Skip the navigation

Pushing out security settings configured in the Registry

By Derek Melber
September 8, 2005 12:00 PM ET

WindowSecurity.com - Unless you have been living under a rock, you have been watching the IT community stand up and take notice of all of the security issues that keep rising up, day after day. One of the most prevalent areas where you have seen this attention to security is within group policy.
Group Policy is one of the core operations that is performed by Windows Active Directory. Within the past two years, Microsoft has doubled the number of Group Policy settings that they ship with the operating system. There are now nearly 1,700 settings in a standard Group Policy. The emphasis on most of the Group Policy settings is security.
New applications are constantly being provided to help protect against the spyware, viruses, worms, malware and other malicious code that runs through our networks and the Internet. Microsoft and other companies are trying to develop solutions as fast as they can, but the core problem is still not being addressed.
The core problem to many of the security issues on a Windows computer is that the baseline security is not configured properly. When you get a computer installed for the first time, it is no where near as secure as it should be. Even if you go through every Control Panel setting and Group Policy option, you won't get the computer to the baseline security that you desire.
The only way to get a Windows computer to a security level that will be near bulletproof is to make additional Registry changes that are not exposed through any interface, except Regedt32.exe. There are many ways to get these Registry changes completed on every computer in the enterprise, but some are certainly more efficient than others.

The reality of the problem
You may think there are not that many Registry settings that can help protect your computer. The reality of the overall problem becomes prevalent when you start researching and investigating the abundance of "Registry hacks" that are discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base articles.
Another place that you might find Registry-related security fixes is within the newsgroups. For example, I monitor a Group Policy question board and the last question that I had was with regard to controlling USB devices. A quick search on the Internet says to modify the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor Registry value to control a USB device. If you do an exhaustive search through any existing tool that is provide by Microsoft, you will not find a way to control this value without manually updating the Registry. Let's first take a look

Reprinted with permission from WindowSecurity.com Story copyright 2010 WindowSecurity.com. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Security White Papers
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
X-Ray of the PCI Process-4 Proactive Steps
This white paper from Forrester Research Inc., helps break PCI into understandable components. Security and risk professionals will gain knowledge and insight into...
Identity Governance: The Business Imperatives
This white paper describes the business challenges and opportunities that are driving interest in Identity Governance while discussing considerations your organization should make...
All Security White Papers
Security Webcasts
Live Webcast
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
Introduction to VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5
Traditional disaster recovery solutions are often too expensive, complex and unreliable to meet business requirements. As a result, IT departments are hesitant to...
The Top Ten Secrets to Avoiding SAN Performance Problems
Maintaining peak performance while simultaneously addressing the root cause of SAN errors is challenging. Learn the most common SAN problems and explore new...
Deduplication Without Compromise
Go inside Quantum's scalable, high-performance, multi-protocol new DXi deduplication appliances, designed to make backup much more effective. Discover how the new future-proof DXi6700...
Director of Disk Products Discusses DXi6700
Discover how the new DXi 6700 series of deduplication appliances provide investment protection and a future-proof feature set, all while delivering fast, scalable,...
Playing Defense: Staying on Top of Your Disaster Recovery Game
When it comes to disaster recovery, rapidly growing data volumes, distributed computing models, and new technologies all combine to present an ever-changing playing...
All Security Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs