10 Best Practices to Secure Windows Server

What is a Windows Server?

Windows Server is a lineup of Microsoft operating systems that secures data across shared platforms, grants and manages privileged server access, and prevents security breaches. It was first introduced in April 2003 and is typically used on high-traffic servers that provide the cornerstone for most IT enterprises, applications, and services. The name of Microsoft’s server operating system is Windows Server. The Windows Server UI simplifies management. Microsoft Server supports a number of roles, including AD, DFS, DNS, DHCP, IIS, File and Print Server, and others.

Key Components of Windows Server

The primary use case for Windows Server is data center applications and other high-performance computer programs that offer increased scalability and efficiency. The following components will explain how the key Windows Server applications and services work.

• Active Directory: One of the main functions of Windows Server is to provide unified user administration and organize network resources. It helps control user accessibility, implements security guidelines, and simplifies the user experience. Active Directory facilitates collaborative management, enhances availability through replication, establishes domain integrity, and integrates with other Windows Server features like Group Policy. It provides the framework for network administration and security in Windows Server installations.
• Hyper V: An innovative virtualization technology that comes with Microsoft Windows Server. Hyper V provides an easy, scalable, and flexible virtual machine administration. It enables businesses to increase productivity, lower equipment expenses, and simplify their technological systems. Organizations can use it to run many operating systems concurrently on one physical server, maximize resource usage, and unite servers.
• DNS: The DNS server transforms easily readable domain names, such as www.mentor.com, into IP addresses, such as 197.0.5.1. A feature-rich DNS server that may be used to control domain name determination on a network is included with Windows Server.
• PowerShell: In addition to offering both local and remote management and interacting with other Windows Server features, Poweshell ensures the prudent use of server resources. A flexible scripting language and command-line shell for server administration are made possible by this capability. The scripting capabilities of PowerShell enable administrators to work with a variety of aspects and automate complex tasks.

Windows Server Hardening Best Practices and Checklist

Understanding how to maintain a secure, optimized, and well-monitored Windows Server environment can reduce the risks of being attacked. There are a few best practices for securing Windows Server that should be followed.

1. Everything to be updated

Maintaining everything up to date, including the operating system, is a crucial aspect of IT security. preserving the roles, duties, and services that require updating. One must also stay informed by reading the news and scheduling time to examine websites, forums, security newsletters, and other materials. It’s worthwhile to spend a little money setting up a test environment, sometimes known as a “pilot” environment, while you’re changing your operating systems and services. In this manner, modifications can be tested before going into production.

2. Regular System Audits

Maintaining control over your infrastructure is said to be greatly aided by routine system audits. Conducting system audits to secure a Windows server ought to be mandatory. Having the tools and procedures that can identify Active Directory changes and notify you when aberrant behaviors occur is essential for monitoring risk in your domain. Keep track of and examine activities taken by particular admin groups or high-privileged user accounts for unauthorized Active Directory modifications, and identify cases of power abuse.

3. Continuity Plan

Another strategy to secure your Windows server is to have a solid plan in place to keep your business and services running smoothly. To ensure that your company can withstand any possible incident, this can be achieved by implementing the appropriate procedures and technology measures. Each employee should receive at least some training and education regarding security and the usage of company services in order to prevent mistakes that could result in social engineering, phishing scams, etc. A backup plan should be in place for all servers and services, and there should be several copies that are kept for a long time.

4. Firewall Protection

Windows firewall needs attention after supporting all the services of IT infrastructure. In today’s digital world, with a rise in the number of threats and attackers ready to exploit, make sure that every single element of IT infrastructure is protected. For this, one needs to invest time in reviewing each server, preparing a list of services that are provided, and also blocking everything else. For securing a Windows server, a firewall should be deployed for your entire infrastructure, and also make sure that each of them is correctly configured.

5. Install Services Required

Only the roles and services needed to reduce the attack surface should be set up. if the role and services are not intended to be used. Installing the program at the expense of the infrastructure is pointless. In order to provide some redundancy in the system, services such as Active Directory Domain should be installed on many servers.

6. Strong Password Policy

It is important to have the strongest password policy feasible. This should be regulated throughout the organization to make sure that everyone is adhering to the policy. At least 8 to 10 characters, including capital, lowercase, numeric, and special characters, should be used to create strong passwords. Every user should have a password expiration date specified, which would compel them to update their passwords and lower the possibility of fraud.

7. Control and Limit Administrators

Attackers are known to make use of power accounts, such as domain administrators, privileged users, and local administrators. System admins frequently utilize these accounts to administer and set up IT systems. Therefore, ensure that Active Directory is only accessible to authorized users. The risk increases exponentially with the number of administrators added. Attacking one could potentially expose all of the others. Some administrators may be members of groups while others are not. Attacks on one can lead to two, and attacks on two can lead to three, and so forth. Therefore, make an effort to restrict the number of administrators and periodically check who has admin privileges.

8. Precautions while sharing Data

Pay close attention to the applications that users can download and install on your server. The firewall ports that are opened when Windows file sharing is in use leave the server vulnerable to unauthorized connection attempts. It is therefore not advised to use it.

9. SQL Server Standard

In order to prevent the backups from filling your hard drive, it is advised to set up maintenance plans for servers running SQL Server Standard or SQL Server Web editions to dump data from the live database files into flat files that can be backed up off the server.

How Does Lepide Help?

It can be challenging to keep a Windows server secure, and it calls for certain server management knowledge. Among the many on-premise and cloud platforms that the Lepide Auditor will assist with auditing are Active Directory, File Server, Microsoft 365, and more. Lepide Auditor can be used to speed up and simplify time-consuming procedures, and ensure the security of your most sensitive data. Lepide can swiftly restore unwanted changes, such as deleted data, investigate the reason behind AD account lockouts, and remind users to regularly change their passwords.

In addition to simplifying IT management tasks, Lepide enables companies to protect their sensitive data through proactive monitoring, analysis, and alerting on user behavior. Companies can use Lepide to identify and reduce their threat surface area, automatically detect and respond to threats like ransomware, and ensure compliance through detailed audit trails.

Are you interested in learning how Lepide can help protect Windows Server? Set up a demo with one of our engineers.