Hardening checklist
The settings that put Vardhold into a secure, auditable configuration, written in the style of a DISA STIG so an ISSO or assessor can use them as evidence.
On this page
This is Vardhold's own guide. It is not a DISA-published STIG and does not replace the Windows STIGs; apply those first. Pilot customers receive the full guide, with check and fix text for every item.
Categories#
| Category | Meaning |
|---|---|
| CAT I | Failing it lets an AI agent act unchecked, or lets the record of what it did be lost or altered. |
| CAT II | Failing it weakens protection or the evidence trail. |
| CAT III | Failing it reduces assurance or makes problems harder to notice. |
CAT I#
| ID | Requirement |
|---|---|
| AG-001 | The policy runs in enforce or strict mode |
| AG-002 | Hooks and the MCP proxy fail closed |
| AG-003 | The Claude Code hook is registered machine-wide |
| AG-004 | Every MCP server is routed through the Vardhold proxy |
| AG-005 | AI agents run under standard user accounts, or UAC is set to Always notify |
| AG-006 | The audit log verifies with the audit key |
| AG-007 | The service runs as LocalSystem, starts automatically and restarts on failure |
CAT II#
| ID | Requirement |
|---|---|
| AG-010 | Events are exported to the SIEM |
| AG-011 | Exports use TLS with certificate validation |
| AG-012 | The local log is checked against the SIEM's chain head |
| AG-013 | Local retention meets the organisation's requirement |
| AG-014 | The data folder is limited to SYSTEM and Administrators |
| AG-015 | Endpoint enforcement capabilities are available |
| AG-016 | Ask rules deny on timeout |
| AG-017 | The installer is verified as validly signed before deployment |
| AG-018 | Vardhold warnings and errors are forwarded from the Windows event log |
| AG-019 | The system drive is encrypted |
CAT III#
| ID | Requirement |
|---|---|
| AG-020 | Every discovered agent has been reviewed |
| AG-021 | Automatic suspension on detected blocks is set deliberately |
| AG-022 | Redaction covers the organisation's secret formats |
| AG-023 | The SBOM of the deployed version is retained |
| AG-024 | A kill switch procedure is documented |
Quick self-check#
From an elevated PowerShell prompt, the most important items take a minute:
PowerShell
$cli = "C:\Program Files\Vardhold\vardhold.exe"
& $cli status # mode: enforce or strict (AG-001)
& $cli verify # exit code 0 (AG-006)
Get-Service Vardhold | Select-Object Status, StartType # Running, Automatic (AG-007)
(Get-Acl "$env:ProgramData\Vardhold").Access | Select-Object IdentityReference, FileSystemRights # SYSTEM and Administrators only (AG-014)