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Windows NT 4.0 C2 Evaluation finished

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the checking-out-the-security dept.

DevNu11 writes "Windows NT 4.0 SP6a + Hotfixes + Trusted configuration finished evaluation under the TCSEC program. This page has a configuration guide for deploying a system in a C2-evaluated configuration. A text on the bottom of the page points out the differences of NT being secure and that someone could configure NT to be secure."

2 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. Modification list to NT by Sulka · · Score: 5

    Procedure for C2 NT installation, from the doc:

    Unpack and set up hardware
    Set power-on password
    Install Windows NT
    Restart Windows NT as Administrator
    Verify video driver
    Install Printer and Tape Drivers
    Install Service Pack 6a
    Install C2 Update (KB Q244599, Q243405, Q243404, and Q241041)
    Enable hardware boot protection
    Remove the NetBIOS Interface service
    Disable unnecessary devices
    Disable unnecessary services
    Disable Guest account
    Remove OS/2 and POSIX subsystems
    Secure base objects
    Secure additional base named objects
    Protect kernel object attributes
    Protect files and directories
    Protect the registry
    Restrict access to public Local Security Authority (LSA) information
    Restrict null session access over named pipes
    Restrict untrusted users' ability to plant Trojan horse programs
    Disable caching of logon information
    Allow only Administrators to create shares
    Disable direct draw
    Restrict printer driver installation to Administrators and Power Users only
    Set the paging file to be cleared at system shutdown
    Restrict floppy disk drive and CD-ROM drive access to the interactive user only
    Enable NetBT to open TCP and UDP ports exclusively
    Modify user rights memberships
    Set auditing (if enabled) for base objects and for backup and restore
    Disable blank passwords
    Restrict system shutdown to logged-on users only
    Set security log behavior
    Restart the computer
    Update the Emergency Repair Disk

    No POSIX, eh? I can understand most of the mods, but to me it seems like the machine pretty much becomes a dumb terminal after all of this.

    sulka

    --
    "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
  2. Re:Linux and C2 certification by Hawke · · Score: 5
    Um, B-rated OS's require MAC capability. I do not believe OpenBSD has that. At the B level, its not just an administration thing. The MAC component really makes the systems unusable for normal work.

    MAC == Mandatory Access Control. Basically the OS supplies some rules about resoruce access that trump the rules provided by permissions. Think of tagging processes with a tag like "Secret". A process running at Secret can open Secret, Classified, and Unclassified files, but everything it writes is always tagged Secret. It can't read TopSecret files or write to them.

    By the time you add in control of covert channels, you have to jump through some really weird hoops to get a B rating.

    C-2 rated systems require a Secure Attention Key (basically some way to guarentee you have a real-login screen, and not a fake one. Ctrl-Alt-Delete in NT) which I don't think the Open Source unixen have yet. Other than that we're in good shape.

    Solaris has a B-2 rated OS (Trusted Solaris) and a C-2 rated OS if I recall correctly. C-2 mode on a Solaris box turns on a lot of auditing, turns off Stop-A, and does a few other things I forgot.