Workstation and Browser Hardening for A+

# Topic boundaries

Start first lesson

6 lessons in this topic

Workstation Hardening Basics

Apply practical workstation hardening techniques that reduce default exposure and strengthen local protection.

End-User Best Practices and Account Controls

Use account restrictions and user-facing hardening practices to reduce avoidable workstation exposure.

SOHO Router and Management Hardening

Harden SOHO router and management settings so insecure defaults and easy exposure are not left in place.

Wireless and Firewall Hardening Settings

Apply practical wireless and firewall hardening choices in SOHO security scenarios.

Browser Download Sources, Patching, and Extensions

Reduce browser risk by using trusted sources, patching consistently, and handling extensions or plug-ins carefully.

Browser Security Settings and Feature Management

Apply browser privacy, certificate, proxy, secure DNS, password-manager, and feature-management settings to harden the browsing environment.

Common mistakes to avoid

Technicians often conflate encryption at transit with encryption at rest; verify the candidate understands device storage encryption is for stolen/lost media.

Confusing session lock with logging out (locking keeps apps running). Over-restricting logon times can block legitimate maintenance tasks.

Technicians sometimes leave router management on default HTTP ports or reachable from the Internet. Another confusion is assuming SSID or WPA settings protect the management plane; management access is separate and needs explicit restriction.

Hiding an SSID is commonly thought to be protective but can break client behavior and is not a substitute for encryption and strong passphrases.