Windows NT 4 security

The Windows server platforms, like the other network operating systems, provide a range of security options for securing the resources on a network. The following are some of the security areas commonly used on Windowsbased servers. Note that this list is far from being comprehensive of the security features in Windows NT 4 servers. Instead, the list provides the highlights, to help you answer the security-related questions on the Network.

• Object-based security-Object-based security refers to the ability to establish access control over specific devices and resources on the server. To be able to access a resource such as a printer, users must have permissions to access it. Permissions to devices, resources, or files on the network can be granted to an individual user, or they can be assigned to entire groups of users.
• User authentication-To access a Windows-based network and the resources on the network, a user needs a logon username and password. Windows uses a feature known as single sign-on, which allows a user to log on to the network domain once and authenticate to any computer in the domain.
  Remember To log on to a Windows NT 4 system, a valid username and password are required. The password is case sensitive, but the username is not.
• File and directory security-Windows server systems can use NTFS. NTFS has many advantages over the FAT file system found in Windows desktop systems. NTFS allows file-level security, meaning that individual files, such as spreadsheets or documents, can require access permissions.
  Although Windows NT 4 was a major product in the IT landscape for a number of years, Microsoft has built on the success of Windows NT by introducing a new and updated version, Windows 2000, which is discussed in the following section.