hardening

1. The act or process of becoming hard or harder.
2. Something that hardens, as a substance added to iron to yield steel.
3. Gradual exposure of plants to cold weather.

Making an operating system more secure. It often requires numerous actions such as configuring system and network components properly, deleting unused files and applying the latest patches. There are hardening checklists available for popular operating systems that administrators can follow.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

1. A term used to describe a price of commodity or futures contracts that is gradually stabilizing.

2. A futures market that is slowly advancing in prices.

Investopedia Says:
1. After a rise or fall in prices, a slow return to historically accepted levels is considered a hardening.

2. The prices of future contracts are considered to be hardening if they are increasing slowly, unlike a bulge market, in which the prices rise sharply.

The process of setting or becoming firm.

For more information on hardening, visit Britannica.com.

In a general sense, hardening is the process of securing a computer. More specifically, hardening is the removal or disabling of all components in a computer system that are not necessary to its principal function or functions. By reducing the purposes for which a computer is used, the computer is rendered less vulnerable to outside attack by hackers or other intruders.

General hardening steps include limiting the number of users allowed to access a computer, tightening password and access control, and installing basic intrusion-detection software. The more specific variety of hardening requires the involvement of a highly trained computer technician. Once the user has defined the principal purpose or purposes for which the computer is to be used, then the technician can disable or remove all components that are not necessary to those purposes.

An example of a computer that needs to be hardened is a server, a computer, or device on a network (a group of linked computers) that manages network resources. The server should be equipped with high-quality firewall software to prevent outside intrusion. Often, such software may not provide enough security, in which case hardening is necessary. If the server is properly hardened, this narrows the avenues of access for intruders hoping to get past the server to other computers on the local network.

During the hardening process, a computer should be disconnected from any network. Once it is hardened, the computer will no longer be a general-purpose machine, but will be usable only for the very specific purposes for which it has been designated. The more specific that purpose, and the fewer general-purpose features on the computer, the more difficult it will be for a would-be intruder to access the computer, or to use it effectively once it has been accessed.

Further Reading

Books

Akin, Thomas. Hardening Cisco Routers. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2002.

Periodicals

Connolly, P. J. "Fight DDoS Attacks with Intelligence." InfoWorld 23, no. 39 (September 24, 2001): 58.

Levine, Bernard. "What's Next for Electronics?" Electronic News 47, no. 40 (October 1, 2001): 1.

Wang, Wallace. "Hardening Your System." Boardwatch 15, no. 8 (June 2001): 44–46.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

In computing, hardening is usually the process of securing a system by reducing its surface of vulnerability. A system has a larger vulnerability surface the more that it does; in principle a single-function system is more secure than a multipurpose one. Reducing available vectors of attack typically includes the removal of unnecessary software, unnecessary usernames or logins and the disabling or removal of unnecessary services.

There are various methods of hardening Unix and Linux systems. This may involve, among other measures, applying a patch to the kernel such as Exec Shield or PaX; closing open network ports; and setting up intrusion-detection systems, firewalls and intrusion-prevention systems. There are also hardening scripts and tools like Bastille Linux, JASS [1] for Solaris systems and Apache/PHP Hardener [2] that can, for example, deactivate unneeded features in configuration files or perform various other protective measures.

See also

• Computer security
• Computer network security
• Network security policy
  • Linux:
    • Security-Enhanced Linux

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - hærdning, forhærdelse, stivnen

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    åreforkalkning

Nederlands (Dutch)
stolling, verharding, verkalking, hardingsmiddel

Français (French)
n. - (gén, fig, Ind) durcissement, (Ind) trempage

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    (Méd) durcissement des artères, artériosclérose

Deutsch (German)
n. - Härtung, Verhärtung

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    Arterienverkalkung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σκλήρυνση, στερεοποίηση, (μτφ.) ενίσχυση, ενδυνάμωση

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    σκλήρυνση αρτηριών, αρτηριοσκλήρωση

Italiano (Italian)
indurimento, sclerosi

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    arteriosclerosi

Português (Portuguese)
n. - endurecimento (m)

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    esclerosamento (m) das artérias (Med.)

Русский (Russian)
закаливание, упрочнение

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    атеросклероз

Español (Spanish)
n. - endurecimiento, solidificación, esclerosis

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    arteriosclerosis

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - härdning, skärpning

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
硬化, 锻炼

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    动脉硬化

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 硬化, 鍛煉

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    動脈硬化

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 표면 경화, 경화제

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 硬化, 硬化剤

idioms:

• hardening of the arteries    動脈硬化

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تقسيه, تصليد, تصلب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טרשת, קישוי, הקשיה‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.