Tech Watch | InfoWorld Staff » Microsoft Releases Security Update For Windows Server 2003

March 31, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft Releases Security Update For Windows Server 2003

TAGS: None

Microsoft sent to manufacturing late Wednesday the first service pack for its two-year old Windows Server 2003 that is heavily flavored with security enhancements designed to make it easier for corporate users to lock down their servers.

One of the more important features in Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1), now available for download from Microsoft's Web site, is the Security Configuration Wizard, designed to reduce the product's "attack surface" by collecting data about specific server roles and then automatically blocking all services and ports that are not needed to carry out those roles.

SP1 also contains Microsoft's Windows Firewall that permits network wide control though Group Policy. The firewall, which was also released with Windows XP Service Pack 2, can serve as a host firewall around each client and server on the network, according to company officials.

"This is now the second release of Windows Server to go through the intense security screening we have through out Trustworthy Computing initiative. We spent a lot of time not just implementing existing security fixes but also changing some of the root cause behaviors. Users can't get enough security and so two years after the first release (of Windows Server 2003) we are turning up the volume on security again, said Samm DiStasio, Director of Product Management in Microsoft's Windows Server Product Management Group.

One analyst, at least, feels the company has done a thorough job in addressing the range of security problems that keep many IT administrators up at night.

"We consistently find that customers look forward to a first service pack after a product release to bolster the security the security of the Windows environment. In the case of SP1 it looks like Microsoft has brought forward not just the normal collection of updates, but several tools that promote more secure network configurations," said Al Gillen, Research Director for System Software for IDC.

Other security improvements in the release include Internet Information Services 6.0 Auditing, which allows administrators to better identify potential malicious users in case a data store becomes corrupted. The company has also added Network Access Quarantine Control components that let administrators isolate out-of-date virtual private network assets.

Separately, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will make the first Service Pack available for its Small Business Server within the next 60 days. That package will roll up all the latest service packs and updates available for the product, including built-in and customized integration capabilities that make installing the product less complex.

The company also announced it will send its Windows Server 2003 x64 and Windows XP Professional x64 Editions to manufacturing. Those products will be available in late April, according to company officials.

Posted by Ed Scannell on March 31, 2005 09:01 AM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: