Microsoft® Windows® Desktop Deployment Resource Kit

Security Settings

Other than administrative templates, which you learn about in the section "Administrative Templates", security settings are the most common and necessary policies for Windows XP Professional. By using policies, you can require the use of strong passwords, prevent dictionary attacks, and restrict group membership. See the following sections for more information:

• Password Security

• Account Lockout

• Audit Policy

• User Rights

• Security Options

• Restricted Groups

• System Services

• Registry ACLs

• File System ACLs

• Software Restriction

Password Security

Password security is a fundamental pillar of desktop security. What good are the firewalls, authentication protocols, and so on if passwords are easy to crack? Group Policy provides security settings that ...