Ten best methods to protect Windows File Servers

Have you reinforced your file server? Use the following methods to fully protect important files and prevent unauthorized intrusion.

It is safe to store valuable confidential information of your company on one or more windows file servers. It may not be obvious that you do not know the degree of reinforcement and the scope of data protection against illegal intrusion.

If you do not know where to start, you just need to follow the ten best methods obtained through the following practices:

First, ensure that your server is safe on the physical layer.

If intruders can access your server physically, you may be taken away from the entire machine or a hard disk. In addition to ensuring physical security, you should also configure your system to boot only from the inside of the hard disk to prevent intruders from starting the system from removable media. Both BIOS and boot loader should be protected by a powerful password.

The second step is to encrypt your drive.

Use a BitLocker system to encrypt your drive, so that even if your hard disk is stolen or replaced and thrown to an insecure place, your file can still be secured. Use the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on your server to ensure that BitLocker is open and transparent between Administrators and Users.

Third, try to keep the server away from the network.

Because most file servers cannot connect to the Internet, use a firewall to restrict external access to your LAN.

The fourth step is to ensure that the server is updated with the latest and most complete patches.

Even if your Windows server is not connected to the Internet, you must ensure that the software is updated by running Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) on another server on your network. If your file server is not connected to the Internet, make sure that the Windows Update is set to automatically download and apply the patch unless you have a set of programs to download and manually test the patch.

Another easy omission is the Enhanced Security Configuration of the IE browser, which is often ignored because the security of the IE browser is rarely used. You can view Internet-Enhanced Security Configuration Options on the control panel and add some Windows components.

Do not forget anti-virus software.

Even if you have security protection for the gateway and run personal anti-virus software, you should still run enterprise-level anti-virus software on your file server. Most enterprise products allow you to update virus data from local servers (or even software running by other users on your network), but if your file server is not connected to the Internet, you may not be able to take full advantage of the extra protection provided by the network.

Sixth, remove unnecessary software.

Software that is definitely not needed on your server, such as Flash, Silverlight, or Java. Installing these software only increases the chance of attacks. You can delete useless control panels from the server.

7. Stop unnecessary services.

In Windows, unless you need these features (such as remote management), you should stop services like fax, messenger, IIS Admin, SMTP, task scheduler, Telnet, remote desktop service, and World Wide Web Publishing Service.

8. Control File Access.

You can use NTFS to restrict files and folders to access specific groups or individual users. You can view the attributes of a file or folder, select the "Security tab", and change the permissions in "advanced.

9. Use the audit function.

Make sure that you have set audit so that you can see who has tried to read, write, or delete your confidential files or folders. You can view the attributes of a file or folder, select the "Security tab", and select the "Review" option card in the "advanced" settings.

10. Use the least privilege to execute management tasks.

Avoid administrator privileges as much as possible. Similarly, make sure that all accounts with administrator permissions have strong password protection even if they have a password policy.