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                 Security for Windows 2000 and XP
                          Michael Crowley
                            August 2005
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There are several serious security issues inherent in many common
vendor's default installations of Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Unfortunately, these security issues make it far too easy for these
computers to be compromised by a virus, worm, or intruder ("hacked").

If your computer does get infected or hacked, often unknown to you, your
computer may be used for such things as:
   *  Illegal distribution of copyrighted material such as music, movies, 
      and software.  These tend to be are very large files, the distribution
      of which has a significant impact on the college network and 
      interferes with everyones' use of the network.  Even if you are
      not aware of this activity, you are at risk of a lawsuit for
      distributing copyrighted materials -- an expensive and time
      consuming experience.
   *  Hacking other computers in general, both on and off campus.
   *  Hacking other computers on campus in ways that would be impossible
      from outside our network:
      -  Keystroke logging -- recording anything you type.
      -  Scanning as much of our local network as they can, sometimes being able
         to view network traffic of other machines, thus capturing usernames
         and passwords.
   *  Launching attacks on other networks (Denial of Service attacks).
      This can cause the disruption of the operation of entire networks
      and/or servers on networks.  There are serious monetary implications
      of such Denial of Service attacks.

In other words, a hacked machine allows unknown persons outside the
college to attack systems from the local college network.  This
is a serious threat for the integrity of the college network and
the various computer systems on the network.

A hacked machine is a threat to personal computers and host computers
that are essential for the operation of the college.  If a computer
is hacked, or if it shows signs indicating it is likely to have been
hacked, its network access must be curtailed.

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