Guidelines For Designing Security Templates For Basic Operating System Hardening

By Author: iris
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In Chapter 8, you used security templates to design security for 70-297 Exam server roles. You created a very restrictive baseline template and an incremental template that added the necessary functions for specific roles. You can do the same for client computers.
Tip Remember that the baseline template is used to present the maximum security policy with the minimum amount of services.

The security template available for use with client computers is the same as that available for servers. The exact settings you should make in the baseline template will depend in part on the settings made for servers, your organization's security policy, and your ability to determine just how little you can enable in the base template and still have a computer that works. Fortunately, you can find recommendations for the baseline template settings in the document "Windows XP Security Guide," located at security+ certification. In addition to including a printed docu?ment, the guide includes security templates you can adjust for the specific require?ments ...
... of your design and use in security implementation. Two baseline templates are included: one for Enterprise clients and one for High Security clients.
On the CD The "Windows XP Security Guide" is included in the Supplemental Information section on the CD.
In addition, incremental templates are included in the guide. Two computer roles are defined—laptop and desktop—and therefore, four incremental templates are defined—two for each of the two computer roles. If you choose to use these templates to complete your security template design, you need to adjust the baseline and incre?mental templates to match your organization's requirements and develop any addi?tional computer role incremental templates. The provided incremental templates are:
Enterprise Client Desktop
Enterprise Client Laptop
High Security Desktop
High Security Laptop
Regardless of whether or not you decide to use the provided Microsoft Windows XP templates, use this technique: develop a baseline template for importing into a GPO on top-level OUs, and develop incremental security templates for importing into free CompTIA IT certification test questions linked to computer role OUs.