Microsoft Server 2003 security recommendations

Hi all,
For my school work I needed to install server 2003 for the upcoming web server class. But I am not sure about how to secure this.. any av , firewall or any recommendation will be very helpful. Thanks guys..

 

Hi Kernelwars, a Linux box might be a better option.

 

Take a look at the "security configuration wizard" it is new in service pack 2. That should get you started.

 

use UBUNTU and you will be happy with no need to worry about stuff like that

 

As always - fully updated Windows from Microsoft's Windows Update , Windows Firewall enabled , install server (business) antivirus (with no firewall or other components) and make sure you configure the antivirus not scan certain files/locations as per Microsoft instructions here and to scan just executables (PE) files. Since this is a server and for educational purpose , we can suspect you won't be doing any dangerous activity , so this is absolutely enough .

Good luck with your school work !

 

Thanks for ur answer.. Is there any antivirus i can use for the server 2003 thats free ?

 

Hi!

As far as I know - the popular free antivirus products will work only on workstations not running server OS. You'd better pick-up a trial version of your favourite business product. Which one are you thinking of ?

 

The new version of MSE installs and works fine on Server 2003 (running it here right now). Malwarebytes and SuperAntispyware also work.

 

Comodo IS works fine on Server 2008, so will work on Server 2003 also.

 

if you have a site license for VIPRE AV, you can install that on windows server without any issues. if it's the premium version, just don't use the firewall component and you'll be fine.

 

AV is not a must, unless you will allow uploads. If you expect DDoS, harden the TCP/IP stack
Configure Windows Firewall and open ONLY the necessary service ports. Strong passwords are very important. Disable FTP and SMTP if you are not going to use them.

 

Thank you all that responded.. I am going to try all of your recommendations and report back..

 

It's important to note that if you run VIPRE or any other anti-virus on a server, it's definitely suggested to follow the exclusion recommendations from this Microsoft KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158

With the consumer version of VIPRE you would need to enter these exclusions manually. With the Enterprise version of VIPRE we offer templates that can easily be applied which are already setup with the recommended exclusions.

Edit - Nevermind, I see 3GUSER already mentioned this.

 

^ this is why sunbelt/gfi gets my money.

@kernelwars good luck with your studies!

 

after looking at different perspective decided to go with red hat linux 9
Edit- Professor said it wont hurt if i run both linux and windows server ..lol
so setting up two different servers on different systems

 

Was there a trick to getting MSE installed? I just downloaded the latest "XP" version and it was a no go on our server.

I've had Rising Anti Virus running on 2003 SBS without any issues. PC Tools Free AV installed, but caused major problems with our setup. Surprisingly enough, Clam AV for Windows (Immunet) shot an error during the install, but seems to be running just fine. Right now I am running Clam AV with Windows Defender.

 

RH 9? are they letting you choose a distro, or do they force you to use that particular version? RH 9 came out 8 years ago. It'd be a good way to check out linux if you've never used it, but a *lot* has changed in 8 years.

If you're allowed to choose your own and you want to check out a sort-of-RH-based distro, look at CentOS, it's free and uses a lot of RHEL (redhat enterprise linux) packages.

 

No tricks, which surprised me. I opened the installer with ResourceHacker and took a peek at the strings with the system requirements. To my surprise, the server entries were already there. I'd try downloading it again. I downloaded it using the server OS itself, don't know if that makes a difference. It might give you a version that suits what you are using when you browse to the download.

 

Comodo av

 

yea its old but the text book is mainly on windows 2003, 2008 and red hat 9 so yeah