Windows Server 2019 Security Hardening & Post-RDP Intrusion Remediation – Bison Knowledgebase

Windows Server 2019 Security Hardening & Post-RDP Intrusion Remediation

📅 06 Jan 2026 📂 General 👁 14 views

This Knowledge Base article documents a real-world Windows Server 2019 security hardening and incident remediation scenario involving:

An attempted RDP intrusion
Partial Hyper-V / virtual network staging
Production usage of Tally Prime and TICK Manufacturing ERP
SQL Server Express backend
Deployment of Quick Heal Server Edition and CatchPulse (Lockdown Mode)

The objective is to:

Eliminate attacker persistence
Harden the server without breaking ERP workloads
Ensure performance stability for multi-user Tally access
Provide an audit-ready, repeatable hardening checklist

This guide is written for system administrators, IT service providers, and security engineers.

2. Environment Overview

Component Details
OS Windows Server 2019
ERP Tally Prime, TICK Manufacturing ERP
Database SQL Server Express
Access RDP
Security Quick Heal Server Edition + CatchPulse
Network LAN only (Broadcom NICs)
Wi-Fi Not installed
Virtualization Not required

Component	Details
OS	Windows Server 2019
ERP	Tally Prime, TICK Manufacturing ERP
Database	SQL Server Express
Access	RDP
Security	Quick Heal Server Edition + CatchPulse
Network	LAN only (Broadcom NICs)
Wi-Fi	Not installed
Virtualization	Not required

3. Incident Summary (RDP Attack Attempt)

What happened

An attacker attempted access via RDP
Tried to stage:
- Virtual server
- Virtual router
- Virtual LAN / NIC
Process halted mid-way due to internet outage
Admin intervened immediately

Risk assessment

Area Risk
Hyper-V persistence High
Credential exposure Medium
Data integrity Low
ERP availability Low

Area	Risk
Hyper-V persistence	High
Credential exposure	Medium
Data integrity	Low
ERP availability	Low

4. Hyper-V & Virtualization Cleanup (Critical)

Why this matters

Attackers often use Hyper-V to:

Create hidden VMs
Route traffic outside firewall
Maintain persistence

Verification


Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online | Where-Object {$_.FeatureName -like "*Hyper*"} | Select FeatureName, State

Correct state


State : Disabled

Disable Hyper-V (Server-safe method)


Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform -NoRestart
Disable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform -NoRestart
bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off
Restart-Computer

Permanently block re-enablement (Policy Lock)


New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows" -Name "HyperV" -Force
New-ItemProperty `
  -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\HyperV" `
  -Name "Disabled" `
  -PropertyType DWord `
  -Value 1 `
  -Force

5. RDP Hardening (Without Breaking ERP)

Enforce Network Level Authentication (NLA)


reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" `
/v UserAuthentication /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Enforce strong encryption


reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" `
/v MinEncryptionLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 3 /f

Secure RDP negotiation


reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp" `
/v SecurityLayer /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

TLS versions were intentionally left unchanged to avoid ERP compatibility issues.

6. SQL Server Express & ERP Safety

Important distinction

Service	Purpose	Required
`MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS`	Database Engine	✅ Yes
`SQL Server Agent`	Job Scheduler	❌ No (Express)

Why SQL Agent can be ignored

SQL Server Express does not support SQL Agent
Service is not installed
Server Manager warning is cosmetic

Verification


Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "SQL Server Agent*"}

Expected: No output

7. Antivirus & EDR Coexistence (Performance Safe)

Is it safe to run both?

✔ Yes — if properly tuned

Tools used

Quick Heal Antivirus Server Edition
CatchPulse (Lockdown Mode)

Required exclusions (CRITICAL)

Quick Heal exclusions


Tally Data Folder
Tally Program Folder
*.900, *.001, *.tdl, *.tcp, *.log
SQL Data directories

CatchPulse exclusions

Allow Tally executables
Allow SQL services
Do NOT monitor live data folders
Keep Lockdown ON for scripts & temp paths

Result

No performance degradation
No multi-user Tally lag
Strong defense-in-depth

8. Service Cleanup & Server Manager Warnings

Common “Services stopped” warnings explained

Service	Reason	Action
Netlogon	Not domain joined	Disable
SQL Agent (Express)	Not supported	Ignore
Google Updater	Not needed on servers	Disable

Correct way to disable Google services


Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "Google*"} |
Set-Service -StartupType Disabled

9. Wi-Fi & Network Hardening

Findings

No Wi-Fi hardware
No WLAN service (WlanSvc)
Wireless feature not installed (Available ≠ Enabled)

Verification


Get-WindowsFeature Wireless-Networking

Result:


Install State : Available

Security verdict

No wireless attack surface
LAN-only server
No action required

10. Common Issues & Fixes

Issue	Cause	Fix
Hyper-V reappearing	Boot config	`bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off`
SQL Agent not found	Express edition	Ignore
PowerShell service not found	Service not installed	Normal
AV causing Tally lag	Missing exclusions	Add exclusions

11. Security Best Practices (Production Servers)

Never expose RDP to the internet
Disable unused roles & features
Lock Hyper-V if not required
Use layered security (AV + EDR)
Exclude live ERP data from AV scans
Prefer LAN-only networking
Document incident closure

12. Final Hardened State (Summary)


✔ RDP hardened (NLA + encryption)
✔ Hyper-V disabled (feature + boot + policy)
✔ SQL Express running clean
✔ ERP fully operational
✔ AV + EDR optimized
✔ No virtual NICs
✔ No Wi-Fi capability
✔ Server Manager clean
✔ Incident closed

13. Conclusion

This remediation demonstrates that a Windows Server does not need rebuilding after every attack attempt.
With proper verification, cleanup, and hardening, a production ERP server can be safely returned to service.

Security is not about panic — it is about controlled, verifiable remediation.

#windowsserver #serversecurity #rdphardening #hyperv #sqlserver #sqlexpress #tallyprime #tickerp #cybersecurity #incidentresponse #serverhardening #itsecurity #endpointprotection #edr #antivirus #windowsadmin #erpserver #productionserver #networksecurity #datasecurity #servermanagement #windowsserver2019 #ransomwareprotection #virtualizationsecurity #sqlperformance #firewallhardening #rdpsecurity #systemhardening #itoperations #securitybaseline #postbreach #servercleanup #enterprisesecurity #defenseindepth #windowsinfrastructure #sqlbackup #serveraudit #itbestpractices #cyberdefense #secureit #sysadminlife #securityops #hardeningguide #malwareprevention #serverlockdown #infosec

windows server 2019 security rdp hardening hyper v attack remediation disable hyper v windows server tally prime server security tick manufacturing erp security sql server express hardening sql agent sqlexpress windows server incident response ra

← Back to Home

Windows Server 2019 Security Hardening & Post-RDP Intrusion Remediation

2. Environment Overview

3. Incident Summary (RDP Attack Attempt)

What happened

Risk assessment

4. Hyper-V & Virtualization Cleanup (Critical)

Why this matters

Verification

Correct state

Disable Hyper-V (Server-safe method)

Permanently block re-enablement (Policy Lock)

5. RDP Hardening (Without Breaking ERP)

Enforce Network Level Authentication (NLA)

Enforce strong encryption

Secure RDP negotiation

6. SQL Server Express & ERP Safety

Important distinction

Why SQL Agent can be ignored

Verification

7. Antivirus & EDR Coexistence (Performance Safe)

Is it safe to run both?

Tools used

Required exclusions (CRITICAL)

Quick Heal exclusions

CatchPulse exclusions

Result

8. Service Cleanup & Server Manager Warnings

Common “Services stopped” warnings explained

Correct way to disable Google services

9. Wi-Fi & Network Hardening

Findings

Verification

Security verdict

10. Common Issues & Fixes

11. Security Best Practices (Production Servers)

12. Final Hardened State (Summary)

13. Conclusion

Was this article helpful?