Networking / Beginners

System Management

Security is not only important when a system is configured and set up. It is also important in day-to-day operations. Perhaps the best security mechanism is an administrator who is paying attention to his systems. That said, there are several things that can be done with a Windows 2000 system to enhance the ability of the administrator to detect potential security problems.

The Secedit Command

Windows 2000 provides a tool called secedit.exe, which can be used to manage the security policy on a large number of systems. Secedit provides the following capabilities:

  • Analysis The policy on the system in question is analyzed and compared to a provided policy.

  • Configuration The policy on the system in question is changed to match a provided policy.

  • Validation A security configuration file can be validated.

  • Refresh A policy is reapplied to a system.

  • Export A stored template from a security database on a system is exported as a security template file.

In the following sections, we will take a look at how these capabilities can be used to manage the security of Windows 2000 systems.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Windows 2000 Security Issues
  2. Setting up the System
  3. Local Security Policy Settings
  4. Logon Message
  5. LAN Manager Authentication Level
  6. System Configuration
  7. File Systems
  8. Network
  9. Account Settings
  10. USER MANAGEMENT
  11. Setting File Permissions
  12. System Management
  13. Analysis
  14. Configuration
  15. Validation
  16. Export
  17. Auditing a System
  18. Log Files
  19. Looking for Suspicious Signs
  20. Missing Log Files or Gaps in the Log Files
  21. Unknown Processes