Executive Summary

This document defines the minimum-security baseline and operational standards required to protect Windows-based infrastructure, applications, and virtualization platforms from unauthorized access, misconfiguration, and operational risk.

The baseline establishes consistent controls across operating systems, identity services, web platforms, networks, and hypervisors, with a focus on least privilege, secure configuration, attack surface reduction, monitoring, and recoverability.

Key objectives include:

• Enforcing patching, malware protection, disk encryption, and secure access controls
• Hardening Windows Server, Active Directory, IIS, and RDP configurations
• Disabling legacy protocols and unnecessary services
• Centralizing logging and enabling proactive monitoring
• Securing network traffic through segmentation and firewall enforcement
• Ensuring resilient, monitored, and recoverable virtualization platforms

Adherence to this baseline is mandatory for all supported environments and provides an auditable foundation aligned with industry-recognized security frameworks and best practices.

ISO/IEC 27001 Alignment Overview

This security baseline is designed to support alignment with ISO/IEC 27001 information security principles and Annex A controls. While this document alone does not constitute ISO 27001 certification, it directly supports compliance readiness by addressing key control domains, including:

• Information Security Policies (A.5): Defined, documented, and enforced security standards
• Access Control (A.5, A.8): Least privilege, MFA, privileged account management, and role separation
• Cryptography (A.8): Encryption at rest (BitLocker) and in transit (TLS hardening, LDAPS)
• Operations Security (A.8): Patch management, malware protection, logging, monitoring, and system hardening
• Communications Security (A.8): Network segmentation, firewall controls, and secure DNS configuration
• System Acquisition, Development, and Maintenance (A.8): Secure configuration of IIS, third-party dependencies, and application platforms
• Supplier & Platform Dependencies (A.5, A.8): Controlled use and patching of third-party software
• Information Security Incident Management (A.5): Centralized logging and audit readiness
• Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (A.5): Backup strategies, redundancy, and infrastructure documentation

This baseline can be used as a technical control reference when mapping organizational policies, risk assessments, and Statements of Applicability (SoA) for ISO 27001 programs.

For More Detailed Recommendations

• Microsoft Windows - Security and Configuration
• Microsoft SQL Server - Security and Configuration
• Network and Virtualization - Security and Configuration