CompTIA A_ Certification All-In-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition - Michael Meyers [458]
From a CompTIA A+ certified technician’s perspective, you need to understand the big picture (that’s the strategic side), knowing the concepts and available technologies for security. At the implementation level (that’s the tactical side), you’re expected to know where to find such things as security policies in Windows. A CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+ tech will give you the specific options to implement. (The exception to this level of knowledge comes in dealing with malicious software such as viruses, but we’ll tackle that subject as the last part of the chapter.) So let’s look at three concept and technology areas: access control, data classification and compliance, and reporting.
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NOTE Part of establishing local control over resources involves setting up the computer properly in the first place, a topic covered in depth in Chapter 16, “Securing Windows Resources.” The basic cornerstones of local control are authentication through user names and passwords and authorization through NTFS permissions. Groups are important for managing multiple users. Encryption is important, especially with a computer that might fall into the hands of a third party.
Access Control
Access is the key. If you can control access to the data, programs, and other computing resources, you’ve secured your systems. Access control is composed of four interlinked areas that a good security-minded tech should think about: physical security, authentication, users and groups, and security policies. Much of this you know from previous chapters, but this section should help tie it all together as a security topic.
Secure Physical Area and Lock Down Your System
The first order of security is to block access to the physical hardware from people who shouldn’t have access. This isn’t rocket science. Lock the door. Don’t leave a PC unattended when logged in. In fact, don’t ever leave a system logged in, even as a limited user. God help you if you walk away from a server still logged in as an administrator. You’re tempting fate.
For that matter, when you see a user’s computer logged in and unattended, do the user and your company a huge favor and lock the computer. Just walk up and press the WINDOWS LOGO KEY-L on the keyboard to lock the system. It works in all versions of Windows.
Authentication
Security starts with properly implemented authentication, which means in essence how the computer determines who can or should access it, and once accessed, what that user can do. A computer can authenticate users through software or hardware, or a combination of both.
Software Authentication: Proper Passwords It’s still rather shocking to me to power up a friend’s computer and go straight to his or her desktop, or with my married-with-kids friends, to click one of the parents’ user account icons and not be prompted for a password. This is just wrong! I’m always tempted to assign passwords right then and there—and not tell them the passwords, of course—so they’ll see the error of their ways when they try to log in next. I don’t do it but always try to explain gently the importance of good passwords.
Make sure you and your users use strong passwords: at least eight characters in length, including letters, numbers, and punctuation symbols. Don’t let them write passwords down or tape them to the underside of their mouse pads either! Try using a password generator Web site to gaurantee a truly random password.
It’s not just access to Windows that you need to think about. There’s always the temptation for people to hack the system and do mean things, such as changing CMOS settings, opening up the case, and even stealing hard drives. Any of these actions render the computer inoperable to the