Why are benchmarks important for IT security?  Many current threats are not stopped by perimeter security systems such as firewall and anti-virus systems.  Setting and monitoring configurations based on consensus benchmarks is a critical step because this is a pro-active way to avoid many successful attacks.  The U.S. National Security Agency has found that configuring computers with proper security settings blocks 90% of the existing threats (IA Newsletters "Security Benchmarks: A Gold Standard." Click here to request a copy.) For our white paper, "Security Within", click here to request a copy.

What is the Center for Internet Security (CIS)?  The CIS is an open association consisting of industry, government and academic members.  Its mission is to help IT organizations more effectively manage their risks related to information security.  Click here for details.

What are the CIS Benchmarks?  The Benchmarks are developed by CIS members and staff and are consensus based, best-practice security configurations for computers connected to the Internet.  Click here for details.

What is the CIS Benchmark Score?  The Belarc Advisor has performed a security audit of your system using the CIS Level-I benchmark appropriate to your operating system.  The result is a number between zero and ten that gives a measure of the vulnerability of your system to potential threats.  The higher the number the less vulnerable your system.

How can you reduce your security vulnerability?  The CIS configurations are available as Microsoft security template files from the CIS.  Warning: Applying these security templates may cause some applications to stop working correctly.  Back up your system prior to applying these security templates or apply the templates on a test system first.
Click here to download the templates from the CIS (requires registration and acceptance of the CIS license agreement).