Here's our Windows NT Tip for.. February 16, 1999
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Security Configuration Manager
One of the most anticipated features of the recently released Windows NT Service Pack 4 was the Security Configuration Manager (SCM), which for some reason wasn't included as a part of the Service Pack if you downloaded it directly from Microsoft. At the time SP4 was released, the only way to get SCM was to order the SP4 CD from Microsoft. Well, your luck has changed, Microsoft has made this utility available for download now too.

The Security Configuration Manager, is an integrated security system that gives administrators the ability to define and apply security configurations for Windows NT Workstation and Windows NT Server installations. SCM also has the capability to perform inspections of the installed systems to locate any degradation in the system's security.

Security settings in a single configuration file may be applied to any number of Windows NT machines. SCM includes sample configuration files to implement different levels of security and supports both a graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line tool. The SCM GUI allows an administrator to:

  • Create and edit security configuration files.
  • Apply a security configuration to a system.
  • Perform a security analysis.
  • Review analysis results in a graphical format.
The SCM command line tool allows an administrator to:
  • Apply a security configuration to a Windows NT system.
  • Perform a security analysis, which may then be reviewed graphically from a Windows NT machine that has the SCM GUI.

For more information on the Windows NT SP4 Security Configuration Manager, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/scm/default.asp

Download Service Pack 4 Security Configuration Manager here:

Intel (x86):

  • ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/tools/scm/scesp4i.exe (2,816,112 bytes)

    Alpha:

  • ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/tools/scm/scesp4a.exe (3,957,872 bytes)

    SCM Readme.txt File:

  • ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/winnt-public/tools/scm/readme.txt (11,830 bytes)
    The Readme.txt file refers to the Security Configuration Manager as the Security Configuration Editor. These names are interchangeable.

    Note: SCM is a plug-in for the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) which we told you about last week, but don't worry if you don't already have it. The MMC is automatically installed as part of the SCM.

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