Introduction

In today s business environment, security is a top priority, and controlling access to network resources is a major goal of any network security plan. Windows Server 2003 was designed with security in mind, and provides network administrators with the capability to implement multiple levels of security to protect sensitive data and control the capability of users to perform actions on the computer and network.

In this chapter, we will look at some of the ways you can manage access to files and folders, printers, computers, and other resources on the network. You ll learn about different types of permissions and user rights that can be configured, how permissions are inherited, and how you can use new command-line utilities such as takeown.exe and where.exe as part of your access control plan.

Although securing your data from unauthorized users is of utmost importance, ensuring that authorized users are able to access the data they need is equally important. Thus, we will discuss how to troubleshoot common access problems.

Encrypting data is not a substitute for setting permissions, but encryption can be used in conjunction with permissions to add a layer of security. Windows Server 2003 includes the Encrypting File System introduced with Windows 2000, and improvements to EFS now enable users to share encrypted files with other selected users. You will learn how to use EFS to encrypt files and folders, both through the GUI and using the cipher.exe tool.

Another tool for controlling access is an authentication...