guidance - Configuration guidance for implementing Pass-the-Hash mitigations (Archived)
- NSA - BitLocker Guidance - Configuration guidance for implementing disk encryption with BitLocker
- NSA - Event Forwarding Guidance - Configuration guidance for implementing collection of security relevant Windows Event Log events by using Windows Event Forwarding
- Windows Defense in Depth Strategies - work in progress
- Endpoint Isolation with the Windows Firewall based on Jessica Payne’s ‘Demystifying the Windows Firewall’ talk from Ignite 2016
- ZeroSec - Paving The Way to DA - red teaming techniques and how to prevent them
See also Active Directory and ADFS below.
- NSA - Harden Network Devices (PDF) - very short but good summary
- NSA - IPv6 Security Guidance (Jan 2023)
- ERNW - Developing an Enterprise IPv6 Security Strategy Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 - Network Isolation on the Routing Layer, Traffic Filtering in IPv6 Networks
- see also IPv6 links under GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS
- NIST SP 800-41 Rev 1 - Guidelines on Firewalls and Firewall Policy (2009)
- trimstray - Iptables Essentials: Common Firewall Rules and Commands
- VMware Security Hardening Guides - covers most VMware products and versions
- CIS VMware ESXi 6.5 Benchmark (2018)
- DISA STIGs - Virtualisation - VMware vSphere 6.0 and 5
- ENISA - Security aspects of virtualization - generic, high-level best practices for virtualization and containers (Feb 2017)
- NIST SP 800-125 - Guide to Security for Full Virtualization Technologies - (2011)
- NIST SP 800-125A Revision 1 - Security Recommendations for Server-based Hypervisor Platforms (2018)
- NIST SP 800-125B Secure Virtual Network Configuration for Virtual Machine (VM) Protection (2016)
- ANSSI - Recommandations de sécurité pour les architectures basées sur VMware vSphere ESXi - for VMware 5.5 (2016), in French
- ANSSI - Problématiques de sécurité associées à la virtualisation des systèmes d’information (2013), in French
- VMware - Protecting vSphere From Specialized Malware (2022) - see also Mandiant - Bad VIB(E)s Part Two: Detection and Hardening within ESXi Hypervisors
- How To Harden Your Docker Containers
- CIS Docker Benchmarks - registration required
- NIST SP 800-190 - Application Container Security Guide
- A Practical Introduction to Container Security
- ANSSI - Recommandations de sécurité relatives au déploiement de conteneurs Docker (2020), in French
- Kubernetes Security Checklist
- Kubernetes Role Based Access Control Good Practices
- Kubernetes Multi-tenancy
- Kubernetes blog - A Closer Look at NSA/CISA Kubernetes Hardening Guidance
- ReynardSec - Docker Security – Step-by-Step Hardening (Docker Hardening) (2023)
- NIST IR 7966 - Security of Interactive and Automated Access Management Using Secure Shell (SSH)
- ANSSI - (Open)SSH secure use recommendations
- Linux Audit - OpenSSH security and hardening
- Positron Security SSH Hardening Guides (2017-2018) - focused on crypto algorithms
- stribika - Secure Secure Shell (2015) - some algorithm recommendations might be slightly outdated
- Applied Crypto Hardening: bettercrypto.org - handy reference on how to configure the most common services’ crypto settings (TLS/SSL, PGP, SSH and other cryptographic tools)
- IETF - Key Exchange (KEX) Method Updates and Recommendations for Secure Shell (SSH) draft-ietf-curdle-ssh-kex-sha2-10 - update to the recommended set of key exchange methods for use in the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol to meet evolving needs for stronger security. This document updates RFC 4250.
- Gravitational - How to SSH Properly - how to configure SSH to use certificates and two-factor authentication
- NIST SP800-52 Rev 2 (2nd draft) - Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration, and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations - 2018, recommends TLS 1.3
- Netherlands NCSC - IT Security Guidelines for Transport Layer Security (TLS) - 2021
- ANSSI - Security Recommendations for TLS - 2017, does not cover TLS 1.3
- Qualys SSL Labs - SSL and TLS Deployment Best Practices - 2017, does not cover TLS 1.3
- RFC 7540 Appendix A TLS 1.2 Cipher Suite Black List
- Applied Crypto Hardening: bettercrypto.org - handy reference on how to configure the most common services’ crypto settings (TLS/SSL, PGP, SSH and other cryptographic tools)
- Apache HTTP Server documentation - Security Tips
- GeekFlare - Apache Web Server Hardening and Security Guide
- Apache Config - Apache Security Hardening Guide
- Apache Tomcat 9 Security Considerations / v8 / v7
- OWASP Securing tomcat
- How to get Tomcat 9 to work with authbind to bind to port 80
- MDaemon - 15 Best Practices for Protecting Your Email - Generic recommandations but based on MDaemon Security Gateway for Email Servers
- JSCAPE - Guide for securing FTP - Generic recommandations but based on JSCAPE MFT Server
- Microsoft - Best Practices for Securing Active Directory
- ANSSI CERT-FR - Active Directory Security Assessment Checklist - other version with changelog - 2022 (English and French versions)
- "Admin Free" Active Directory and Windows, Part 1- Understanding Privileged Groups in AD
- "Admin Free" Active Directory and Windows, Part 2- Protected Accounts and Groups in Active Directory
- ASD - Detecting and mitigating Active Directory compromises - 2024
- adsecurity.org - Securing Microsoft Active Directory Federation Server (ADFS)
- Microsoft - Best practices for securing Active Directory Federation Services
- OpenLDAP Software 2.4 Administrator's Guide - OpenLDAP Security Considerations
- Best Practices in LDAP Security (2011)
- LDAP: Hardening Server Security (so administrators can sleep at night)
- LDAP Authentication Best Practices - retrieved from web.archive.org
- Hardening OpenLDAP on Linux with AppArmor and systemd - slides
- zytrax LDAP for Rocket Scientists - LDAP Security
- How To Encrypt OpenLDAP Connections Using STARTTLS
- CIS - BIND DNS Server 9.9 Benchmark (2017)
- DISA STIGs - BIND 9.x (2019)
- NIST SP 800-81-2 - Secure Domain Name System (DNS) Deployment Guide (2013)
- CMU SEI - Six Best Practices for Securing a Robust Domain Name System (DNS) Infrastructure
- NSA BIND 9 DNS Security (2011)
- IETF - Network Time Protocol Best Current Practices draft-ietf-ntp-bcp (last draft #13 in March 2019)
- CMU SEI - Best Practices for NTP Services
- Linux.com - Arrive On Time With NTP -- Part 2: Security Options
- Linux.com - Arrive On Time With NTP -- Part 3: Secure Setup
- Linux NFS-HOWTO - Security and NFS - a good overview of NFS security issues and some mitigations
- Red Hat - A Guide to Securing Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 - Securing NFS
- Red Hat - RHEL7 Storage Administration Guide - Securing NFS
- NFSv4 without Kerberos and permissions - why NFSv4 without Kerberos does not provide security
- CertDepot - RHEL7: Use Kerberos to control access to NFS network shares
- UK NCSC - Password administration for system owners
- NIST SP 800-63 Digital Identity Guidelines
- OWASP Password Storage Cheat Sheet
- ANSSI - Recommendations on multi-factor authentication and passwords (2021, French)
- ANSSI - Hardware security requirements for x86 platforms - recommendations for security features and configuration options applying to hardware devices (CPU, BIOS, UEFI, etc) (Nov 2019)
- NSA - Hardware and Firmware Security Guidance - Guidance for the Spectre, Meltdown, Speculative Store Bypass, Rogue System Register Read, Lazy FP State Restore, Bounds Check Bypass Store, TLBleed, and L1TF/Foreshadow vulnerabilities as well as general hardware and firmware security guidance.
- NSA Info Sheet: UEFI Lockdown Quick Guidance (March 2018)
- NSA Tech Report: UEFI Defensive Practices Guidance (July 2017)
- NSA Info Sheet: Cloud Security Basics (August 2018)
- DISA DoD Cloud Computing Security
- asecure.cloud - Build a Secure Cloud - A free repository of customizable AWS security configurations and best practices
- Chef InSpec - open-source testing framework by Chef that enables you to specify compliance, security, and other policy requirements. can run on Windows and many Linux distributions.
- Lynis - script to check the configuration of Linux hosts
- OpenSCAP Base - oscap command line tool
- SCAP Workbench - GUI for oscap
- Tiger - The Unix security audit and intrusion detection tool (might be outdated)
- otseca - Open source security auditing tool to search and dump system configuration. It allows you to generate reports in HTML or RAW-HTML formats.
- SUDO_KILLER - A tool to identify sudo rules' misconfigurations and vulnerabilities within sudo
- CIS Benchmarks Audit - bash script which performs tests against your CentOS system to give an indication of whether the running server may comply with the CIS v2.2.0 Benchmarks for CentOS (only CentOS 7 for now)
- Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit 1.0 - set of tools that allows enterprise security administrators to download, analyze, test, edit, and store Microsoft-recommended security configuration baselines for Windows and other Microsoft products
- Microsoft DSC Environment Analyzer (DSCEA) - simple implementation of PowerShell Desired State Configuration that uses the declarative nature of DSC to scan Windows OS based systems in an environment against a defined reference MOF file and generate compliance reports as to whether systems match the desired configuration
- HardeningAuditor - Scripts for comparing Microsoft Windows compliance with the Australian ASD 1709 & Office 2016 Hardening Guides
- PingCastle - Tool to check the security of Active Directory
- MDE-AuditCheck - Tool to check that Windows audit settings are properly configured in the GPO for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
- Nipper-ng - to check the configuration of network devices (does not seem to be updated)
- Qualys SSL Labs - List of tools to assess TLS/SSL servers and clients
- CryptoLyzer - Fast, flexible and comprehensive server cryptographic protocol (TLS, SSL, SSH, DNSSEC) and related setting (HTTP headers, DNS records) analyzer and fingerprint (JA3, HASSH tag) generator with Python API and CLI.
- SSLyze - Fast and powerful SSL/TLS scanning library.
- testssl.sh - Testing TLS/SSL encryption anywhere on any port
- CryptoLyzer - Fast, flexible and comprehensive server cryptographic protocol (TLS, SSL, SSH, DNSSEC) and related setting (HTTP headers, DNS records) analyzer and fingerprint (JA3, HASSH tag) generator with Python API and CLI.
- ssh-audit - SSH server auditing (banner, key exchange, encryption, mac, compression, compatibility, security, etc)
- CHIPSEC: Platform Security Assessment Framework - framework for analyzing the security of PC platforms including hardware, system firmware (BIOS/UEFI), and platform components
- chipsec-check - Tools to generate a Debian Linux distribution with chipsec to test hardware requirements
- Docker Bench for Security - script that checks for dozens of common best-practices around deploying Docker containers in production, inspired by the CIS Docker Community Edition Benchmark v1.1.0.
- toniblyx/my-arsenal-of-aws-security-tools - List of open source tools for AWS security: defensive, offensive, auditing, DFIR, etc.
- DevSec Hardening Framework - a framework to automate hardening of OS and applications, using Chef, Ansible and Puppet
- Linux Server Hardener - for Debian/Ubuntu (2019)
- Bastille Linux - outdated
- Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit 1.0 - set of tools that allows enterprise security administrators to download, analyze, test, edit, and store Microsoft-recommended security configuration baselines for Windows and other Microsoft products
- Hardentools - for Windows individual users (not corporate environments) at risk, who might want an extra level of security at the price of some usability.
- Windows 10 Hardening - A collective resource of settings modifications (mostly opt-outs) that attempt to make Windows 10 as private and as secure as possible.
- Disassembler0 Windows 10 Initial Setup Script - PowerShell script for automation of routine tasks done after fresh installations of Windows 10 / Server 2016 / Server 2019
- Automated-AD-Setup - A PowerShell script that aims to have a fully configured domain built in under 10 minutes, but also apply security configuration and hardening
- mackwage/windows_hardening.cmd - Script to perform some hardening of Windows 10
- Windows 10/11 Hardening Script by ZephrFish - PowerShell script to harden Windows 10/11
- toniblyx/my-arsenal-of-aws-security-tools - List of open source tools for AWS security: defensive, offensive, auditing, DFIR, etc.
- How-To Geek - 10 Ways to Generate a Random Password from the Linux Command Line
- Vitux - 8 Ways to Generate a Random Password on Linux Shell
- SS64 - Password security and a comparison of Password Generators
- Awesome Cybersecurity Blue Team - A curated collection of awesome resources, tools, and other shiny things for cybersecurity blue teams.
(borrowed from Awesome Security)
- Awesome Security - A collection of awesome software, libraries, documents, books, resources and cools stuffs about security.
- Android Security Awesome - A collection of android security related resources.
- Awesome CTF - A curated list of CTF frameworks, libraries, resources and software.
- Awesome Cyber Skills - A curated list of hacking environments where you can train your cyber skills legally and safely.
- Awesome Hacking - A curated list of awesome Hacking tutorials, tools and resources.
- Awesome Honeypots - An awesome list of honeypot resources.
- Awesome Malware Analysis - A curated list of awesome malware analysis tools and resources.
- Awesome PCAP Tools - A collection of tools developed by other researchers in the Computer Science area to process network traces.
- Awesome Pentest - A collection of awesome penetration testing resources, tools and other shiny things.
- Awesome Linux Containers - A curated list of awesome Linux Containers frameworks, libraries and software.
- Awesome Incident Response - A curated list of resources for incident response.
- Awesome Web Hacking - This list is for anyone wishing to learn about web application security but do not have a starting point.
- Awesome Threat Intelligence - A curated list of threat intelligence resources.
- Awesome Pentest Cheat Sheets - Collection of the cheat sheets useful for pentesting
- Awesome Industrial Control System Security - A curated list of resources related to Industrial Control System (ICS) security.
- Awesome YARA - A curated list of awesome YARA rules, tools, and people.
- Awesome Threat Detection and Hunting - A curated list of awesome threat detection and hunting resources.
- Awesome Container Security - A curated list of awesome resources related to container building and runtime security
- Awesome Crypto Papers - A curated list of cryptography papers, articles, tutorials and howtos.