Securing Windows 2000 Professional Using the Gold Standard Security Template

by Ben Bower, Dean Farrington, Chris Weber

The US National Security Agency studied the successful system compromises of Windows 2000 during the past 18 months and found that more than 85% of them would have been blocked had the owners been using the Gold Standard, which was jointly developed by the Center for Internet Security, NSA, NIST and GSA. The Windows 2000 Gold Standard is the textbook for SANS' hands-on course that combines labs and lectures to teach the tools and process that can be used to establish, maintain and audit the Gold Standard. You already know that a default installation of Windows 2000 is nearly equivalent to an "allow all" firewall policy. But do you know all of the settings and tweaks it takes to thoughtfully harden the OS while keeping it operational enough to participate on your network? The security settings of the Gold Standard mitigate over 85% of the known vulnerabilities associated with default installations, while maintaining the functionality that you would expect to keep Windows 2000 Professional running smoothly. To thoroughly understand the Gold Standard and how it can be used, buy this book and start reading. Learn what it takes to secure Windows 2000 Professional, with every setting clearly documented and explained.

130 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003