Home page

Transcripts

Windows XP and Office XP Security Tour

Intro

Windows XP provides the most dependable version of Windows ever, with the best security and privacy features Windows has ever provided. Overall, security has been improved in Windows XP to help you have a safe, secure and private computing experience. In addition, Microsoft's companion suite of office applications has been upgraded to new unprecedented levels of security with Office XP. Together, these products will make you and your information more secure while giving you the most productive user experience. There are a number of familiar features that have changed significantly, along with new features that will improve your ability to manage system security. These important new features will reduce your IT costs and enhance the security of your business systems. This demo will give you a quick glimpse at a few of the core security and privacy features in Windows XP and Office XP including Secured Access, Protecting Documents, Preventing the Spread of Viruses, Remote Control Permissions, Authenticating Files and Messages, Internet Connection Protection. Click on a topic to see an animation about it, when it is finished, you will return to this menu.

Secured Access

Secured access. Bob has had his laptop containing some important company documents stolen on a business trip, since the thief will have access to his hard drives, it may be possible for him to hack the local security database which contains the administrator's password. This could be possible, even if the thief can't log on and get past the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen. By establishing a Syskey, Bob can set up his computer so that the user has to enter a password before the security database starts up. This means that the thief cannot access the local security database if he does not know the Syskey password. By combining Syskey with the normal Windows XP log on, Bob has used an easy and secure way to keep unwanted users from logging onto his computer.

Protecting Documents

Protecting documents. Mary needs to share financial information files with her boss. There are often cases where she wants to share a document with her boss and ensure that her boss can verify the file creator and that the file has not been altered. Using password protection on documents allows Mary to make read-only versions of her documents and imprint them with her personalized digital signature. When Mary's boss receives a document with Mary's digital signature, he can verify that the document has come from Mary without being altered. Since Mary creates and works with sensitive files, she needs to make sure that no one else can access them, even if her computer is stolen. Windows XP allows Mary to encrypt sensitive files that she doesn't want anyone else to access. Encryption allows only the user that possesses the proper key to get access to the file. Even if someone gets access to her hard drive and can log on with a different user ID such as administrator, they still cannot access her sensitive data.

Internet Connection Protection

Internet connection protection. John is on the road and wants to connect to the internet using a dial-up connection. He usually accesses the internet through the corporate network at the office which has a sophisticated firewall. From the hotel, his dialup or high-speed connection to the internet is at risk from attacks. Windows XP now includes the internet connection firewall which can block unwanted traffic from getting to John's computer when he is connected to the internet outside of his corporate network.

Preventing the Spread of Viruses

Preventing the spread of viruses. Ed is an experienced computer user who is aware that many computer viruses are passed via code attached to e-mail messages. Even though he knows what to look for, he is still at risk of opening a tainted message accidentally and setting off a program that sends an unapproved message to everyone one in his Outlook address book. Office XP and Outlook 2002 have the ability to allow only digitally signed code from a trusted source to run on Ed's computer. Furthermore, even if his security settings do not catch malicious code, Outlook 2002 restricts access to any code from running without first prompting Ed for permission. In addition to these two security steps, Windows XP gives Ed the ability to to allow software to run only from specific directories on his hard drive which keeps malicious code from ever being installed or running on his computer.

Authenticating Files and Messages

Authenticating files and messages. Kim is a department manager at a large corporation, like many of us, she works in an office environment where she gets inundated with email on a daily basis. One of Kim's privacy issues is knowing if the email she receives is really from the person it appears to be from. Office XP now allows documents and email to be digitally signed, so the recipient can verify the identity of the sender. In addition, Kim uses the internet to do research and make purchases for her Department. Giving websites personal and financial information exposes her to some privacy issues. The website she visits may allow third-party sites to write cookies to her computer that track her web usage and she may not trust these third-party websites. Internet Explorer can warn Kim when a website she is looking at is allowing a different website to write cookies to her hard drive, this will allow her to monitor and give access to only websites that she trusts.

Remote Control Permissions

Remote control permissions. Windows XP gives users like Jan the ability to get help with her computer from Windows XP experts. With the remote assistance feature, a support technician can take control of her computer and help her with her configuration issues. This of course raises Jan's concern that an untrusted hacker could gain control of her computer. Fortunately, when Jan initiates the remote assistance process, a password is required for the helper to ask permission. Another password is needed to establish a remote session. Once a session is established, it is conducted over an encrypted session between the computers and if the helper tries to take control of Jan's desktop, Jan is first prompted for permission. Additionally, Jan always has the option to end the remote control session at any time.

Outro

With these security features and others, Windows XP and Office XP make you and your information more secure than ever before. In addition, these features have been designed to be easy to find and easy to use. The overall goal is to allow you to keep your information between you and trusted others. In addition, security features are in place to restrict unwanted users from remote or direct access to your data and files. The presence of these features will enable you to have a more safe and efficient workflow in turn reducing additional IT security costs. Overall, the new security features in Windows XP and Office XP make the product safer to use and more reliable for business tasks.