CIS Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Release 1909 Benchmark

18.8.34.6.2 (L1) Ensure 'Allow network connectivity during connected- standby (plugged in)' is set to 'Disabled' (Scored)

ProfileApplicability:

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

Description:

This policy setting allows you to control the network connectivity state in standby on modern standby-capable systems.

The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled .

Rationale:

Disabling this setting ensures that the computer will not be accessible to attackers over a WLAN network while left unattended, plugged in and in a sleep state.

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\Power\PowerSettings\f15576e8- 98b7-4186-b944-eafa664402d9:ACSettingIndex

Remediation:

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

Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management\Sleep Settings\Allow network connectivity during connected-standby (plugged in)

Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy template Power.admx/adml that is included with the Microsoft Windows 10 Release 1607 & Server 2016 Administrative Templates (or newer).

Impact:

Network connectivity in standby (while plugged in) is not guaranteed. This connectivity restriction currently only applies to WLAN networks only, but is subject to change (according to Microsoft).

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