Page 35 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - December 2017

users tend to disable. Microsoft is helping by allowing users to schedule their updates
and delivering other enhancements to the process.

Delivering updates to all users quickly also challenges businesses. In a recent survey of

IT pros by Adaptiva, over half of respondents indicated it can take a month or more for
IT teams to execute Windows OS updates. That ultimately leaves systems vulnerable,

and companies should work to patch much more quickly.

2. Switch Off Any Services You’re Not Using

This seems like a no-brainer, but a number of companies don’t fully lock this down. Do
you know which services your company is allowing and disallowing? Are you monitoring

endpoints for rogue services and cracking down on it? If not, you should be.

3. Disable Any Ports That You Don’t Need

Open ports are a red carpet welcome for a variety of cyberattacks. Every company
knows this. Yet many companies still don’t lock ports carefully. Or they do it once and

then don’t verify compliance on an ongoing basis. Every Windows endpoint should be

port-restricted to use only what’s needed—at all times.

4. Don’t Forget Your VMs!

Andy says it’s amazing how many people do their physical systems and overlook the
VMs when it comes to applying updates and other security configuration management

policies. Your virtual machines are just as vulnerable a target as physical computers.
Cyberattackers don’t discriminate.

35 Cyber Defense eMagazine – December 2017 Edition
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