June 16th, 2009 by Al
System Security Tip #4
Increase the security of your server: Understanding Servers and Administration – Best Practices
Before we talk about this, lets get an understanding of what a server is, what types there are and how this affects you, the business owner.
In a peer topology, a group of workstations are connected via a common network (i.e. wireless or Ethernet) and may interact with each other with productivity applications such as email clients, chat clients or web interfaces. Another common interaction within an office would be file sharing. But, this interaction would yield many copies of the same file, risk corruption, accidental deletion and other headaches. So, a file server may be employed, that controls access rights, modify writes and version control. It acts as a central repository, easily secured and backed up.
This is only one type of server. A server is a special computer designed to serve up applications or other services as well. Some of these are critical to business. Like perhaps accounting software, booking software or customer relationship databases, all which has some impact on your business. When you have a server like this, it is critical you have some plan for it’s security. After all, the data contained represents a multitude of labor, hours that you paid for.
You have to ask yourself, “How would my bottom-line be affected if this server went down and what affect would there be on the people I employ?”
Large enterprise computing architects design with this in mind and plan as well for their ongoing support, maintenance and security. They design a safe, clean environment complete with alternate power and cooling. Also taking into account, their physical security by monitoring who has physical access to the server. This is important. As soon as you have at least 2 people working on a server, that work represents time and effort bought and paid for by the company. It should be protected and that protection begins with employing good physical security and a good Server Administrator.
A good Administrator knows their system and is proficient with the specific techniques necessary to protecting your IT investment. They are self-starters, wary and on the lookout for threats and should be looked at as “advisors” but they in turn should be well versed in your business operations, not only diligently spending your money. They should take into account your business goals and objectives while making suggestions on future technology investments.
Absolutely critical in server security is having a checklist to ensure your security goals are being met.
For Example:
√ Verify the Administrator account has a strong password
√ Disable unnecessary services
√ Disable the Guest account
√ Enact an account lock-out policy
These are only a few of the many a good System Administrator employs. They are your first line of defense and aid in reducing serious risk to your data. They should be viewed as advisors that will aid in helping you understand the risk and threats, while possessing strong traits that helps them understand your business goals and objectives.
It should be noted, that assessments are an ongoing process. Because threats to your computing environment exist and persist unceasingly, having a strategy that deals with this is in your best interest. A strategy that includes “Monitors and Alerts” will help your Administrator focus on the greatest threats and is why strong support services are vital to your server security.
Firefox 3.0.11 closes critical holes
I’ve been spending some time making changes to the color scheme for my blog. I was able to bring over the colors used on my website. Here’s how I did it:
