Network & AD Hardening

21 chapters on securing networks and Active Directory — from preventing initial access to zero trust architecture.

Reducing Risk

1. Preventing Initial Access — Patch management, credential hygiene, and reducing the attack surface
2. Stopping Detection & Evasion — AMSI, logging, and attack detection
3. Preventing Privilege Escalation — Blocking local and domain privilege escalation
4. Active Directory Hardening — GPOs, tiering, and AD object security
5. Kerberos Hardening — Preventing Kerberoasting, delegation, and ticket attacks
6. Stopping Lateral Movement — Restricting PsExec, WMI, WinRM, and RDP
7. Credential Protection — LSASS protection, Credential Guard, and password policy
8. ADCS Hardening — Securing Active Directory Certificate Services
9. Detecting Persistence — Tracking down backdoors, scheduled tasks, and golden tickets
10. Preventing Tunneling — Blocking DNS tunneling, SSH tunnels, and covert channels

Infrastructure Hardening

1. Linux Hardening — SSH, sudo, file permissions, and auditd
2. Windows Hardening — AppLocker, Windows Defender, and group policy
3. Email & DNS Hardening — SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and DNS security
4. MSSQL Hardening — Securing SQL Server against abuse
5. Network Segmentation & Firewall — VLANs, firewall rules, and microsegmentation
6. Logging, Monitoring & SIEM — Centralized logging, alerting, and incident detection
7. Backup & Disaster Recovery — 3-2-1 backups, testing restores, and ransomware resilience
8. Vulnerability Management — Scanning, prioritizing, and patching
9. Zero Trust Architecture — Never trust, always verify in practice
10. Wireless & Physical Security — Wi-Fi, physical access, and social engineering
11. Security Awareness — Employees as the first line of defense