Step-by-Step Guide to Using the Security Configuration
Tool Set |
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Introduction
Viewing and Modifying Local Security Policy
Working with security templates
Performing a Security analysis
Configuring System Security
Command-line configuration and analysis
Pre-defined security templates
Introduction
This step-by-step guide describes how to view, configure,
and analyze local security policy and local security settings
using various components of the Security Configuration
Tool Set included with the Windows® 2000 operating
system.The Security Configuration
Tool Set allows you to configure the following security
areas:
Area
Configurable Items
Account Policies Password, lockout, and Kerberos settings.
Local Policies Audit, user rights, and security options.
Event Log Settings for system, application, security
and directory service logs.
Restricted Groups Policy regarding group membership.
System Services Startup modes and access control for
system services.
Registry Access control for registry keys.
File System Access control for folders and files.
Administrators can use the following components of the
Security Configuration Tool Set to configure some or
all of the security areas described above:
Security Templates snap-in. The Security
Templates snap-in is a stand-alone Microsoft Management
Console (MMC) snap-in that allows the creation of a
text-based template file that contains security settings
for all security areas.
Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. The Security
Configuration and Analysis snap-in is a stand-alone
MMC snap-in that can configure or analyze Windows 2000
operating system security. Its operation is based on
the contents of a security template that was created
using the Security Templates snap-in.
Secedit.exe. Secedit.exe is a command-line version of
the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in. It
allows security configuration and analysis to be performed
without a graphical user interface (GUI).
Security Settings extension to Group Policy. The Security
Configuration Tool Set also includes an extension snap-in
to the Group Policy editor to configure local security
policies as well as security policies for domains or
organizational units (OUs). Local security policies
only include the Account Policy and Local Policy security
areas described above. Security policies defined for
domains or OUs can include all security areas.
This step-by-step guide describes how to use the snap-ins,
command-line tool, and Security Settings extension to
view, configure, and analyze local security policy and
local security settings.
Requirements and Prerequisites
This guide assumes that you have run the procedures
in the two-part "Step by Step Guide to A Common
Infrastructure for Windows 2000 Server Deployment."
The common infrastructure documents specify a particular
hardware and software configuration. If you are not
using the common infrastructure, you need to make the
appropriate changes to this document. The most current
information about hardware requirements and compatibility
for servers, clients, and peripherals is available at
the Product Compatibility Web site.
Viewing and Modifying Local Security
Policy
Local security policy is exposed through the Security
Settings extension to Group Policy. Local security policy
includes the Account Policy and Local Policy areas only.
The Account Policy area contains password and lockout
information. The Local Policy area contains audit, user
rights, and security options information.
To view local security policy:
Log on to a Windows 2000-based computer as a user with
administrative privileges. In our example, we log on
as Administrator to the server named HQ-RES-SRV-01.
To open the Group Policy console, click Start, click
Run and type Gpedit.msc. Click OK.
Click the + next to Computer Configuration, then Windows
Settings, then Security Settings, and then Local Policies
to expand these folders.
Click the Security Options folder under Local Policies.
Your window should be similar to the one shown below
in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Security Options
For each security setting, notice
that the Security Settings extension displays the local
policy and an effective policy. Local Policy describes
policy settings as they are defined on the local computer.
Effective policy describes the combined local, domain,
and organizational unit policies for each setting. This
distinction is made because local policy settings can
be overwritten by domain or OU policy settings. The
order of precedence for policies is from lowest to highest:
Local Policy
Domain Policy
OU Policy
Local Policy has the least precedence and the OU that
directly contains the computer has the highest precedence.
The effective policy column displays the security policy
in effect based on these precedence rules.
Modifying local security policy
To modify a local security policy setting, double-click
the security item of interest and revise the policy.
For example, to change the minimum password age defined
by the local password policy:
Click the + next to Account Policies
in the left pane (under Security Settings) to expand
it.
Click Password Policy.
Double-click Minimum Password Age in the right pane.
Set a Minimum Password Age of 1 day, and click OK.
When you OK the policy change, policy propagation is
triggered, which causes an effective policy to be computed
(based on any overriding domain or OU policies) and
applied to the system. Status regarding this policy
propagation is available in the application event log.
Right-click Security Settings (in
the left pane), and then click Reload.
Reloading the local policy updates the effective policy
in the user interface. Depending on domain or OU password
policies that are in effect, the effective policy may
or may not have changed on your computer.
Close the Group Policy console.
Working with security templates
The Security Templates snap-in allows you to create
a text-based template file that can contain security
settings for all of the security areas supported by
the Security Configuration Tool Set. You can then use
these template files to configure or analyze system
security using other tools.
You can import a template file into
the Security Settings extension to configure local,
domain, or OU security policy.
You can use the Security Configuration and Analysis
snap-in to configure or analyze system security based
on a text-based security template.
You can use the Secedit.exe command-line tool directly
or in conjunction with other management tools such as
Microsoft Systems Management Server or Task Scheduler
to deploy a security template or trigger a security
analysis.
To load the Security Templates snap-in:
Click Start, click Run, and then type
MMC /s into the text box and click OK. (Note: there
is a space between the C and the /s).
Click Console (under Console1 in the upper right of
the window), click Add\Remove Snap-in, and click Add.
From the list of available Standalone Snap-ins, select
Security Templates, as shown in Figure 2 below.
Figure 2. Adding the Security Templates
snap-in
Click Add, then click Close.
Click OK.
Click the + next to Security Templates in the left pane
to expand it.
Click the + next to C:\WINNT\security\templates to expand
it. (Note: if you installed Windows 2000 in a different
drive and/or directory, that path will display instead
of C:\WINNT.)
Windows 2000 ships with several predefined security
templates. Please see the section, Predefined Security
Templates, in this paper for more information.
Modifying a Security Template
You can create your own security template by right-clicking
the default templates folder (C:\WINNT\security\templates)
under Security Templates and selecting New Template.
(Note: If you installed Windows 2000 in a different
drive and/or directory, that path will display instead
of C:\WINNT.) However, in this guide you are going to
modify the predefined secure workstation or server template
(Securews.inf) that is included with Windows 2000.
To view the settings defined by Securews.inf:
In the left pane, scroll down and
then Click the + next to Securews to expand it. Notice
in Figure 3 below that (unlike the local security policy
covered in the previous two sections) all security areas
are configurable when you define a security template.
Figure 3. Reviewing settings defined
by Securews.inf
Browse the Account Policies and Local Policies defined
by Securews by expanding those folders, selecting the
different areas and viewing the Stored Template settings
in the right pane.
Displaying a Custom Logon Message
You can modify the Securews to display a custom message
to all users who log on.
Click the Security Options node under
Local Policies.
In the right pane, scroll down and then double-click
Message Text for Users Attempting to log on.
Type a message that will be displayed to all users when
they log on, and click OK.
Creating a Restricted Group Policy
A Restricted Group Policy allows you to define who should
and should not belong to a specific group. When a template
(or policy) that defines a restricted group is applied
to a system, the Security Configuration Tool Set adds
members to the group and removes members from the group
to ensure that the actual group membership coincides
with the settings defined in the template (or policy).
In this procedure, you will define a restricted group
policy for the Local Administrators group in addition
to the restricted group policy that is already defined
for the local Power Users group in Securews.inf.
To create the restricted group policy:
In the left pane, right-click Restricted
Groups, and select Add Group.
Type NewAdmins as the group name and click OK. The local
Administrators group is added as a restricted group
in the right pane of the Security Templates snap-in.
Double-click Administrators in the right pane.
You can now define who should be a member of the Administrators
group and specify other groups that the Administrators
group can be a member of.
Click Add and then click Browse. The
Select Users or Groups dialog appears as shown in Figure
4 below.
Select the Administrator user in the Select Users or
Groups dialog. Click Add.
Figure 4: Select Administrator
Click OK, and then click OK twice more.
This restricted group policy states that only the local
administrator user can belong to the Administrators
local group when the Securews template is used to configure
a Windows 2000 system. During configuration, the tool
set removes all other users that belong to the Administrators
group at the time of configuration. Similarly, if (at
the time of configuration) the Administrator user does
not belong to the Administrators group, the Security
Configuration Tool Set adds the Administrator user to
the Administrators group.
If the Members list is empty–If
no users are specified as members of a defined restricted
group (the top box is empty), the Security Configuration
Tool Set removes all current members of that group when
the template is used to configure a system.
If the Member of list is empty–If no groups are
specified for a restricted group to belong to (the bottom
box is empty), no action is taken to adjust membership
in other groups.
Configuring Permissions for a File System Directory
You can use Securews to configure permissions for file
system directories as well.
Right-click File System in the left
pane, and click Add File.
Click the %systemroot%\repair directory as shown in
Figure 5 below. Click OK.
Figure 5. Configuring file system
permissions — selecting the repair directory
The Access Control List (ACL) Editor
shown in Figure 6 below appears. This allows you to
specify permissions for the %systemroot%\repair directory
in the Securews.inf template.
Figure 6. Using the ACL Editor to
specify permissions
Select the Everyone group in the top pane and click
the Remove button.
Click the Add button and select the Administrators group.
Click Add and click OK.
Click the Full Control checkbox in the bottom pane to
give the Administrators group full control permissions.
Clear the Allow inheritable permissions from parent
to propagate to this object checkbox.
Click OK to accept the Administrator-only permissions
defined for the directory.
Figure 7: Template Security Policy
Setting
Select the Replace existing permission on all subfolders
and file with inheritable permissions button and click
OK.
Inheriting, Overwriting, and Ignoring Policy Changes
After you define permissions for a file system or registry
object, the Security Configuration Tool Set asks you
how the object's children should be configured.
If you select Propagate inheritable
permissions to all subfolders and files, normal Windows
2000 ACL inheritance procedures are in effect. Specifically,
any inherited permissions on child objects are adjusted
according to the new permissions defined for this parent.
Any explicit access control entry (ACE) defined for
a child object remains unchanged.
If you select Replace existing permission
on all subfolders and files with inheritable permissions,
all explicit ACEs for all child objects (which are not
otherwise listed in the template) are removed, and all
child objects are set to inherit the inheritable permissions
defined for this parent.
To prevent a child object from being
overwritten by a parent, the child object can be added
to the template and ignored. If a child object is added
to the template and ignored, then that child's inheritance
mode and that child's explicit ACEs remain untouched.
Choosing the option: Do not allow permissions on this
file or folder to be replaced for an object in a template
makes sense only if an ancestor of that object is configured
to overwrite children. If no ancestor exists in the
template, ignoring an object has no impact. If an ancestor
exists but is configured such that children inherit,
then ignoring a child has no impact.
In this example, the ACL configuration
for the %systemroot%\repair directory in the Securews.inf
template is defined as follows:
Administrators have full control on
the %systemroot%\repair directory. By default, these
full control permissions apply to this folder, subfolders,
and files. You specified this when you defined the Administrator
permissions in the ACL Editor.
Note: The degree to which an ACE is inheritable is specified
in the Advanced tab of the ACL Editor under the Apply
to column. This walkthrough did not examine the Advanced
tab when defining the permissions for Administrator.
The %systemroot%\repair directory
does not inherit any permissions from its parent. You
specified this when you cleared the Allow inheritable
permissions from parent to propagate to this object
checkbox in the ACL Editor.
All ACLs on all subfolders and files of the repair directory
are configured such that they inherit the inheritable
Administrators full control permission from this parent,
regardless of their current configuration. You specified
this when you selected the Replace existing permission
on all subfolders and files with inheritable permissions
mode of operation.
To save your customized Securews.inf file:
Right-click Securews.inf, click Save
As, and type Mysecurews and click Save.
Exit the Security Templates snap-in console by clicking
the Close button in the upper right corner.
Click Yes to save the console settings
Save the console as Security Templates. This allows
you to start the Security Templates snap-in without
having to add it to a console in the future.
Performing a Security analysis
You can analyze current system settings against a baseline
template at anytime. Performing an analysis is useful
for several different reasons:
To identify security holes that may
exist in a current configuration.
To identify changes that a potential security policy
may impart to a system, before actually deploying the
security policy.
To identify deviations from a policy that is currently
imposed on a system.
During this part of the guide, you will analyze the
current system settings against the custom security
template you created in the previous section. If you
assume that the custom security template defines a more
secure configuration, this analysis should identify
security holes that may exist in the current system
configuration, and can also identify changes that will
take place if this template is used to configure the
system.
To load the Security Configuration
and Analysis MMC snap-in:
On the Start
menu, click Run and type: MMC /s
From the Console menu, select Add\Remove Snap-in, and
click Add.
Select Security Configuration and Analysis.
Click Add and then click Close. Click OK.
Creating a Database
All configurations and analyses are database-driven.
Therefore, you must get the baseline analysis template
into a database prior to performing the analysis operation.
To create the database
Click Security Configuration and Analysis
in the left pane.
Right-click Security Configuration and Analysis in the
left pane.
Click Open Database.
Type Mysecurews.sdb as the name of the database.
Click Open.
Select Mysecure.inf as the security template to import
into the database.
Click Open.
Notice that the name of the database is now exposed
in the result pane and that there are several more options
on the context menu for Security Configuration and Analysis.
To perform the analysis
Right-click Security Configuration
and Analysis, and then select Analyze Computer Now,
from the context menu shown in Figure 8 below.
Figure 8. Analyze Computer option
Specify the log file for the analysis operation as follows:
(note: you can find this also by clicking the browse
button instead of typing it in)
%windir%\security\logs\Mysecurews.log
where %windir% is the drive and path to your Windows
directory; for example:
C:\WINNT\security\logs\Mysecure.log
Click Open and then click OK. A progress
dialog like the one show in Figure 9 below displays
as the analysis proceeds.
Figure 9. Analyzing System Security
Progress Report
Reviewing the Analysis Results
After the analysis has completed, the security areas
are available under the Security Configuration and Analysis
node.
To review the results
From the Security Configuration and
Analysis node, click View.
Select the Description Bar to expose the database you
are currently working with.
Expand Security Configuration and Analysis in the left
pane, and then expand Local Policies, and then click
Security Options as shown in Figure 10 below.
Figure 10. New Security Settings
In the right pane, both database and
actual system settings are displayed for each object.
Discrepancies are highlighted with a red flag. Consistencies
are highlighted with a green check mark. If there is
no flag or check mark, the security setting is not specified
in the database (that is, the security setting was not
configured in the template that was imported).
You can double-click any setting in
the result pane to investigate discrepancies further
and modify database settings if desired.
For example:
Expand the File System node in the
left pane.
Expand the %windir% directory (for example, C:\WINNT).
Right-click the Repair directory.
Note that files contained in the repair directory are
also highlighted as being OK or mismatched. When a template
specifies a container object in overwrite mode (which
was the case when we configured the repair directory)
all children of that object are analyzed for compliance.
Child objects that do not inherit from the parent are
flagged as mismatched because overwrite implies that
all children (not otherwise specified in the template)
should inherit from the parent. Child objects that are
inheriting from the parent (and contain no explicit
ACEs of their own) are flagged as matches even if they
are currently inheriting a different DACL than the one
specified by the parent in the template. In this latter
case, the relevant mismatch was flagged on the parent
itself.
Select Security. You can view the
analyzed permissions, the database permissions, or both.
Click View Security then click OK. (Note that you cannot
modify the actual system settings while viewing analysis
results.)
Drag the Last Analyzed Security dialog out of the way,
and click Edit Security in the previous window. Line
up the windows side by side as shown:
Figure 11. Compare Repair ACL
You can see the discretionary access
control list (DACL) defined in the database (that was
imported from the Mysecure template) and the actual
DACL at the time the analysis was performed. Because
the DACLs differ, the repair directory is highlighted
as a mismatch.
Close these three windows.
Modifying Baseline Analysis Settings
After you review the analysis results, you may decide
to update the baseline database that was used to perform
the analysis. This may be desirable if you have changed
your mind about the relevancy or the security specification
that was originally defined for an object. For example:
If you consider an object to be security
relevant, then you would check the Define this policy
in the database checkbox when viewing the detailed analysis
results. If this box is unchecked, the object is removed
from the configuration and receives its inheritance
from the parent object, as defined.
If you want to base future configurations or analyses
on a different security specification, then you can
click the Edit Security settings control to modify the
security definition currently stored in the database.
In the example above, you already clicked the Edit Security
control in step 6. If desired, you can modify the ACL
currently defined for the repair directory in the database.
Future analyses or configurations using this database
would then be based on the newly defined ACL. Such modifications
can be saved to a template by selecting Export Template
from the context menu of the Security Configuration
and Analysis node.
Configuring System Security
Thus far, you have created a customized security template
(Mysecure.inf) and analyzed the current system settings
against this template. If you are comfortable with the
security changes indicated by this template (as noted
by the mismatches flagged in the analysis), you can
now configure the system with these new security settings.
To configure the system with the new
settings:
Right-click the Security Configuration
and Analysis node.
Select Configure System Now.
Specify the following as the path to the log file:
%windir%\security\\logs\Mysecure.log
where %windir% is the drive and path to your Windows
directory (for example, C:\WINNT).
Click OK. A progress dialog displays to indicate the
security areas being configured. When the configuration
has completed your system is configured with the settings
specified in Mysecure.Inf.
Click the Close button in the upper right corner of
the Security Configuration and Analysis MMC snap-in.
Click Yes to save the console settings.
Specify SCA as the file name, and save the file.
This allows you to start the Security Configuration
and Analysis snap-in without having to add it to a console
in the future. Note that both the Security Templates
snap-in and the Security Configuration and Analysis
snap-in can be added to the same console if desired.
Viewing the Updated Local Security
Policy
Changes made to local policy settings are automatically
trapped by the Security Configuration Tool Set and stored
in the local policy database. You can view these settings
as you did in the first phase of this guide.
To view the policy
On the Start
menu, click Run and then type Gpedit.msc and click OK.
Expand Computer Configuration, expand Windows Settings,
expand Security Settings, expand Local Policies, and
then expand Account Policies.
Click Password Policy, as shown in Figure 12 below.
Note You must be an administrator
to view local policy. If you are not logged on as an
administrator user, then you may no longer have administrator
permissions. This is because of the restricted Group
Policy you just applied to the system.
Figure 12. Password Policy
You see that the local minimum password
age (originally set to 1 during the Modifying Local
Security Policy phase of this guide) is now set to 2
in accord with the Mysecure.inf specification.
Similarly, the message text has been
updated:
In the left pane, expand Local Policies, and click Security
Options, as shown in Figure 13 below.
Figure 13. Viewing security options
Viewing Updated File System Security Settings
Because file system settings are not local policies,
you can verify the configuration of the repair directory
through Windows Explorer.
To view file system security settings:
On the Start menu, point to Programs,
then point to Accessories, and click Windows Explorer.
Unless it is already displayed, click the View menu,
point to Explorer Bar, and select Folders.
Expand %windir% (where %windir% is the drive and path
of your Windows directory; for example, C:\WINNT).
Click the Repair directory, right-click it, and select
Properties.
Click the Security tab. Figure 14 below shows these
two windows lined up:
Figure 14. Viewing file system security
settings
Click the Close button in the upper right corner of
the Group Policy window.
Now that the customized security settings specified
in Mysecure.inf have been applied to the system, you
can monitor any deviations from this security policy
by periodically performing a system analysis against
the database.
Command-line configuration and analysis
The configuration and analysis operations available
from the Security Configuration and Analysis user interface
can also be performed using the Secedit.exe command-line
tool. Command-line operation allows security configuration
and analysis to be performed in conjunction with other
administrative tools, such as Microsoft Systems Management
Server or the Task Scheduler built into Windows 2000.
Secedit.exe also provides some capabilities that are
not available in the graphical user interface.
Viewing Secedit.exe Help
The online Help provided with Secedit.exe describes
the syntax for using the command.
To view the help text
On the Start
menu, click Run and then type CMD. Click OK.
Type Secedit and press Enter to see online Help for
this command.
The command provides five high-level operations:
Analyze
Configure
Export
RefreshPolicy
Validate
Analyze and Configure correspond to the same tasks available
using the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in.
Export dumps database configuration
information into a template (.inf) file. This feature
is also available in the snap-in through the Security
Configuration and Analysis context menu after a database
has been opened.
RefreshPolicy allows you to trigger
a group policy propagation event which, by default,
occurs whenever the machine boots, every 60-90 minutes
thereafter, and when local security policy is modified
using the Security Settings extension to Group Policy
(as described in this guide). When a policy propagation
event is triggered, pending policy changes are enforced
by the corresponding Group Policy extensions (in this
case, the Security Settings extension). To cause a refresh
in policy regardless of whether there has been a change
or not, you can use the /Enforce switch in conjunction
with /RefreshPolicy.
Validate verifies the syntax of a
template created using the Security Templates snap-in.
As described previously in this guide,
all configurations and analyses are database driven.
Therefore, Secedit.exe supports parameters for specifying
a database (/db) as well as a configuration file (/cfg)
to be imported into the database prior to performing
the configuration. By default, the configuration file
is appended to the database. To overwrite existing configuration
information in the database, use the /overwrite switch.
As with the snap-in, you can specify a log file (/log);
however, Secedit.exe also allows detailed (/verbose)
log information to be recorded. Also note that while
the snap-in always configures all security areas, Secedit.exe
allows you to specify areas (/areas) to be configured.
Security areas not specified with the /areas switch
are ignored even if the database contains security settings
for those areas.
Configuring Security with Secedit.exe
The following example reapplies only the file system
configuration specified by Mysecure.inf.
To configure file system security
with Secedit.exe
Change to the %windir%\security\database
directory (where %windir% is the drive and path to your
Windows directory). For example, at the command prompt
type:
cd\c:\windir\security\logs
Type the following:
secedit /configure /db mysecure.sdb
/areas FILESTORE /log %windir%\security\logs\Mysecure.log
/verbose
where %windir% with the drive and
path to your Windows directory (for example, C:\WINNT)
Note: since the database already existed and contained
configuration information previously imported from Mysecure.inf,
you did not need to specify the /cfg parameter. Note
also that paths for /db, /cfg, and /log–other
than the current directory–must be absolute.
Type:
%windir%\security\logs\Mysecure.log
Notice that previous configurations
configure all security areas, while the last configuration
processed only the file security area.
Performing Security Analysis with
Secedit.exe
Your system is currently configured according to the
customized settings defined in Mysecure.inf. You will
now violate this policy, and then perform a command-line
analysis to locate the violation.
To violate the policy and then locate
the violation:
Recall that Mysecure.inf specifies
a restricted Group Policy for the Administrators group
such that only the administrator user should belong
to the Administrators group. Violate that policy by
adding Everyone to the administrators group. Type the
following at the Command prompt, and press Enter:
Net LocalGroup Administrators Everyone
/Add
Perform the analysis using Mysecure.sdb as the baseline
configuration. Type the following command at the Command
prompt:
secedit /analyze /db Mysecure.sdb
/Log Monitor.log /verbose
If you have access to the Grep tool, you can parse the
log file to locate mismatches. Type the following at
the Command prompt:
grep Mismatch Monitor.Log
Notice that the administrators group is flagged. Mismatches
on registry values are occurring because these particular
registry values are configured on the system, but not
configured in the database. The snap-in tool does not
flag these types of mismatches.
Pre-defined security templates
Windows 2000 Default Security Templates
Windows 2000 default security settings are applied only
to Windows 2000—based systems that have been clean-installed
on an NTFS partition. When computers are upgraded from
Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, security is not modified.
When Windows 2000 is installed on a FAT file system,
security cannot be applied.
The following basic security templates
are provided to secure upgraded NTFS computers in the
same fashion as clean-installed NTFS computers:
Basicwk.inf for computers running
Windows 2000 Professional.
Basicsv.inf for computers running Windows 2000 Server.
Basicdc.inf for domain controllers running Windows 2000
Server.
These security templates specify default Windows 2000
security settings for all security areas with the exception
of User Rights and Groups.
Incremental Security Templates
Windows 2000 also ships with the following incremental
security templates. These security templates were constructed
based on the assumption that they would be applied to
Windows 2000 computers that are configured with the
new Windows 2000 default security settings. In other
words, these templates incrementally modify the default
security settings. They do not include the default security
settings plus the modifications.
You should apply these incremental
templates to Windows 2000 systems that have been clean-installed
onto an NTFS partition. For NTFS computers that have
been upgraded from Windows NT 4.0 or earlier, apply
the corresponding basic template (as described above)
before you apply any of the incremental security templates.
Windows 2000 systems that are installed on FAT file
systems cannot be secured.
Compatws.inf for workstations or servers.
If you do not want your users to run as power users,
the compatible configuration opens the default permissions
for the Users group so that legacy applications are
more likely to run correctly. Office 97 should run successfully
when you are logged on as a User to a Windows 2000 machine
that has had the compatible security template applied
over the default settings. Note that this is not considered
a secure environment.
Securews.inf for workstations or servers, and Securedc.inf
for domain controllers provide a secure configuration.
The secure configuration provides increased security
for areas of the operating system not covered by permissions.
This includes increased security settings for Account
Policy, Auditing, and some well-known security relevant
registry keys. Access control lists are not modified
by the secure configurations because the secure configurations
assume that default Windows 2000 security settings are
in effect.
Hisecws.inf for workstations and servers, and Hisecdc.inf
for domain controllers provide a highly secure configuration.
The high security configuration is provided for Windows
2000 computers that operate in native Windows 2000 environments
only. In this configuration, all network communications
must be digitally signed and encrypted at a level that
can only be provided by Windows 2000. Thus, communications
between a Windows 2000 highly secure computer and a
downlevel Windows client cannot be performed.
Security Levels
The following table describes the relative levels of
security that can be associated with the operating system
based on the templates that have been applied as well
as the type of user accessing the system:
Templates Applied
User Level
Default Power User
Default + Compatible User
Default User
Default + Secure User
Default + Secure + High Secure User
Thus, logging on as a Power User on a system where Windows
2000 was clean-installed on an NTFS system is less secure
than logging into that same system as a User.
Important Notes
The example company, organization, products, people,
and events depicted in this step-by-step guide are fictitious.
No association with any real company, organization,
product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
This common infrastructure is designed
for use on a private network. The fictitious company
name and DNS name used in the common infrastructure
are not registered for use on the Internet. Please do
not use this name on a public network or Internet.
The Active Directory® service
structure for this common infrastructure is designed
to show how Microsoft Windows 2000 Change and Configuration
Management works and functions with the Active Directory.
It was not designed as a model for configuring an Active
Directory for any organization–for such information
see the Active Directory documentation.
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