Implement System Hardening, Firewall and Network Security Controls to Mitigate Risks

Learning Objectives

At the end of this topic, you will be able to:

1. Apply operating system and application hardening in line with recognised security baselines.
2. Disable unnecessary services, ports, and default accounts.
3. Configure host-based and network firewall rules to control traffic.
4. Implement network segmentation using VLANs and access control lists.
5. Deploy and tune intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS).
6. Apply patches, document configurations, and validate the effectiveness of implemented controls.