Server Security Hardening

Server hardening -- CIS, NIST, and battle-tested defaults.

Lock down your server against the 90% of attacks that succeed because of misconfigurations, weak defaults, and missed updates. We apply CIS Benchmarks, NIST hardening, kernel-level protections, and zero-trust access. Hardened by the time you read this.

⚡ CIS Benchmarks
🛡️ Zero-trust access
Your scorecard

Sample CIS Benchmark scorecard after our hardening.

CIS Benchmark -- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Level 2
Generated: 2026-10-12 14:23 UTC
96/100
SSH hardening
100/100
Kernel sysctl
98/100
Firewall + network
100/100
User accounts
95/100
AppArmor / SELinux
100/100
Audit + logging
92/100
File permissions
96/100
Defense in depth

Four layers. Each blocks a different attack class.

L1

Network perimeter

  • Default-deny firewall (only 80/443 + non-standard SSH)
  • DDoS mitigation at edge (1.5 Tbps capacity)
  • WAF with OWASP CRS rules
  • BGP flowspec for attack patterns
  • Rate limiting per IP / per route
Blocks: 94% of automated attacks
L2

Host security

  • CIS Benchmark Level 1+2
  • Kernel hardening (sysctl, AppArmor, seccomp)
  • SELinux or AppArmor enforcing
  • File integrity monitoring (AIDE)
  • Rootkit detection (rkhunter, chkrootkit)
Blocks: privilege escalation, rootkits
L3

Identity + access

  • SSH key-only, no root login
  • Non-standard SSH port
  • MFA on sudo + sensitive accounts
  • Fail2ban with custom jails
  • Session recording for sensitive ops
Blocks: brute force, credential theft
L4

Detection + response

  • Auditd with CIS rule set
  • Centralized log shipping
  • 24/7 SOC monitoring (managed)
  • Quarterly vulnerability scans
  • Incident response runbooks
Detects: insider threats, advanced attacks
The process

From baseline to hardened in 6 hours.

1

Audit

Run OpenSCAP, Lynis, Nessus, CIS-CAT. Get baseline score. Identify gaps. Documented in a report.

60 min
2

Plan

Prioritize findings by risk. Each fix has an impact estimate and rollback plan. You approve before we touch.

30 min
3

Snapshot

Full backup. Snapshot. Rollback ready. We do not touch a server we cannot roll back.

15 min
4

Apply

Run hardening scripts (Ansible, custom bash). Apply CIS Level 1 then Level 2. Verify after each batch.

180 min
5

Verify

Re-run scanners. Confirm score improvement. Smoke-test all services. Customer-facing functionality intact.

60 min
6

Report

Detailed PDF with every change, before/after scores, recommendations, and ongoing monitoring plan.

15 min
Before & after

What changes after our hardening.

Before

  • SSH on port 22, root login allowed
  • Password auth enabled
  • Default firewall (UFW disabled)
  • No fail2ban
  • AppArmor in complain mode
  • No audit logging
  • Outdated packages (47 CVEs)
  • No file integrity monitoring
  • Default sysctl (forwarding on)
  • No MFA anywhere

After

  • SSH on port 4xxx (random), root login disabled
  • Key-only auth, MFA on sudo
  • Default-deny firewall, 3 ports open
  • fail2ban + CrowdSec with custom jails
  • AppArmor enforcing on all profiles
  • Auditd with 50+ CIS rules
  • All packages patched, 0 critical CVEs
  • AIDE + Tripwire file integrity
  • Hardened sysctl (forwarding off, rp_filter on)
  • MFA on all human accounts
Customer stories

What teams say about our hardening.

"Our pen-tester found 47 issues in 2 days. After the hardening, the same pen-test found 3 (all minor config). Score went from 41/100 to 96/100 on CIS. The ROI was immediate."
Michael Torres
CISO, FinServ Global
"We needed a PCI-DSS audit in 6 weeks. The hardening team got us to 95/100 CIS, documented everything, worked with our auditor. We passed on the first attempt."
Dr. Anita Reddy
CTO, MedVault Health
"After a competitor got breached, our CEO demanded action. We hardened 18 production servers in 5 days. Zero disruption to customers, 4,000+ CIS rules applied, 87 CVEs patched. The auditor was impressed."
Vikram Shah
CTO, FinServe Solutions

Get hardened before you go live. Free audit.

Free security audit. 24-hour turnaround. Detailed report with priority findings.

Free Audit See Hardening