Securing any platform requires an understanding of its capability and the most likely ways the platform can be compromised. Simply understanding everything about Windows will not make your systems secure. The main goal in securing an operating system and application environment is recognizing risks and implementing controls to mitigate the risks. In this section, you will look at risks and observe how to handle them.

A risk is defined as any exposure to a threat. A threat is any action that could lead to damage, disruption, or loss. A threat by itself is not necessarily dangerous. For example, lighting a fire could be considered a threat. In the right environment, such as on a camping trip or in a fireplace, lighting a fire is desirable. However, lighting a fire in an operational datacenter is not desirable at all. Such an action will likely result in business process disruption and possibly even damage.

For damage to occur, there has to be a threat, such as lighting a fire, in a vulnerable environment, such as in a datacenter. Attackers look for vulnerabilities, or weaknesses, in the operating system and application software. Once vulnerabilities are discovered, the next step is to devise an attack that will exploit the weakness. A successful attack is defined as one that realizes, or carries out, a threat against vulnerabilities.

It is important to understand the most common methods of attack in a Windows environment. This understanding allows you to devise controls that limit an attacker’s ability to realize threats. The controls you implement can directly address vulnerabilities or restrict an attacker’s ability to get into a position to realize a threat. Either way, by breaking the ability of an attacker to carry out a threat against a vulnerability, you make your environment more secure.