Security Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+™ Skills, Third Edition

Task 4.3: Implementing Syskey

Syskey is a utility that strengthens security on the user account database on a Windows system. It is built into the Windows operating system and encrypts the Security Accounts Management (SAM) database.

Syskey has three modes of operation:

• Syskey Mode 1 is implemented by default on every Windows operating system since Windows 2000. Mode 1 encrypts the SAM database and stores the decryption key securely on the local system. This key is accessed automatically at system startup.
• Syskey Mode 2 stores the key locally, but requires that a system key password be typed in during the system bootup process to access the SAM database decryption key just prior to starting any services. Without the proper system key password, ...