ISC2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP) Practice Question
A DevOps team is provisioning a new Linux production server to host a web application. According to the organization's secure installation policy, the primary goal at this stage is environment hardening to reduce the attack surface. Which of the following actions should the team perform first immediately after the operating system is installed?
Install and configure a host-based intrusion detection system (HIDS).
Deploy performance monitoring agents to collect CPU and memory metrics.
Identify and disable or remove all default services and daemons that the application will not use.
Set up automated nightly backups for the application's data directories.
Reducing the attack surface begins with eliminating avenues an attacker could exploit. Disabling or removing all services and daemons that are not required for the application's mission ensures that only essential components remain exposed, minimizing potential entry points. While adding an intrusion detection agent, configuring backups, or installing performance monitoring tools are valuable, they do not directly shrink the server's available attack surface and can be completed after unnecessary services are eliminated.
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Why is disabling default services important in Linux server hardening?
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What tools can help identify default services and daemons on a Linux server?
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How does hardening a production environment improve overall cybersecurity?
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What is environment hardening in Linux?
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What are services and daemons in Linux?
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How do you identify and disable unnecessary services on Linux?
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ISC2 Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)