Protecting XP from intruders

There are several things one can do to protect against intruders. Of course the old adage applies here as well, locks keep honest people out; in other words, if they want in, they will keep putting forth effort and eventually will be able to get in through some kind of exploit. The following are some tips that is able to greatly slow them down and make it nearly impossible for them to get in. If you use file sharing or remote connections, dont make the local policy changes.

1. As it was mentioned before, set the Guest and Administrator account passwords. By default, the Guest account password is blank. Make it something difficult, like a combination of letters and numbers, preferably not based on dictionary words. Control PanelAdministrative ToolsComputer ManagementLocal Users and Groups Highlight User Account, right-click, set password.

2. Remove/Delete unused accounts, especially remote assistance accounts.

3. Disable the Guest account since you can not delete it.

4. Rename the Guest and Administrator accounts to different names. Remove the description of these accounts (in local users and groups). Control PanelAdministrative ToolsLocal Security PolicyLocal PoliciesSecurity Options Account: Rename Guest Account - Double click and rename the account Account: Rename Administrator Account

5. If you don't must link to your computer from a remote machine, be sure to turn off this functionality. Control PanelAdministrative ToolsLocal Security PolicyLocal PoliciesUser rights Assessment "Access this computer from the network" - remove all users and groups. This should be blank "Deny access to this computer from the network" - this should include all users and groups. Double click on the policy, click Add User or group, click Advanced, click Find Now, highlight all the accounts and click OK.

6. Turn off the Microsoft File sharing in Network Neighborhood if it is not going to be used.

7. Under System PropertiesRemote, Turn off Remote Desktop and Remote invitations.

8. Run a software firewall program.

9. Be sure to visit WindowsUpdate to get the latest hotfixes and security patches. There are a bunch of them.