Chapter 2. Native MS Security Tools and Configuration

In Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security, we talked about baseline security and creating a baseline security template using Microsoft Security Configuration Wizard (SCW). In this chapter, I will introduce another powerful Microsoft tool called Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM). As its name suggests, it is a platform for managing and maintaining your security and compliance polices.

At this point, we have established baseline security based on your business requirement, using Microsoft SCW. These polices can be a pure reflection of your business requirements. However, in an enterprise world, you have to consider compliance, regulations, other industry standards, and best practices to maximize the effectiveness of the security policy. That's where Microsoft SCM can provide more business value. We will talk more about the included SCM baselines later in the chapter.

The goal of the chapter is to walk you...