CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Release 1909 Benchmark

18.5.11.3 (L1) Ensure 'Prohibit use of Internet Connection Sharing on your DNS domain network' is set to 'Enabled' (Scored)

ProfileApplicability:

 Level 1 (L1) - Corporate/Enterprise Environment (general use)

Description:

Although this "legacy" setting traditionally applied to the use of Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) in Windows 2000, Windows XP & Server 2003, this setting now freshly applies to the Mobile Hotspot feature in Windows 10 & Server 2016.

The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled .

Rationale:

Non-administrators should not be able to turn on the Mobile Hotspot feature and open their Internet connectivity up to nearby mobile devices.

Audit:

Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections:NC_ShowSharedAccessUI

Remediation:

To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to Enabled :

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Network\Network Connections\Prohibit use of Internet Connection Sharing on your DNS domain network

Note: This Group Policy path is provided by the Group Policy template NetworkConnections.admx/adml that is included with all versions of the Microsoft Windows Administrative Templates.

Impact:

Mobile Hotspot cannot be enabled or configured by Administrators and non- Administrators alike.

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