MAHARJAN-TECH Enterprise Governance & Hardening

Group Policy Objects (GPOs)

Group Policy is the backbone of centralized management in Windows environments. As an Assistant Technical Manager, I leverage GPOs to enforce security baselines, automate software deployment, and ensure a standardized user experience across the Active Directory forest.

Strategic Policy Domains

🛡️ Security Baselines

Enforcing CIS or Microsoft security benchmarks to harden workstations and servers against common attack vectors like lateral movement.

⚙️ Environment Control

Automating drive mapping, printer deployment, and registry configurations to ensure zero-touch workstation setup.

🔍 Compliance Auditing

Configuring advanced audit policies to track file access, logon events, and sensitive object modifications for forensic readiness.

Critical Policy Categories

Category Standard Policy Objective
Endpoint Security AppLocker / Windows Defender Preventing unauthorized executable files and malware execution.
Identity Password Complexity & Lockout Strengthening the authentication perimeter against brute-force attacks.
Connectivity Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Securing internal traffic and resolving replication issues through GPO-based firewall rules.

📖 GPO Implementation Series

Configuring External NTP on the PDC Emulator

How to Manually Configure NTP on a PDC Emulator

Optimizing Active Directory health by ensuring the PDC Emulator serves as a high-accuracy time source for all domain-joined clients and servers.

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Automating Romanized Unicode Deployment via GPO

How to Deploy MSI Packages via GPO: Romanized Unicode

Learn how to create a software distribution point and configure GPO policies to automatically install Romanized Unicode on domain-joined workstations.

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Hardening RDP Security with SSL (TLS) via GPO

Fix: RDP Certificate Warning – “Not from a Trusted Authority”

Remediating the “Untrusted Certificate Authority” warning by enforcing the SSL/TLS security layer for Remote Desktop Protocol using Enterprise CA certificates.

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Implementing Windows LAPS in Server 2025 Environments

How to Configure Native LAPS in Windows Server 2025

Hardening endpoint security by deploying native Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to prevent lateral movement and credential theft across the domain.

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BitLocker Administration Series

Enterprise BitLocker Drive Encryption Deployment

A deep dive into securing Windows Server 2025 endpoints using native encryption and AD integration.

Hover to view all 5 parts ↓
1

BitLocker GPO Series Part 1: Architecture and Pre-Deployment Best Practices

Start your enterprise encryption journey with Part 1 of my BitLocker GPO series. Learn about architectural requirements, TPM 2.0, and establishing a secure foundation in Windows Server 2025.

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2

BitLocker Series Part 2: Automating Fixed Data Drive Protection with Group Policy

Learn how to automate BitLocker encryption for internal fixed data drives using Group Policy and Auto-Unlock features in an Active Directory environment.

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3

BitLocker Series Part 3: Testing Drive Portability and Persistence on New Hardware

Learn how to validate BitLocker persistence and drive portability in Part 3 of our series. We test encryption behavior on new hardware and internal drive migrations for Windows Server 2025.

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4

BitLocker Series Part 4: Transitioning from Auto-Unlock to Manual Security Hardening

Explore advanced BitLocker security hardening in Part 4. Learn why and how to move from Auto-Unlock to manual security for sensitive fixed data drives in Windows Server 2025.

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5

BitLocker Series Part 5: Automating Recovery Password Cleanup via PowerShell

Learn how to use PowerShell to identify and delete redundant or stale BitLocker recovery passwords in Active Directory to streamline your IT administration.

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