How do you secure your network servers, laptops, desktops, and workstations? A good starting point is to have a checklist of how to enable security features on these devices. You also need to enable a server monitoring service to track specific events and generate event logs.
Yet, your security tasks are never done. You can get a false sense of security if you merely go through your checklist of security items and stop. In the real world, things are much different and security issues and concerns are constantly evolving and changing.
There is no one simple solution to ensure your servers are secure and safe—although, with the right types of server monitoring solutions in place, the process can be made easier. Ensuring your computers, laptops, and workstations are secure is just part of the process.
You also need to worry about security issues when those devices connect to your network and your network servers. Do you know who has access and permissions to different types of databases and files? Do you know whether your users have access and permissions they do not need?
If you cannot answer this question, then you should be worried. When user accounts are not configured correctly, you are increasing the risk of security breaches. Before you start disabling user accounts and enabling every security feature possible, you first need to do a security assessment to determine the threat level for different types of access.
For example, the threat level for users having access to a network printer will be much lower than users having access to files containing propriety or financial data. When developing a threat assessment, think about every application, data type, device, and connection method your employees use and assign an appropriate threat level.
Next, identify what type of access each employee requires to do their jobs. This allows you to set user permissions based on what the employee needs. Don’t forget to also limit what databases and files employees can access.
Even after doing these things, you are still not done. Now you need to use Active Directory security features to further protect your data, files, and servers. Active Directory can be used for a variety of event logging activities.
It is essential to configure an appropriate server monitoring application like PA Server Monitor to monitor for potential security issues. For instance, you would want to configure the application to monitor user accounts for unsuccessful logins, changes to permissions, and so on.
You could also configure LAPS (Local Administrator Password Solution), a tool available in Microsoft environments that works with Active Directory to ensure each device has a different administrator password.
Don’t let your guard down after doing these things, either. You still need to constantly monitor, review, and adjust your Active Directory security and server security best practices. Maintaining the security of your computers, laptops, servers, and other devices is a job that is never done but which can be much easier with PA Server Monitor.
To learn more about PA Server Monitor and our other types of server monitoring solutions, please feel free to contact Power Admin at 1-800-401-2339 today! We offer a free, full-functioning 30-day trial of the best server monitoring software to help you improve your Active Directory security.
