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Merge pull request #54046 from Orin-Thomas/NEW-secure-harden-internet-information-services
First draft of Securing Hardening IIS module in my fork of RB
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‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/1-introduction.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.introduction
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title: Introduction
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metadata:
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title: Introduction
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description: Introduction to securing and hardening Internet Information Services (IIS) on Windows Server.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 2
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content: |
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[!include[](includes/1-introduction.md)]

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/2-authenticate-authorize.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.authenticate-authorize
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title: Authentication and authorization
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metadata:
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title: Authentication and Authorization
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description: Learn how to implement authentication and authorization in Internet Information Services (IIS) to control access to your web applications and resources.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 20
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content: |
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[!include[](includes/2-authenticate-authorize.md)]

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/3-server-website-harden.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.server-website-harden
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title: Server and website hardening
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metadata:
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title: Server and Website Hardening
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description: Understand how to harden your server and website in Internet Information Services (IIS) to enhance security and protect against potential vulnerabilities and attacks.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 18
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content: |
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[!include[](includes/3-server-website-harden.md)]

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/4-certificate-configuration.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.certificate-configuration
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title: HTTPS and TLS configuration
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metadata:
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title: HTTPS and TLS Configuration
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description: Learn to configure certificate based security for Internet Information Services.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 24
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content: |
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[!include[](includes/4-certificate-configuration.md)]

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/5-knowledge-check.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.knowledge-check
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title: Knowledge check
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metadata:
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title: Knowledge Check
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description: Check your knowledge.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 6
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quiz:
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title: Check your knowledge
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questions:
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- content: "Your organization has an intranet web application hosted on IIS that should be accessible only to domain-joined users using their Windows credentials, with no credential prompt appearing. Which IIS authentication method should you configure?"
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choices:
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- content: "Anonymous Authentication"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Anonymous access allows unauthenticated users to reach the site, which contradicts the requirement that only domain-joined users be able to access it."
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- content: "Basic Authentication"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Basic Authentication typically prompts for a username and password and doesn't provide seamless single sign-on with Windows credentials."
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- content: "Windows Authentication (Integrated)"
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isCorrect: true
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explanation: "Integrated Windows Authentication uses Kerberos/NTLM to automatically pass domain credentials for domain-joined clients, avoiding a credential prompt."
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- content: "Digest Authentication"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Digest Authentication isn't the standard approach for seamless intranet SSO and has extra requirements (such as domain support) without providing the typical transparent experience of Windows Authentication."
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- content: "You need to restrict access to a /reports directory on your IIS site so that only members of the CONTOSO\\ReportViewers group can access it. Which IIS feature should you configure?"
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choices:
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- content: "IP Address and Domain Restrictions"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "This feature restricts access by client IP/DNS, not by Active Directory group membership."
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- content: "Authorization Rules"
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isCorrect: true
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explanation: "Authorization Rules allow or deny access to specific paths based on Windows users/groups (for example, allowing CONTOSO\\ReportViewers and denying others)."
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- content: "Request Filtering"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Request Filtering blocks patterns (extensions, verbs, query strings) but doesn't implement AD group-based access control."
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- content: "SSL Settings"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "SSL Settings control HTTPS requirements and certificate behavior, not which Windows groups may access a directory."
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- content: "What is the recommended Application Pool identity type for most IIS deployments to follow the principle of least privilege?"
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choices:
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- content: "Local System"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Local System is highly privileged and violates the principle of least privilege for most web applications."
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- content: "Network Service"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Network Service is more privileged and less isolated than ApplicationPoolIdentity; multiple apps can end up sharing the same account context."
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- content: "ApplicationPoolIdentity"
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isCorrect: true
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explanation: "ApplicationPoolIdentity provides a unique, low-privilege virtual account per app pool, improving isolation and reducing required permissions."
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- content: "Local Service"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Local Service isn't the recommended default for IIS app pools and doesn't provide the per-pool isolation that ApplicationPoolIdentity does."
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- content: "You're hosting three HTTPS websites on a single IIS server with one IP address. Each site has its own TLS certificate. What feature must be enabled on each HTTPS binding to support this configuration?"
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choices:
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- content: "Application Pool Isolation"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Separate app pools improve process isolation, but they don't solve the 'multiple certificates on one IP:443' requirement."
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- content: "SSL Offloading"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "SSL offloading refers to terminating TLS on a load balancer or proxy, not selecting different certificates for multiple hostnames on the same IIS IP/port."
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- content: "Server Name Indication (SNI)"
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isCorrect: true
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explanation: "SNI includes the hostname in the TLS handshake, allowing IIS to choose the correct certificate for each site while sharing a single IP address."
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- content: "HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "HSTS forces clients to use HTTPS for a hostname, but it doesn't enable hosting multiple certificates on one IP address."
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- content: "Your IIS server hosts a web application that only accepts form submissions (POST) and serves pages (GET). Which configuration reduces attack surface by restricting the HTTP methods the server accepts?"
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choices:
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- content: "Configure IP Address and Domain Restrictions to block external requests"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "IP restrictions control where requests come from, not which HTTP methods (verbs) the server accepts."
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- content: "Configure Request Filtering to deny all HTTP verbs except GET and POST"
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isCorrect: true
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explanation: "Request Filtering can explicitly allow only the verbs your app needs (such as GET/POST) and deny unused or risky verbs like TRACE, PUT, and DELETE."
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- content: "Remove the Windows Authentication module from the site"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "Authentication modules control how users authenticate, not which HTTP methods are permitted."
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- content: "Set the Maximum URL Length in Request Limits to 256 bytes"
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isCorrect: false
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explanation: "URL length limits reduce risk from oversized requests but don't restrict which HTTP verbs the server accepts."

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/6-summary.yml‎

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### YamlMime:ModuleUnit
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uid: learn.devrel.secure-harden-internet-information-services.summary
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title: Summary
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metadata:
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title: Summary
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description: Module summary.
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ms.date: 03/31/2026
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author: Orin-Thomas
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ms.author: orthomas
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ms.topic: unit
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durationInMinutes: 1
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content: |
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[!include[](includes/6-summary.md)]

‎learn-pr/advocates/secure-harden-internet-information-services/includes/1-introduction.md‎

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Internet Information Services (IIS) is one of the most widely deployed web server platforms in enterprise environments. While IIS provides a robust foundation for hosting web applications, its default configuration prioritizes functionality over security. Without deliberate hardening, an IIS server can expose unnecessary features, accept weak encryption protocols, and leave authentication settings that don't match the requirements of your environment. As an administrator, it's your responsibility to close these gaps by configuring IIS to meet the security standards your organization requires.
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This module walks you through the key areas of securing and hardening IIS on Windows Server. You learn how to configure authentication and authorization to control who can access your sites and applications, harden server and website settings by removing unused features and reducing attack surface, and set up HTTPS with properly configured TLS certificates and strong cipher suites. By the end of this module, you're able to apply these practices to help protect your IIS deployments against common threats.

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