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Nt1330 Unit 1 Assignment 1

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5. OS Hardening Hardening the OS is an important step because it reduces the attack surface and opportunities for hackers to get into the system. The Linux Security Checklist from SANS has basic step by step guidance one can follow in securing an OS (Homsher & Evans, n.d.). 5.1. Never run Jenkins with root/administrator privileges One should never run with administrator or root privileges regardless of the operating system platform. If a hacker manages to get in, he or she will still need to find ways to perform privilege escalation to cause more harm. Hopefully, this buys enough time for security professionals within the company to notice abnormal behavior and take action. In addition to not running with administrator or root privileges, implement least privileges by removing sudoer access to the account that Jenkins uses (Mutch & Anderson, 2011, p.90). Jenkins master installed on Linux never need sudo access. On Windows, make sure Jenkins user only belongs to “Users” group. Mac OSX should run Jenkins as “Standard User” because they are not allowed sudo access by default. The same rules apply to Jenkins nodes because applications such as a compiler or automated testing run fine with non-administrator privileges. The goal here is to minimize attack surfaces by taking away administrator privileges when access is not required in the first place. Implementing the principal of least privileges can reduce the damage caused by compromised account by as much as 86%

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