How to automate configuration review

Configuration management can be challenging. IT teams can become overwhelmed between various standards, compliance requirements, and security options. As the popularity of remote work grows, so does the complexity of implementing secure configurations. Thankfully, there are consensus-developed security recommendations and tools available to help automate the process.

Why do secure configurations matter?

Many servers, operating systems, and applications come with default settings that are put in place for convenience, not security. The CIS Benchmarks provide free configuration recommendations for more than 100 CIS Benchmarks across 25+ vendor product families. Implementing secure configurations is a way to help significantly improve your organization’s cyber defenses. Secure configurations can help protect against threats such as denial of service or unauthorized data access.

Assessing with CIS-CAT Pro

Through CIS SecureSuite Membership, your organization can take advantage of resources to help automate configuration review. Membership offers access to CIS-CAT Pro, a configuration assessment tool for analyzing a target endpoint’s settings. CIS-CAT Pro compares a target machine to the secure recommendations in the CIS Benchmarks and provides a compliance score of 1-100. CIS-CAT Pro reports also demonstrate remediation steps for any non-compliant settings to help you improve your cyber defenses after each assessment.

Sign up for a CIS Benchmarks Demo featuring CIS CAT Pro.

Security that moves with you

Many organizations are making room for more remote employees. It’s important to keep security top of mind as you also offer flexibility and convenience. CIS-CAT Pro can assess remote machines through a command line (CLI) or graphical user interface (GUI). Using CIS CAT Pro, the CLI, CIS SecureSuite Members can target Microsoft Windows endpoints using WinRM.

Where security meets flexibility

Configuration management can be difficult, especially when remote work comes into play. Whether your team works in two offices or twenty, it’s never been easier to ensure everyone is working on secure configurations. You can help harden your organization’s endpoints and implement a secure baseline by remotely assessing with CIS-CAT Pro v4. It will also help improve your compliance to the consensus-developed security recommendations contained within the CIS Benchmarks. There’s never been a better time to become a CIS SecureSuite Member.

Sign up for CIS SecureSuite.

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