Original Article: Windows Security Guide I

Shiwej.com has compiled a list of some necessary programs to secure your Windows computer. Together, these programs fulfill almost all security functions that you will need to perform on your computer.

Index

• Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
• Hotfix Reporter
• Active Ports
• GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner
• Sygate Online Services
• Useful Links

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)
One particularly important element of operating a secure system is staying up to date on security patches. It’s critical to know which patches have been applied to your system and, more importantly, which haven’t. Microsoft has released a tool called MBSA that will significantly aid system administrators in this task, as well as regular computer users.

MBSA is a graphical tool that enables an administrator to check the patch status of all the machines in a network from a central location. The tool does this by referring to an XML database that’s constantly updated by Microsoft. MBSA can be run on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 systems, and will scan either the local system or remote ones for patches available for the following products:

• Windows NT 4.0
• Windows 2000
• Windows XP
• Windows Server 2003
• All system services, including Internet Information Server 4.0 and 5.0
• SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 (including Microsoft Data Engine)
• Internet Explorer 5.01 and later

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Hotfix Reporter 3.2
Hotfix Reporter is a free utility that works in conjunction with the Microsoft Network Security Hotfix Checker (HfNetChk) tool to scan your Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, or Windows XP server for missing patches.

HfNetChk scans your system for missing patches, but displays the results in a raw, plain-text, unfriendly format. Hotfix Reporter converts the HfNetChk raw output into an HTML page, complete with clickable links, making it easy to download the necessary patches from Microsoft.

After installing Hotfix Reporter (and HfNetChk), just choose the Hotfix Reporter command from your Administrative Tools menu. Hotfix Reporter will run HfNetChk, convert the results into HTML, and launch a browser to show you the results.

If you don’t already have the Microsoft HfNetChk tool, you should download and install it as well. It is now built into the MBSA mentioned above.

Hotfix Reporter Home
Download Hotfix Reporter

Active Ports
Active Ports is an easy-to-use tool for Windows NT/2000/XP that enables you to monitor all open TCP/IP and UDP ports on the local computer. Active Ports enables you to view which process has opened which port. It also displays a local and remote IP address for each connection and allows you to terminate the owning process.

Active Ports can help you detect Trojans and other malicious programs. When running the program, you might see a process that you never heard of listening to a port. You can then perform a web search on the file name to discover whether it is malicious or necessary for your computer’s operation.

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GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner v2.0
LANguard Network Security Scanner is a tool that checks your network for all potential methods that a hacker might use to attack your network. By analysing the operating system and the applications running on your network machines, LANguard Network Security Scanner identifies all the possible security holes in your network. In other words, it plays the devil’s advocate and alerts you to weaknesses before a hacker can find them, enabling you to deal with the issues before the hacker can exploit them.

LANguard Network Security Scanner scans your entire network, IP by IP, and provides information such as service pack level of the machine, open shares, open ports, services/applications active on the computer, key registry entries, weak passwords, users and groups, and more. The results are outputted to an HTML report, enabling you to deal with the issues LANguard Network Security Scanner finds and proactively secure your network - for example by shutting down unnecessary ports, closing shares, installing service packs and hotfixes, etc.

The normal version of LANguard Network Security Scanner is Freeware! No license fees are due and it is not limited in any way.

Use LANguard Network Security Scanner to:

• Check for known & unknown vulnerabilities
• Check for service pack levels of your servers & workstations
• Make an inventory of your network
• Detect unnecessary shares
• Detect unnecessary open ports
• Detect potential Trojans installed on users’ workstations
• Check for unused user accounts on workstations
• Find out if the OS is advertising too much information

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Download (1.71 MB)

Sygate Online Services
Sygate Online Services performs detailed online scans of your computer to detect any vulnerable areas. You need a firewall, otherwise the site and hackers will find that your computer’s ports are open, it is sending out valuable information about itself, and it is allowing traffic through that it should not. Take a look at our article on Securing Your Computer with a Firewall to find out how firewalls secure your computer and where you can get one.

Sygate Online Services Home
Sygate Online Services FAQ
Securing Your Computer with a Firewall

Useful tools
Microsoft QChain tool — reboot your server only once after installing multiple hotfixes

Useful security sites
Microsoft security home page — bulletins, security checklists, and information on security best practices
Gibson Research Corporation — keep up to date with Steve Gibson’s research into leading-edge security issues
CERT
SANS Institute
NTBugtraq

Originally posted on Infohuts.com and TechHelpCenter.com, which has been folded into Shiwej.com.