The daily deluge of unsolicited commercial or offensive messages (more commonly known as spam) comprises one of the biggest problems facing network administrators and users today. In this article, we will examine how spam presents a security threat to your network, and we’ll discuss the most effective way to deal with it: a multi-layered or “defense in depth” approach that addresses spam at the firewall, server and client levels.
ALF, not a nickname for Alfred but an acronym for Application Layer Filtering, is one of the hottest new buzzwords in a jargon-laden security subfield: firewall technology. Firewall vendors are rushing to implement ALF into their firewall products, and/or beefing up their ALF implementations to compete with those of other vendors. But exactly what is ALF and is it a “must have” feature to look for when you buy a firewall, or just another bit of marketing hype?
Web servers, by their very nature, are usually exposed to outsiders and thus are vulnerable to compromise and attack. Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6, included with Windows Server 2003, provides a number of new security features designed to increase web server security. One of these is URL authorization, which works in conjunction with Server 2003’s Authorization Manager. In this article, we’ll take a look at how URL authorization is implemented in IIS 6.0, the practicalities of using it in your web services environment, and how it enhances the security of your web sites and services.
Microsoft’s Windows Terminal Services (built into Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003) and Windows XP’s Remote Desktop, which is based on Terminal Services, provide an easy, convenient way for administrators to implement thin computing within an organization or for users to connect to their XP desktops from a remote computer and run applications or access files.
When you think of version 6, the “next generation” of the Internet Protocol, your first thought is probably more available addresses. Indeed, the primary reason for developing a new version of IP was the anticipated critical shortage of addresses under the 32 bit addressing scheme of version 4. However, IPv6 provides for more than just an increase in the number of available addresses. It is also designed to provide for better performance and, even more important in today’s business world, better security of IP communications.
Microsoft has made a number of changes to the default settings in Windows 2003 to make it more secure “out of the box.” In Part 2, we’ll examine the changes that have been made to the default settings for common services and changes in the authentication process, and we’ll discuss some areas in which some believe that Server 2003’s defaults are still too open.
One big change, very noticeable in Windows Server 2003, is the difference in default settings. In this two-part article, we’ll look at how the out-of-the-box server differs in its defaults from previous versions and how the new defaults make the OS more secure (while at the same time causing frustration for some admins and users who find themselves unable to gain access that was available without any reconfiguration in earlier operating systems). In Part 1, we’ll focus on how the default permissions have changed, changes to the membership of the Everyone group, and ownership of objects.
Delegation is the act of giving power, responsibility or authority to someone (or something). When we talk about delegation in the context of administering our Windows Server 2003 computers and networks, we can be talking about either the Delegation of administrative authority (also called delegation of control); or the Delegation of authentication (allowing a service to use a user or computer account for access to resources). It is this second type of delegation that we will discuss in this article. Windows Server 2003 has provided some enhancements to this feature that will make your administrative life a little easier.
Security has many facets when it comes to computers. We often focus on securing the network and our systems from outside intruders and from malicious code such as viruses, worms and Trojans. Because the damage from these can be so immediate and so drastic, we sometimes overlook the need to secure the data contained in our documents from others within the organization, and even to control the extent of access for those with whom we do need to share our information.
Now, with the release of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has provided a number of enhancements and improvements to this popular feature. In this article, we will look at the new certificate services features included in the Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter editions of Server 2003.
