HOW TO SECURE Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003, & even VISTA, + make it "fun to do"

[APK]

Add-Remove Programs (use it periodically)

USE YOUR "ADD-REMOVE" CONTROL PANEL APPLET!

This is important - as MANY 'malware/trojans' actually DO use since they realize folks do NOT regularly check this area.

IF you don't recognize a ware?

Look it up on GOOGLE (or altavista/yahoo, etc.) to find out if it is MALWARE or not, &/or IF you need it @ all (if you don't? It's "dead weight" & taking up space on your disks & slowing you down only).

APK

 

[APK]

Securing Telnet Service, & Usergroups

SECURING THE TELNET SERVICE & USER GROUPS:

And, a Mr. Markuss Jansson on his point on TELNET service (tlntsrv.exe iirc).

How To Secure Windows 2000 / XP - Tips!

Turn Telnet NTLM logings off

-> Run: telnet.exe
--> Type (and press enter): unset ntlm

He also has more on things like "EFS" (encrypting filesystem) which I omitted, & both Mr. J.'s site & the GOVERNMENT ones I note, also cover it too (or, supplement points I made with more alternatives etc.).

APK

P.S.=> I list MORE security techniques for securing telnet, here (did this years ago circa 1997-2002, & it's cited in 2001 here @ Neowin, by searching TELNET on that page) to supplement this technique:

=================================
APK "A to Z" Internet Speedup & Security Text!
=================================

Neowin.net - Where unprofessional journalism looks better

=================================

Which goes into that point on TELNET & many others (including more speed tuneups, services cutoffs for speed + security in DETAIL & far more also to supplement this post here)... apk

 

[APK]

SECURING SERVICES (ala MacOS X style, for its daemons, via privelege levels)

1.) HARDENING & SECURING SERVICES HOW-TO (longest one of the lot but, one well worth pursuing... read on):

Many services I do not need are either cut off OR secured in their logon entity to lower privilege entities (from default, near "ALL POWERFUL" SYSTEM, to lesser ones like NETWORK SERVICE or LOCAL SERVICE).

I went at ALL of the services in Windows Server 2003 (some will not be in XP for instance, & Windows 2000 has no NETWORK SERVICE or LOCAL SERVICE as far as I know, but not sure, you can always make a limited privelege user too for this on 2000 if needed)...

(The reason I mention this, is, this "technique" IS a superiority of MORE MODERN Windows NT-based OS over their ancestors (especially NT 3.x-4.0) & on par w/ how this makes your Win32 NT-based OS' like 2000 (with more work), XP, Server 2003 (VISTA too if needed), very much like how MacOS X treats its daemon processes via privelege levels, which uses the same general principals)

It works, & although many service packs for Windows OS' have changed their services (not all but many nowadays) to less than SYSTEM, my list covers those they may not have in recent service packs AND 3rd party services are listed too that you may be running possibly!

This is for SERVICES YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO RUN (many, you really don't - this has always astounded me, & MS can put out "home versions" more this way imo, for gamers especially (auto-service "lean tuned turbocharged" for performance/speed/less resources consumption)).

ON THAT NOTE (for performance AND security)? CUTTING OFF SERVICES YOU DO NOT NEED TO RUN IS POSSIBLY THE BEST METHOD OF SECURING THEM, AND GAINING SPEED - AGAIN, SIMPLY SINCE YOU ARE NOT WASTING I/O, MEMORY, or OTHER RESOURCES ON THEM, PERIOD, in doing this!

Please, if you don't do this already? Hey - do consider it, when possible! It works like NO TOMORROW...

Many guides online exist for this, & I authored one of the first "back in the day" for NTCompatible.com as "Article #1" back in 1997/1998 - 2002 (early model is in URL below, much detail on registry hacks too for speed & security in it, cited in 2002 @ NeoWin):

Neowin.net - APK "A to Z" Internet Speedup & Security Text!

The latest ones are even BETTER/MORE CURRENT, as there are ones that DO EXIST FOR VISTA ONLINE ALSO!

Anyhow - on the note of 3rd party services, & many native ones (for 2000/XP/Server 2003, but not fully on VISTA as I do not run it @ home or on the job)?

I did testing to see which services could be run/logged in as LOCAL SERVICE, or NETWORK SERVICE, rather than the default of LOCAL SYSTEM (which means Operating System entity level privileges - which CAN be "misused" by various spyware/malware/virus exploits.

===============================================================================

LOCAL SERVICE startable list (vs. LocalSystem Logon Default):

Acronis Scheduler 2 Service
Alerter (needs Workstation Service Running)
COM+ System Application
GHOST
Indexing Service
NVIDIA Display Driver Service
Office Source Engine
O&O Clever Cache
Remote Registry
Sandra Service
Sandra Data Service
SmartCard
Tcp/IP NetBIOS Helper
Telnet
UserProfile Hive Cleanup Service
Volume Shadowing Service
Windows UserMode Drivers
Windows Image Acquisition
WinHTTP Proxy AutoDiscovery Service

----------

NETWORK SERVICE startable list (vs. LocalSystem Logon Default):

ASP.NET State Service
Application Layer Gateway
Clipbook (needs Network DDE & Network DDE DSDM)
Microsoft Shadow Copy Provider
Executive Software Undelete
DNS Client
DHCP Client
Error Reporting
FileZilla Server
Machine Debug Manager
Merger
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Service
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
PDEngine (Raxco PerfectDisk)
Performance Logs & Alerts
RPC
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service
Remote Packet Capture Protocol v.0 (experimental MS service)
Resultant Set of Policies Provider
SAV Roam
Symantec LiveUpdate
Visual Studio 2005 Remote Debug

===============================================================================

PLEASE NOTE: Each service uses a BLANK password when reassigning their logon entity (when you change it from the default of LOCAL SYSTEM Account), because they use SID's as far as I know, not standard passwords.

WHEN YOU TEST THIS, AFTER RESETTING THE LOGON USER ENTITY EACH SERVICE USES: Just run your system awhile, & if say, Norton Antivirus refuses to update, or run right? You KNOW you set it wrong... say, if one you test that I do NOT list won't run as LOCAL SERVICE? Try NETWORK SERVICE instead... if that fails? YOU ARE STUCK USING LOCAL SYSTEM!

*****************************************************************************

If you cannot operate properly while changing the security logon entity context of a service (should NOT happen w/ 3rd party services, & this article shows you which ones can be altered safely)?

Boot to "Safe Mode", & reset that service's logon entity back to LOCAL SYSTEM again & accept it cannot do this security technique is all... it DOES happen!

If that fails (shouldn't, but IF it does)? There are commands in the "Recovery Console" (installed from your Windows installation CD as a bootup option while in Windows using this commandline -> D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons, where D is your CD-Rom driveletter (substitute in your dvd/cd driveletter for D of course)) of:

ListSvc (shows services & drivers states of stopped or started)

Enable (starts up a service &/or driver)

Disable (stops a server &/or driver)

Which can turn them back on if/when needed

(ON Virtual Disk Service being removed, specifically (because it used to be in this list)): This was done solely because, although it will run as LOCAL SERVICE, diskmgmt.msc will not be able to work! Even though the Logical Disk Manager service does not list VirtualDisk as a dependency, this occurs, so VirtualDisk service was pulled from BOTH the LOCAL SERVICE and NETWORK SERVICE lists here... apk)

===============================================================================

SECURING SERVICES @ THE ACL LEVEL VIA A SECURITY POLICY HOW-TO:

STEP #1: CONFIGURE A CUSTOM Microsoft Management Console for this!

Configuring yourself a "CUSTOM MMC.EXE (Microsoft Mgt. Console)" setup for security policy templates, here is how (these are NOT default Computer Mgt. tools, so you have to do this yourself, or run them by themselves, but this makes working w/ them convenient):

The next part's per BelArcGuy of BELARC ADVISOR's advice (pun intended):

Securing Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 services HOW TO - techPowerUp! Forums

"Security Configuration and Analysis" is an MMC snap-in. To access the MMC, type in mmc to the Windows Run.. command to pop up the console. Then use it's File|Add/Remove Snap-in... command and click the Add button on the resulting dialog. Choose both "Security Configuration and Analysis" and "Security Templates", close that dialog, and OK. You'll end up with a management console that has both of those snap-ins enabled. The whole MMC mechanism is a bit weird, but does work"

(It's easy, & it works, & is necessary for the actual steps to do this, below)

Next, is the actual "meat" of what we need to do, per Microsoft, to set ACLs!

------------------------------------------------------------

STEP #2: HOW TO: Define Security Templates By Using the Security Templates Snap-In in Windows Server 2003

HOW TO: Define Security Templates By Using the Security Templates Snap-In in Windows Server 2003

Create and Define a New Security Template

(To define a new security template, follow these steps)

1. In the console tree, expand Security Templates
2. Right-click %SystemRoot%\Security\Templates, and then click New Template
3. In the Template name box, type a name for the new template.

(If you want, you can type a description in the Description box, and then click OK)

The new security template appears in the list of security templates. Note that the security settings for this template are not yet defined. When you expand the new security template in the console tree, expand each component of the template, and then double-click each security setting that is contained in that component, a status of Not Defined appears in the Computer Setting column.

1. To define a System Services policy, follow these steps:
a. Expand System Services
b. In the right pane, double-click the service that you want to configure
c. Specify the options that you want, and then click OK.

DONE!

APK

P.S.=> Again, this is probably the MOST lengthy & hardest of the lot, so DO NOT LET IT DISCOURAGE YOU, the rest of this article is far simpler/shorter to do, & yields benefits that are as good as THIS long step, especially in combination with it (for security) & are much shorter/simpler to do... apk

 

[APK]

"Checks & Balances" (accuracy check of this article by "pros"), Part 1

I also "took the liberty" of contacting a well-known "security-pro" (in Don Parker of "SecurityFocus.com" fame, whom I post with @ Security Forums online with whose URL is below & I referred he to it, as it is the same content as the one here)!

This is in regards to my outline/article/guide here, & here were HIS thoughts/opinions on its content @ this point:

**********

Hello apk,

I don't see any real downsides to what you posted. The only thing is that
you need to remember the audience that it is you are trying to reach. If
your goal was to hit the newbies as it were then you may have missed the
mark a bit. Beyond that, it looks fine to me.

--Don

-----Original Message-----
From: APK [mailto:apk4776239@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 5:34 PM
To: dparker@bridonsecurity.com
Subject: REVIEW THIS IF YOU HAVE TIME (I see you posting @ Windows Security
Forums is why I ask, & it is where the post is)... apk

See subject-line, & this URL:

Security Forums :: View topic - HOW TO SECURE Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 & VISTA (intro

Thanks!

APK

P.S.=> Loved your articles @ SecurityFocus, entitled Catch them IF you can" & "Don't blame the IDS", by the way...

Good stuff, & thus, I respect your views on my posting above & would like to see/hear any "downsides" from your point-of-view regarding the points I made in said posting... again, thanks! apk


**********

That's so you guys all reading here have SOME idea this stuff is SOLID, & works, & 'passes muster' with the "top geeks" (lol, no offense intended, but lacking a better expression here is all) in the arena of computer security, & DO CATCH DON'S ARTICLES I NOTED ABOVE (especially "Catch them IF you can", as it makes points many DO overlook (especially logs!))... apk

--------------

Also - Do please check this page out, for even more security points:

C S R C - Systems Administration

Especially the downloadable guide for security there to supplement this one's points, it is named -> SP800-69.pdf

----

The PDF file guide above from NIST (in association w/ the U.S. Gov't. on securing PC's no less), like my guide here also?

That also lists a "6.32 Removing Malware" section as well!

So, that is in response to 'my naysayers' from various forums that cricized me for listing such a guide here!

(In fact, many of them were MS-MVP mods too no less, but many on many forums would NOT cite "why" or yield specifics I asked for as to WHY I SHOULD NOT LIST SUCH A GUIDE in this article's content... well, experts in this area appear to agree with myself, as it IS part of "securing a computer" in knowing HOW TO REMOVE INFESTATIONS, as I do, like THEY do as well!)

Anyhow/anyways - The .pdf guide from NIST either tend to reinforce my own, OR, go beyond in some cases!

E.G.->

Securing wireless networks[/list]
Securing MS-Office apps better[/list]
Script file extensions associations with notepad.exe for instance (for safety vs. scripted attacks)[/list]
More on email & webbrowser security[/list]
The SIGVERIFY utility (file signature checker)[/list]
Disabling unneeded accounts[/list]

That's for some things I did not cover well imo, here (OR RATHER, well enough earlier), & to supplement my guide (both have good ideas & they both work).

APK

 

[APK]

"Checks & Balances" (part deux) - RESULTS POSSIBLE ON CIS TOOL (XP)

http://windowsbb.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/59ad7bafa8ac185e29aa7f15fbaab80b.png

That's an example of where your score (for users on Windows XP SP #2 no less fully hotfix patched as of this date) can be @ scoring-wise, on the CIS Tool benchmark test gauge of Windows Security, after following its suggestions for security-hardening your systems.

A 90.112 score... & that was AlexStarFire's score from the 3dguru.com forums, once he applied it to his home system ("stand-alone", non-HOME or WORK-LAN system, online on the public internet), which is way, Way, WAY up from its initial default score of 46.xxx/100...

* Here is an example of a user named Thronka, who employed it to security-harden the endpoints on his LAN/WAN setup @ work, who is also enjoying it successfully as well, albeit this time, in a BUSINESS environs (as I have it as well, for both HOME standalone machine online today, & also on the job):

HOW TO SECURE Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003, & VISTA + make it "fun" to do - Xtreme PC Central Tech Forums

APK

P.S.=> I hope you guys also employ it thus as well - it starts with reaching just 1 person, & then, by example? Others start to apply it also, & then things start to change "for the better", because by securing yourself, & maybe even setting up your pals & families machines' this way? You lessen the possibility of "spreading the diseases" out there online today... apk

 

[APK]

Conclusion

To all interested/reading:

I think this is it guys, I know of NO MORE to secure a Windows System... & again - IF any of you have ponits to add, please do so, but, I only ask that you keep it @ a technical computer security level (per my 1st initial post here's "P.S." section @ its termination).

* ENJOY A FASTER & SAFER Windows based system of modern variety (2000/XP/Server 2003 & even VISTA) online today (especially TODAY!)...

APK

P.S.=> In other words, please - no "grammar & spelling" English "writing style" critiques, as they do NOT help to secure a system further... I did try to keep it as SHORT as possible, & to have folks use the CIS Tool to help make it easier + more fun. HOWEVER, @ times, the material is complex & I could not "shorten/condense it" anymore w/ out losing critical details & such! Please bear with that much, & gain by this thread by getting those 90++ scores on CIS Tool, surfing safely & F A S T E R online as a bonus once you apply the points I layered ontop of CIS Tool's guidance points (based on "industry best practices" & such)... thanks! apk

 

[APK]

Great info. site for those that utilize a CUSTOM HOSTS FILE (for security)

A great site that Mr. Dancho Danchev "turned me onto", for making additions to your CUSTOM HOSTS FILE (mentioned earlier on in this guide in STEP # 5) via his security blog... how/why?

SRI Malware Threat Center

* Well - it keeps an updated listing of sites & servers that are KNOWN TO BE MALICIOUS!

APK