Windows Security A Common-Sense Guide

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May 27th, 2009

As this scenario illustrates, the Internet is not a friendly place. You might not have noticed, but I’ll bet that your network is being scanned for holes regularly. Many of you probably have experienced a security breach, whether you know it or not. The breach may have been as simple as someone using your FTP system to store pirated software or pornography, or as serious as someone using your systems as a gateway to hack at other people’s networks or mount a distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attack. If you have servers connected to the Internet, you can be sure that people are trying to find them.

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Some of you might be thinking, “I have a firewall, that should be enough to protect my systems.” Unfortunately, that is not always the case. In the security realm, this scenario is known as being “hard on the outside with a soft, chewy center.” It’s not a bad thing. Many of us take a similar approach in our homes. We lock the front door when we leave, but we leave all the interior doors open. If an intruder picks the lock on the front door or finds an open window, he will have complete access to the house. Hackers will try to do the same thing. Instead of attacking your firewall head-on, they’ll look for ways around it or for holes through it. If they find a way in, they will have a significant level of access to the network.
To properly implement network security, you must keep one design principle in mind: assume that every security measure on your network might fail, and it is up to each device to defend itself. This approach is equivalent to locking every door inside your house. For all Windows Web-based servers, this approach means assuming that your other security measures (e.g., firewalls) have either failed or were unable to block an attack. Having properly hardened systems is key to protecting your network.
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