RHEL Hardening Methodology

The developed methodology for hardening an RHEL5 system is to use customized shell scripts to automate and provide consistency to the security hardening process. The shell scripts developed are based on the RHEL5 version of the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Security Configuration Benchmark version 1.1.1, as it provides a consistent and industry recognized approach to performing security hardening of a RHEL5 system. CIS provides security consensus benchmarks, scoring tools, and other services and materials from the CIS website as a public service to Internet users worldwide. Security recommendations contained within the CIS Benchmark documents result from a consensus-building process that involves many cross-company security experts, and are generally generic in nature. The recommendations are intended to provide helpful information and guidance to organizations attempting to evaluate or improve the security of their networks, systems, and devices. Proper use of the CIS consensus recommendations requires careful analysis and adaptation to specific business requirements.