Which sequence describes the typical hardening of a Windows workstation in a DCO context?

Which sequence describes the typical hardening of a Windows workstation in a DCO context?

• A. Disable unnecessary services, enable firewall, apply patches, enforce least privilege, enable auditing, configure group policy, deploy endpoint protection, and monitor.
• B. Reimage system, disable firewall, and remove all security tools.
• C. Enable all services, disable patches, remove auditing, disable group policy, disable endpoint protection, and ignore monitoring.
• D. Install all software without testing, disable firewall, delay patches, grant admin rights to all users, disable auditing, ignore policies, avoid endpoint protection, and ignore monitoring.

Answer: (A)

In hardening a Windows workstation for Defensive Cyberspace Operations, you want to shrink the attack surface while ensuring visibility and enforceable controls. The best sequence starts with removing or disabling things that aren’t needed, which cuts potential entry points and reduces exploit opportunities. Next, turning on the firewall helps block unwanted traffic from reaching the system. Patching closes known vulnerabilities so attackers can’t exploit them. Enforcing least privilege limits what users and processes can do, reducing the impact of any compromise. Enabling auditing provides the logs needed to detect and investigate suspicious activity. Configuring group policy establishes a centralized, enforceable baseline across the environment. Deploying endpoint protection gives real-time defense against malware and suspicious behavior, and ongoing monitoring ties everything together with continuous visibility and alerting. Why the other approaches don’t fit: they either undo protections by turning off security controls, removing protection tools, or applying security in a way that increases risk (like all services enabled, no patches, no auditing, no monitoring). In a DCO context, you want a defensible, verified configuration that reduces risk and supports detection and response, not one that creates easy pathways for exploits.

In hardening a Windows workstation for Defensive Cyberspace Operations, you want to shrink the attack surface while ensuring visibility and enforceable controls. The best sequence starts with removing or disabling things that aren’t needed, which cuts potential entry points and reduces exploit opportunities. Next, turning on the firewall helps block unwanted traffic from reaching the system. Patching closes known vulnerabilities so attackers can’t exploit them. Enforcing least privilege limits what users and processes can do, reducing the impact of any compromise. Enabling auditing provides the logs needed to detect and investigate suspicious activity. Configuring group policy establishes a centralized, enforceable baseline across the environment. Deploying endpoint protection gives real-time defense against malware and suspicious behavior, and ongoing monitoring ties everything together with continuous visibility and alerting.

Why the other approaches don’t fit: they either undo protections by turning off security controls, removing protection tools, or applying security in a way that increases risk (like all services enabled, no patches, no auditing, no monitoring). In a DCO context, you want a defensible, verified configuration that reduces risk and supports detection and response, not one that creates easy pathways for exploits.