Professional Windows Desktop and Server Hardening (Programmer to Programmer)
| 2006-05-01 00:00:00 | | 0 | Windows
User review
Effectively Using Windows Internal Security
Microsoft Windows is by far the most popular operating system, therefore it attracts the most attention from the bad guys that want to run their programs on your machine.
Microsoft has designed its operating systems to be easy to use, easy to customize. At first this was the way to go. Now, however, the bad guys have found that these very features make it easy to attack computer systems running Microsoft code.
While making their software easy to use, Microsoft has also provided a whole range of options and perameters that can be set to allow you the full functionality you need while tightening up a lot of ways the bad guys can get into your system.
This book concentrates on using these Windows features to enhance the security of the operating system. The author has been working in this area for twenty years or so, has published a hundred and fifty or so articles in magazines on security issues. Now he has compiled these previously scattered articles into a single book. It is, as best I can tell, the most complete book on Windows security. Fortunately it is also well written which tends to keep you from going to sleep. Let's face it, computer books are probably just as effective as those sleep aids you see advertised on TV.
User review
THE ONLY BOOK you need for Windows security
This book is what it says:
Professional - goes way beyond what Joe Homebody needs, but Joe will enjoy the casual style, the unexpected humor, and the unfailingly complete wealth of security knowledge imparted by Mr. Grimes concise delivery. This is not just a theory book, though the theory is explained, it is a `doing` book, complete with instruction lists and screen shots to guide you through the steps.
Windows Desktop and Server - if you own a Windows-based computer of any kind, this book will help you secure it. It includes not only basic Windows security concepts that would help you with troubleshooting problems on Windows 9X machines at home, but also the latest and most current security techniques to be employed in securing Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows 2003 Server for the most demanding DoD, Private Sector, or Homeland Security environments. The strategies discussed will be just as useful on the new Vista operating system currently under development by Microsoft.
Hardening - Every Windows computer is installed with minimum security so that we idiots won't be accidentally locked out of our own stuff. This book guides us from vulnerability to vulnerability and explains:
- 1. What is the vulnerability?
- 2. What is the theory behind minimizing the vulnerability?
- 3. What steps must be taken to perform the preventive measure?
- 4. How can I automate this preventive measure to secure a domain or even an enterprise-wide network?
On this last point, it is noteworthy that the book guides you through the areas of the Active Directory and particularly through the use of Group Policy Objects (GPO's) that will allow an enterprise administrator the ability to replicate a strong and consistent security policy throughout the enterprise from the top down. There is no area of vulnerability that is not discussed.
Finally, Mr. Grimes's 30-page list of `Where Malware Hides` is the only complete listing of its kind ever published - AND THIS LIST ALONE IS WORTH THE COST OF THE BOOK. The way I look at it, the other 540 pages are a bonus thrown in just for free!
User review
Security techniques for the novice and experienced
Professional Windows Desktop and Server Hardening is by far one of the best security books written for Windows, hands down. The authors grasp on the internal workings of both client and server operating systems come through in his writing. One of the most important aspects of the book is it's an easy read.
Roger ensures that the reader is aware of some of the simpler security techniques before diving into areas that the average IT professional may not have thought of, but hackers and malicious code writers do. In addition to the over 500 pages of valuable information Roger includes web site addresses for further research into a vulnerability, technique or story.
I will definitely be recommending this to my colleagues and hope others will purchase this book. If all IT professionals followed the advice in this book, the networks of the world (and the Internet as a whole) would be a much more secure place.
Greg Pastorelli
MCSE:Security, MCDST, C|EA, Security+, Network+, A+