CSED 430	

We talked about this assignment in class Wed Sept 27; here it is in writing.
I'll put it on the web page tomorrow, along with some links (eg to the
Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit and documentation).

The assignment is due Wed Oct 4, but I realize you might not finish then
so I'll take it later. But I'd definitely like a draft from everyone
by the weekend of Oct 7, so I can give you some feedback during our
Oct 11 class. 

Your assignment is to develop a two-part document describing how to
secure a workstation (most likely a standalone workstation, as that's
the easiest case):

    1. A set of POLICY GOALS describing what you want to achieve
    2. A setof rules for IMPLEMENTING your goals; that is, the "mechanism".

Note that goals and mechanisms are quite separate, and you should
begin with the former. One of the purposes of this assignment,
in fact, is to encourage you to think in terms of what you want
before you get too concerned about how to get it. Note also that
some goals may in fact have no mechanism; that is, they may be
impossible to implement. It happens.

We're talking about "security" goals pertaining to the operation
of the workstation here. You might have other usage-related goals
-- for example, prohibiting email with attachments, or prohibiting
web browsing to certain sites -- but these involve network restrictions
that aren't really about controlling the workstation operating environment. 

For this assignment, you are free (within limits) to say you don't
know how to implement a particular goal; you are also free to drop
something from the goals section because you don't know how to
implement it. You are encouraged to spell out your mechanisms
at the system management level (eg, use the Local Security Policy
tool to ....) rather than expressing your mechanisms as
a utility-software application (eg, use the Microsoft Shared
Computer Toolkit User-Restrictions tool to disable ....).
However, this also is not strictly required.


Some sample goals:
    * prohibiting user modification of system files and programs
    * prohibiting user modification of the registry
    * prohibiting installation of new software
    * prohibiting use of certain installed software
    * prohibiting the saving of passwords, browser history, and other
      sensitive information
    
Note that "restoring all files to their original state upon every
reboot" is really a mechanism, not a goal. Can you identify a goal
that really seems to require this mechanism?

In the real world, one common "meta-goal" is to "play it safe";
that is, to do something in a way that is easily verifiable.
Thus, file-restoral-on-reboot might be considered safer than
making-every-important-file-readonly, simply because it is easier
to audit and verify. I'll leave it up to you to decide how much
you want to incorporate "playing it safe" in your document.

Some relevant sections from the WinXP Resource Kit:
pp. 221-??: managing desktops *without* Active Directory
pp. 522-??: using the NTFS file system
ch 17:	    Managing Authorization and Access Control,
            including NTFS permissions
Appendix B: User Rights