"The definitive tool to learn what's proper for Microsoft Windows systems. Roberta's excellent guidance will easily help you build secure, resiliant systems." --Steve Riley, Security Business and Technology Unit, Windows Division, Microsoft Corporation

Take a proactive approach to network security by hardening your Windows systems against attacks before they occur. Written by security evangelist Roberta Bragg, this hands-on resource provides concrete steps you can take immediately as well as ongoing actions to ensure long-term security. Whether you have one Windows server or one hundred, you'll get complete details on how to systematically harden your network from the ground up, as well as strategies for getting company-wide support for your security plan. With coverage of Windows 95/98/NT 4.0/2000/XP and Windows Server 2003, this book is an essential security tool for on-the-job IT professionals.

Features a four-part hardening methodology:

• Do This Now!--Checklist of immediate steps to take to lockdown your system from further attack
• Take It From The Top--Systematic approach to hardening your enterprise from the top down, focusing on authentication, access controls, borders, logical security boundaries, communications, storage, and administrative authority
• Once Is Never Enough!--Ongoing monitoring and assessment plan to keep your network secure, including patch management and auditing
• How to Succeed At Hardening Your Windows Systems--Strategies for getting budget approval, management buy-in, and employee cooperation for your security program

Roberta Bragg, CISSP, MCSE: Security, Security+, co-author of Network Security: The Complete Reference, instructor, and consultant, focuses on how to proactively deploy proven security principles to defend Windows systems from possible attack. Roberta is the Security Advisor columnist for MCP magazine, the Security Expert for searchWin2000.com, and writes for the Security Watch newsletter. Roberta is the series editor of McGraw-Hill/Osborne's Hardening security series.