Secure Provisioning of New Devices
Configuring secure devices from day one
Secure provisioning of new devices is the standardized process through which a device is configured before being handed to an employee, installing the operating system from an already hardened base image, applying security policies, management tools and encryption, and removing trial software or default accounts that could represent a risk. Its practical importance lies in preventing each new device from being configured manually and inconsistently, which inevitably leaves some devices with weak configurations simply because of human error or the delivering technician's lack of time. A common approach in modern organizations is zero-touch provisioning, where the device is shipped directly to the employee from the manufacturer and configures itself with all corporate policies when it first connects to the internet, without anyone on the IT team having to touch it physically.