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Windows Server Security Essentials
Windows Server Security Essentials

Windows Server Security Essentials: Develop and implement a secure Microsoft infrastructure platform using native and built-in tools

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Windows Server Security Essentials

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...

Microsoft SCM

Microsoft SCM is a centralized security and compliance policy manager product from Microsoft. It is a standalone application. Microsoft develops these baselines and best practice recommendations based on customer feedback and other agency's recommendations—I have mentioned a few of these in Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security. These polices are consistently reviewed and updated. So, it is important that you are using the latest policy baseline. If there is a new policy, you will be able to download and update the baseline from the Microsoft SCM console itself. Since Microsoft SCM supports multiple input and output formats such as XML, Group Policy Objects (GPO), Desired Configuration Management (DCM), Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), and so on, it can be a centralized platform for your network infrastructure and other security and compliance products. It is also possible to integrate SCM with Microsoft System Center 2012 Process Pack...

Administering Microsoft SCM

This section provides you with an overview of Microsoft SCM and some administration procedures to create and manage policies. These tasks can be achieved by performing the following steps:

  1. Open Security Compliance Manager. If you see a Download Updates popup window, click on the Download button to start the download and complete the database update process.
  2. Security Compliance Manager consists of mainly two sections: Custom Baselines and Microsoft Baselines. We will go through the details later in this chapter.
    Administering Microsoft SCM

    SCM - Baselines

  3. Expand Microsoft Baselines. Since we are focusing more on Windows Server 2012, I will start with this section.
  4. Select the Windows Server 2012 node. This node contains predefined security polices based on Microsoft and industry best practices.

    Administering Microsoft SCM
  5. Since we worked on a web server policy in Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security, I will use the predefined WS2012 Web Server Security template for this exercise.

    Note

    You will not be able to make...

Creating and implementing security policies

At this point, you have installed SCM and are familiar with the basic administration tasks. From this section onwards, you will be working on a real-world scenario where you will be exporting a policy from Active Directory, importing into SCM, merging with an SCM baseline, and importing back into Active Directory. In Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security, you created a web server policy using SCW and imported it into Active Directory. In this section, our goal is to export this web server policy and merge it with an SCM baseline and import it back into Active Directory.

Exporting GPO from Active Directory

We will start by exporting the existing web server policy from Active Directory. The following steps can be performed to export (backup) an Active Directory GPO-based policy:

  1. Open the Group Policy Manager console.
  2. Expand Forest | Domain | Domain Name | Group Policy Objects.
  3. Right-click on the appropriate GPO and select Back Up.
    Exporting GPO from Active Directory

    GPO – Back up

  4. In the Back Up Group Policy Object window, enter the Location and Description details for the backup file. Click on the Back Up button to start the backup operation.
  5. You will see the progress in the Backup window. Click on OK when it completes the backup operation.

    Tip

    GPO can also be backed up using the Backup-GPO PowerShell cmdlet. The following is an example:

    Backup-Gpo. Name- "WebServerbaselineV2.0". Path- D:\Backup -Comment "Baseline Backup"
    

The backup folder name will be the GUID of the GPO itself.

Importing GPO into SCM

An exported GPO-based policy can be imported directly into SCM. An administrator can perform the following steps to complete this task:

  1. Open Microsoft Compliance Security Manager.
  2. From the Import section on the right pane, select the GPO Backup (Folder) option.
    Importing GPO into SCM

    SCM – Import

  3. In the Browse For Folder window, select the GPO backup folder. Click on OK.
  4. In the GPO Name window, confirm or change the baseline name. Click on OK.
  5. In the SCM Log window, you will see the status. Click on OK to close the window.
    Importing GPO into SCM
  6. You will see the imported policy under Custom Baselines | GPO Import | Policy Name.
    Importing GPO into SCM

Note

Currently, SCM supports importing from GPO backup and SCM CAB files. If you have some other policy or baseline (for example, DISA STIGs) that you would like to import into SCM, you need to import these polices into Active Directory first, and then export/backup to GPO before you can import into SCM.

Merging imported GPO with the SCM baseline policy

The third step in this process is to merge the imported policy with the SCM baseline policy. Keep in mind that some configurations and settings will be lost when you merge an existing GPO with the SCM baseline policy. For example, service-related or ACL configurations may not be preserved when you associate and merge with an SCM baseline policy. If you have these types of configuration in your GPO and want to retain them, you may need to split the GPO and use two separate GPOs. Inside the SCM, the import process is to map these configurations with the SCM library to preserve these settings. If it doesn't match or map, these settings will be dropped from the new baseline policy. For this exercise, my assumption is that you don't have a custom configuration or settings in the imported policy. The following steps can be used to Associate and Merge a GPO-based policy into an SCM-based policy:

  1. Select the imported policy in Microsoft...

Microsoft SCM


Microsoft SCM is a centralized security and compliance policy manager product from Microsoft. It is a standalone application. Microsoft develops these baselines and best practice recommendations based on customer feedback and other agency's recommendations—I have mentioned a few of these in Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security. These polices are consistently reviewed and updated. So, it is important that you are using the latest policy baseline. If there is a new policy, you will be able to download and update the baseline from the Microsoft SCM console itself. Since Microsoft SCM supports multiple input and output formats such as XML, Group Policy Objects (GPO), Desired Configuration Management (DCM), Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP), and so on, it can be a centralized platform for your network infrastructure and other security and compliance products. It is also possible to integrate SCM with Microsoft System Center 2012 Process Pack for IT GRC. More...

Administering Microsoft SCM


This section provides you with an overview of Microsoft SCM and some administration procedures to create and manage policies. These tasks can be achieved by performing the following steps:

  1. Open Security Compliance Manager. If you see a Download Updates popup window, click on the Download button to start the download and complete the database update process.

  2. Security Compliance Manager consists of mainly two sections: Custom Baselines and Microsoft Baselines. We will go through the details later in this chapter.

    SCM - Baselines

  3. Expand Microsoft Baselines. Since we are focusing more on Windows Server 2012, I will start with this section.

  4. Select the Windows Server 2012 node. This node contains predefined security polices based on Microsoft and industry best practices.

  5. Since we worked on a web server policy in Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security, I will use the predefined WS2012 Web Server Security template for this exercise.

    Note

    You will not be able to make...

Creating and implementing security policies


At this point, you have installed SCM and are familiar with the basic administration tasks. From this section onwards, you will be working on a real-world scenario where you will be exporting a policy from Active Directory, importing into SCM, merging with an SCM baseline, and importing back into Active Directory. In Chapter 1, Operating System and Baseline Security, you created a web server policy using SCW and imported it into Active Directory. In this section, our goal is to export this web server policy and merge it with an SCM baseline and import it back into Active Directory.

Exporting GPO from Active Directory


We will start by exporting the existing web server policy from Active Directory. The following steps can be performed to export (backup) an Active Directory GPO-based policy:

  1. Open the Group Policy Manager console.

  2. Expand Forest | Domain | Domain Name | Group Policy Objects.

  3. Right-click on the appropriate GPO and select Back Up.

    GPO – Back up

  4. In the Back Up Group Policy Object window, enter the Location and Description details for the backup file. Click on the Back Up button to start the backup operation.

  5. You will see the progress in the Backup window. Click on OK when it completes the backup operation.

    Tip

    GPO can also be backed up using the Backup-GPO PowerShell cmdlet. The following is an example:

    Backup-Gpo. Name- "WebServerbaselineV2.0". Path- D:\Backup -Comment "Baseline Backup"
    

The backup folder name will be the GUID of the GPO itself.

Importing GPO into SCM


An exported GPO-based policy can be imported directly into SCM. An administrator can perform the following steps to complete this task:

  1. Open Microsoft Compliance Security Manager.

  2. From the Import section on the right pane, select the GPO Backup (Folder) option.

    SCM – Import

  3. In the Browse For Folder window, select the GPO backup folder. Click on OK.

  4. In the GPO Name window, confirm or change the baseline name. Click on OK.

  5. In the SCM Log window, you will see the status. Click on OK to close the window.

  6. You will see the imported policy under Custom Baselines | GPO Import | Policy Name.

Note

Currently, SCM supports importing from GPO backup and SCM CAB files. If you have some other policy or baseline (for example, DISA STIGs) that you would like to import into SCM, you need to import these polices into Active Directory first, and then export/backup to GPO before you can import into SCM.

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Description

If you are a security or Windows Server administrator wanting to learn or advance your knowledge in Microsoft security and secure your Windows Server infrastructure effectively, this book is for you.

Who is this book for?

If you are a security or Windows Server administrator wanting to learn or advance your knowledge in Microsoft security and secure your Windows Server infrastructure effectively, this book is for you.

What you will learn

  • Design a secure Windows Server platform based on the best practices and industry standard recommendations
  • Identify and mitigate security risks using tools such as Security Configurations Wizard, ASA, AppLocker, BitLocker, and EMET
  • Follow stepbystep instructions to tighten the security of your Active Directory file, print server, HyperV and IIS servers, and application roles
  • Develop a secure access control mechanism using the Dynamic Access Control (DAC) feature
  • Learn how to maintain security and deliver new security updates and patches using the Windows Server Update Service (WSUS)
  • Discover how PowerShell cmdlets and custom scripts can support your daytoday security admin tasks

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Feb 27, 2015
Length: 240 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781784390259
Vendor :
Microsoft

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Product Details

Publication date : Feb 27, 2015
Length: 240 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781784390259
Vendor :
Microsoft

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. Operating System and Baseline Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Native MS Security Tools and Configuration Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Server Roles and Protocols Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Application Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Network Service Security Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Access Control Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Patch Management Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Auditing and Monitoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.8
(6 Ratings)
5 star 83.3%
4 star 16.7%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
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Elizabeth George Mar 04, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent book . Content is well organized. I strongly recommend this book for novice and graduate students looking for better understanding in windows server security
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Sasijyothi Apr 08, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
“It is very difficult to find a good security book these days. This book is an exception to this. Content is well written and organized. I am a security analyst for a bank. We already started testing some of the process and solutions mentioned in this book. Our entire security group is very happy with the logic and ideas provided in this book. This book was beyond our expectations. It explains the operating system hardening details as well as other applications like IIS, DNS, DHCP, Hyper-V, File and Print servers. Looking forward to reading more books from this author. I highly recommend this book. “
Amazon Verified review Amazon
MGeorge Apr 14, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The topics are very well organized and explained in step by step instruction style. It provides enough background information and detailed instructions on how to implement the mentioned solutions in IT networks. The custom PowerShell scripts provided are well written and ready to use. I learned about some new applications from this book like Microsoft Attack Surface Analyzer(ASA), AppLocker, Security Compliance Manager (SCM) etc. In my opinion, this is one of the “must have” books if you are looking for a Microsoft Security related book! Great job and good luck!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
itconsultant007 Apr 07, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I strongly recommend this book if you are looking to learn more about windows server security. I'm an IT professional (MCITP-DBA), and more than often I have to work with our admin group in reviewing our windows server infrastructure security and policies. This the most hands-on book I came across so far on windows security. The book clearly shows that it is written by someone who deals with windows security on a daily basis. My favorite is the step-by-step tutorials that provides real-world scenarios and security solutions, which is exactly what I was looking for. The book gives you a jump start on different techniques for identifying and mitigating any flaws in your windows server environment, and it does so in a clear and concise manner. The book is well organized - easy to follow and understand. The two important parts of the book - proactive approach and step-by-step tutorials should be very helpful for readers at all levels. If you are looking for hands-on book for windows server security - this is your book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Marcin Policht May 02, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Well-written, comprehensive overview of various aspects of securing Windows Server 2012 R2 deployments, covering topics relevant regardless of the size of managed environment, geared towards IT Pros, but presented in the manner which is easily understood without extensive technical knowledge.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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