What does the process of system hardening aim to achieve?

System hardening aims to eliminate as many security risks as possible by reducing vulnerabilities in the system and minimizing the attack surface. This is typically achieved through a variety of measures, such as disabling unnecessary services, applying security patches, updating configurations, and removing unused software or features. By hardening a system, organizations ensure that potential entry points for attackers are minimized and that only essential functions are operational, thereby increasing overall security.

While maximizing user access, enhancing performance, or increasing utilities may be advantageous in certain scenarios, these objectives do not align with the primary focus of hardening a system against threats. The primary goal remains clearly focused on strengthening security measures to protect sensitive data and maintain system integrity.