Deploying and Administering Windows Vista® Bible

Chapter 11. Securing the Workstation

This chapter continues to build on the CASPR system, this time focusing on the security aspects of system maintenance and administration. Whether you work with a computer running Windows Vista at home or whether you are part of a corporate network, you know you must secure the system at all times. Fortunately, Windows Vista includes a host of new features that are geared toward system protection. Service hardening, Security Center, User Access Control, Network Access Protection, Windows Defender, Windows Firewall are only a few of the integrated features this new version of Windows includes to make your systems more secure.

Somehow, knowing that there are more than one billion PCs running Windows in the world gives malicious attackers a hungering need to destroy them. Attacks range from viruses, Trojans, worms, root kits, phishing, password thefts, and much more. This is why your defense strategy must be wide-ranging and must include a very tight integration between your administrative security policy and the computerized methods you put in place to protect yourself.

To build secure systems, you need to make sure that you have all the components in place for a complete security strategy. This should include:

• A comprehensive security policy

• A defense in depth strategy

• A documented security plan

• A strategy for communicating this approach to security to your end users

These are the elements that are covered in this chapter. After you begin to put them ...