Home > Articles > Certification > Microsoft Certification

This chapter is from the book

Understanding and Implementing Group Policy

One of the most powerful aspects of Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 Active Directory is the implementation of Group Policy. Group Policy is the capability to control finite details of a computer or user quickly and easily. These policies can either be configured at the local level or within the Active Directory structure. Regardless of the location of implementation, these settings are extremely powerful and can change the way normal control and administration is done within a company.

Local Group Policy

Actually, you can administer Local Policies from two locations: a Local Group Policy and a Local Security Policy. The Local Group Policy can be accessed by opening the Group Policy snap-in within a Microsoft Management Console and then selecting the Local Computer option. You can configure security-related settings using the Local Security Policy. Choose Start, Administrative Tools, Local Security Policy. Each of the nodes in the Local Security Policy Console is a security area or scope, within which you will find dozens of security-related settings. The Local Security Policy is nothing more than a subset of the Local Group Policy. So, when you open the Local Group Policy, you are also accessing the Local Security Policy.

Managing Local Group Policies

The Local Group Policy and the Local Security Policy tools are most helpful on standalone systems and laptops that roam away from the network environment. The Local Group Policy controls the configuration of the local computer and user. The policy-based settings will apply to a computer at startup and to a user at logon. Also, these policy settings are applied at a refresh interval, which does not require a reboot or logging off. The default refresh interval for all Group Policy Object settings on a Windows XP client is 90 minutes.

In a workgroup environment, you will need to access each computer and make the desired settings on each computer individually. Methods exist to make this more efficient by using security templates, but the process is still a manual one that requires decentralized administration of the policy settings. The solution to this decentralized administration is to implement Active Directory and apply the desired settings to a grouping of computers or users by using Group Policy Objects within Active Directory.

Group Policy Objects (GPO)

Group Policy Objects (GPOs) within Active Directory take the concept of policy-enforced configurations and apply it to multiple computers or users. Unlike Local Group Policy, GPOs provide a centralized enumeration of configuration settings. You can apply, or link, GPOs to the following:

  • A site—This is an Active Directory object that represents a portion of your network topology with good connectivity—a local area network (LAN), for example.

  • A domain—This causes the configuration specified by the policy to be applied to every user or computer in the domain.

  • An OU—This applies policies to users or computers in the OU or any child OUs.

To access Group Policy, you must go to the properties of a site, domain, or OU (SDOU), and click the Group Policy tab. Therefore, to work with group policy for a site, you use the Active Directory Sites and Services Console, whereas to work with group policy for a domain or OU, you use Active Directory Users and Computers.

An individual machine can have only one Local Group Policy, whereas an SDOU can have multiple GPOs linked to them. In the Group Policy Properties dialog box, you can create a new GPO by clicking New, or link an existing GPO to the SDOU by clicking Add. If you select a group policy and click Edit, you expose the GPO in the Group Policy Editor. The GPMC removes much of the complexity of creating and linking GPOs to Active Directory objects. The GPMC displays the domain, OUs, and sites clearly, which can all be right-clicked to expose options for creating and linking GPOs to these nodes.

Application of Group Policy Objects

GPOs are divided into the Computer Configuration and User Configuration nodes. The computer settings apply to every computer in the site, domain, or OU to which the policy is linked, and, by default, to all child OUs. Computer settings take effect at startup and at every refresh interval, which by default is 90 minutes. User settings affect every user in the site, domain, or OU and its children at logon, and after each refresh interval.

When a computer starts, its current settings are modified first by any configuration specified by the Local Group Policy. Then the configurations for the SDOU GPOs are applied. The SDOU policies are applied in order: first, the policies linked to the computer’s site, then the policies for its domain, and finally the policies for each OU in the branch that leads to the object’s OU. The policy settings from the Local Group Policy and the SDOU will append to each other if no conflict exists. If a conflict occurs in a specific configuration setting, the last setting applied has control. Therefore, the policies that are "closest" to the computer—the policies linked to its OU, for example—take precedence if a conflict arises. The same application of policies applies to a user at logon: local policy, site policy, domain policy, and OU policy.

User Rights Assignment

User rights, also called privileges, enable a user or group to perform system functions such as changing the system time, backing up or restoring files, and formatting a disk volume. Some rights are assigned to Built-in groups. For example, all members of the Administrators group can format a disk volume. You cannot deny that right to the members of the Administrators group, nor can you assign that right to a user or group you create. Other rights are assignable. For example, the right to back up files and folders is given by default to all members of the Administrators and Backup Operators, but you can remove the right for those groups or assign the right to other users or groups. You can modify the rights that are visible in the Local Security Policy Console. You do not see the "hard wired" rights in this interface.

User rights, because they are system oriented, override object permissions when the two are in conflict with each other. For example, a user may be denied permission to read a folder on a disk volume. However, if the user has been given the privilege to back up files and folders, a backup of the folder succeeds, even though the user is denied permission to the folder.

Security Options

In the Security Options node are a number of useful security settings. This node highlights one of the advantages of policies, because while many of these settings are accessible elsewhere in the user interface (for example, you can specify driver signing in the System applet), a policy enables you to configure all those settings, from all the tools and applets, into a centralized location.

Some particularly useful options to be familiar with are the following:

  • Clear the Virtual Memory Pagefile When the System Shuts Down—By default, the pagefile is not cleared and could allow unauthorized access to sensitive information that remains in the pagefile.

  • Do Not Display Last Username in Logon Screen—This option forces users to enter both their username and password at logon. By default, the policy is disabled and the name of the previously logged-on user is displayed.

  • Number of Previous Logons to Cache—This policy limits the number of cached profiles that are on a system. Not only will this clean up the hard drive space on a system, but if no cached profiles exist, users will be forced to access a domain controller when logging on to the domain, instead of using cached credentials.

Account Policies

Account policies control the password requirements and how the system responds to invalid logon attempts. The policies you can specify include the following:

  • Maximum Password Age—Specifies the period of time after which a password must be changed.

  • Minimum Password Length—Specifies the number of characters in a password. Passwords can contain up to 127 characters; however, most passwords should not exceed 14 characters.

  • Passwords Must Meet Complexity Requirements—This policy, if in effect, does not allow a password change unless the new password contains at least three of four character types: uppercase (A through Z), lowercase (a through z), numeric (0 through 9), and nonalphanumeric (such as !). All passwords must also be at least six characters long to meet complexity requirements.

  • Enforce Password History—The system can remember a specified number of previous passwords. When a user attempts to change his or her password, the new password is compared against the history; if the new password is unique, the change is allowed.

  • Minimum Password Age—Specifies the number of days that a new password must be used before it can be changed again.

  • Account Lockout Threshold—Specifies the number of denied logon attempts after which an account is locked out. For example, if this is set to 3, a lockout occurs if a user enters the wrong password three times; any further logon attempt will be denied. If this is set to 0, there is no lockout threshold.

  • Reset Account Lockout Counter After—Specifies the number of minutes after which the counter that applies to the lockout threshold is reset. For example, if the counter is reset after 5 minutes and the account lockout threshold is 3, a user can log on twice with the incorrect password. After 5 minutes, the counter is reset, so the user can log on twice more. A third invalid logon during a 5-minute period locks out the account.

  • Account Lockout Duration—Specifies how long logon attempts are denied after a lockout. During this period, a logon with the locked out username is not authenticated.

Audit Policies

Audit policies specify what types of events are entered into the Security Log. The most important policies to understand include those in the following list:

  • Logon Events—Authentication of users logging on or off locally and making connections to the computer from remote systems.

  • Account Management—Any change to account properties, including password changes and additions, deletions, or modifications to users or groups.

  • Object Access—Access to objects on which auditing has been specified. Auditing object access, for example, enables auditing of files and folders on an NT File System (NTFS) volume, but you must also configure auditing on those files and folders. Refer to Chapter 2, "Establishing, Configuring, and Managing Resources," for a detailed discussion of auditing.

  • Privilege Use—Use of any user rights, now called privileges. For example, this policy audits a user who changes the system time, because changing the system time is a privilege.

For each policy, you can specify to audit successes, failures, or both. As events are logged, they appear in the Security Log, which, by default, can be viewed only by administrators. Other logs can be viewed by anyone.

SP2 GPO Changes

Service Pack 2 is known as the "security pack" because of all the security changes it provides. A large amount of those security changes and features can be controlled with GPOs. Microsoft has added more than 600 (no, this is not a typing error) settings to a default GPO. The new settings help control Windows Firewall, Windows Update, Internet communications, and more. The majority of these changes have taken place in the Administrative Templates section of both the User Configuration and Computer Configurations sections.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020