Disable Unnecessary Services

5/10/2007

Unused services on a run-time image can be a potential security vulnerability. You should enable only the services that are absolutely required to operate your device.

Verify the services that run on your run-time image, and disable any extra services that are not required. Disabling unnecessary services can help protect your run-time image from potential attacks.

The Alerter and Messenger services are disabled by default in all run-time images. Enable these services only if absolutely required.

You can disable services with the net command. For example, type the following command at a command prompt:

net stop <service name>

See Also

Other Resources

Best Practices for Security
Network Security Considerations
Local Security Considerations