Hardening Windows is an intermediate to advanced guide to implementing preventative security measures for the Windows operating system, and the only book that covers NT, 2000, XP, and 2003. System administrators know the Internet is a hostile environment. They can't tell when a hacker will attempt to gain access to the SQL server, but they can bet that there will be an attempt soon. Since the operating system is vital to a computer's functioning, and since it's the only layer between the machine's available resources and its users, it's critical that the OS resist compromise.Hardening is this process of protecting a system against unknown threats. System administrators harden against that which they think could be a threat. This book is designed to provide a quick and easy checklist-style reference to the steps system administrators need to take to anticipate those attacks and compromises and to harden Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Server 2003 against them.