Security Hardening
Close the security gaps that actually get exploited, on the production systems your business runs on.
Who This Is For
If your servers are exposed to the internet and your business depends on them, this engagement closes the gaps that real attackers use.
Mid-market teams without a dedicated security owner. Production systems are running, but no one owns hardening them to a defensible baseline.
Companies reacting to an incident, a failed audit, or a cyber-insurance requirement. You need real changes now, with documentation to show for it.
Engineering teams that want a senior review of their server and cloud posture before a gap becomes a breach.
This is not a fit if:
- • You need a full compliance program (SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP). That is our CMMC and fractional CISO work.
- • You want ongoing managed monitoring or a SOC. This is a scoped hardening engagement.
- • You already have a security team that owns this.
What We Harden
Lock down network access
Review inbound and outbound network exposure. Tighten firewall rules, security groups, and allowed ports so only required traffic is permitted.
Control who can access the system
Audit users, SSH keys, and sudo access. Remove stale accounts. Enforce key-only access. Lock down root and shared credentials.
Reduce exposed services
Review running services and open ports. Disable anything unnecessary and close exposure that does not need to exist.
Block common attack patterns
Brute force attempts are blocked automatically. Optional alerts notify you when attack activity increases.
Harden web and application services
Tighten TLS configuration, remove version exposure, and harden common web stacks such as Nginx, Apache, and PHP when applicable.
Make sure recovery is possible
Configure encrypted off site backups and perform a restore test so you know recovery works.
Keep systems current
Configure security updates carefully and remove unused packages and services that increase risk.
Document what was changed
Provide a clear summary of changes, current exposure, and what needs to be maintained going forward.
Lite vs. Full Hardening
Two engagement sizes, both fixed scope.
Best for straightforward, single-server setups.
- ✓ SSH hardening (key-only, root disabled)
- ✓ Firewall (least-privilege rules)
- ✓ Fail2ban protection
- ✓ Basic user & access cleanup
- ✓ Automatic security updates
- ✓ Basic documentation
Recommended for production systems handling real traffic and data.
- Everything in Lite, plus:
- ✓ Alerting (Slack / Email / Text)
- ✓ Deep access audit (sudoers, keys, groups)
- ✓ Web/app server hardening
- ✓ Encrypted backups + restore test
- ✓ Log monitoring
- ✓ Full service & port audit
- ✓ Complete documentation & maintenance guide
Who's Doing the Work
This engagement is run end to end by a senior engineer who has built and secured production systems at JPMorgan Chase and DENSO, and who operates a live revenue platform, RenovationRoute, today.
No outsourcing. No junior handoff. No generic scripts.
More context? About.
Why This Approach Works
SSH brute-force, weak access control, and unpatched systems. The vulnerabilities that actually get exploited, not theoretical ones.
No checkbox compliance or overengineering. Practical changes that measurably reduce risk.
Most engagements are completed in one to two days.
You get a report your team can understand and maintain. No mystery configurations.
Ready to close the gaps?
A scoped hardening engagement on your production systems, documented so your team can maintain it.