hardened
Hardened means a system or component is secured against threats through additional protections, configurations, and best practices.
Hardening involves strengthening systems, devices, or software by removing unnecessary services, applying security patches, and enforcing strict configurations. The goal is to reduce vulnerabilities and minimize the attack surface.
Techniques include disabling unused ports, enforcing strong authentication, and continuous monitoring. Hardened environments are less susceptible to breaches and are essential for critical infrastructure and cloud deployments.
Alternatives or complements include network segmentation, zero trust architectures, or using managed security services for additional protection.