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A New Wizard of Security Configuration

As a webmaster, you know that locking down your server can be challenging. After building a new server, and arming yourself with stacks of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles, PowerPoint slides from Microsoft web casts, and security white papers, you feel read to lock it down. But what happens when, hours later you find yourself troubleshooting because most of the major features simply won?t work?

Windows Server 2003 SP1 has a security tool that is called the Security Configuration Wizard (SCW). This deceptively simple device packs a huge XML database which includes every service, administration option, and feature from every server product produced by Microsoft. Lockdown settings are also fully supported by Microsoft?s major product teams. This is something that will definitely come in handy for webmasters all over the world.

With the Security Configuration Wizard, you can quickly and easily disable unnecessary services and remove unwanted IIS virtual folders. But there?s even more you can do. Blocking unused ports, configuring audit settings and locking down access to critical system files are just a few of the many things you can do. The server running SCW and the servers you are going to modify must run on Windows 2003 SP1. If all of these parameters are met, webmasters everywhere will enjoy and appreciate this new tool. And when they won?t have to face the usual frustrations of locking down their servers, all will be right with the world again.