NIST Releases Windows XP Security Guide

If you're a Windows XP user and worried about security, you might want to take a look at the paper "Guidance for Securing Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition: A NIST Security Configuration Checklist">.

Published by the Computer Security Divisionof the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the paper is explains the need to use a combination of security protections, such as antivirus software, antispyware software, a personal firewall, limited user accounts, and automatic software updates, to secure a computer against threats and maintain its security.NIST maintains that the settings make a substantial improvement in the security posture of Windows XP Home Edition computers.

The publication is partially based on SP 800-68, "Guidance for Securing Microsoft Windows XP Systems for IT Professionals", which in turn is based on material developed by the National Security Agency (NSA), DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency), U.S. Air Force (USAF), Microsoft, and other members of the security community.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 11:34 AM  Permalink