grapheneX: Automated System Hardening Framework

grapheneX

In computing, hardening is usually the process of securing a system by reducing its surface of vulnerability, which is larger when a system performs more functions; in principle a single-function system is more secure than a multipurpose one. Reducing available ways of attack typically includes changing default passwords, the removal of unnecessary software, unnecessary usernames or logins, and the disabling or removal of unnecessary services.

Although the current technology tries to design systems as safe as possible, security flaws and situations that can lead to vulnerabilities caused by unconscious use and missing configurations still exist. The user must be knowledgeable about the technical side of system architecture and should be aware of the importance of securing his/her system from vulnerabilities like this. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to know all the details about hardening and necessary commands for every ordinary user and the hardening remains to be a technical issue due to the difficulty of understanding operating system internals. Therefore there are hardening checklists that contain various commands and rules of the specified operating system available such as trimstray/linux-hardening-checklist & Windows Server Hardening Checklist on the internet for providing a set of commands with their sections and of course simplifying the concept for the end-user. But still, the user must know the commands and apply the hardening manually depending on the system. That’s where the grapheneX exactly comes in play.

The project name is derived from the ‘graphene’. Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. In proportion to its thickness, it is about 100 times stronger than the strongest steel.

grapheneX project aims to provide a framework for securing the system with hardening commands automatically. It’s designed for the end-user as well as the Linux and Windows developers due to the interface options. (interactive shell/web interface) In addition to that, grapheneX can be used to secure a web server/application.

Hardening commands and the scopes of those commands are referred to modules and the namespaces in the project. They exist at the modules.json file after installation. ($PYPATH/site-packages/graphenex/modules.json) Additionally, it’s possible to add, edit or remove modules and namespaces. Also, the hardening operation can be automated with the presets that contain a list of modules.

Currently, grapheneX supports the hardening sections below. Each of these namespaces contains more than one module.

• Firewall
• User
• Network
• Services
• Kernel
• Filesystem
• Other

Install & Use

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