MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing ...

Lesson 1: Overview of Security Policy
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Security Policy in Windows XP Professional refers to two types of policies: Local Security
Policy and Group Policy. Local Security Policy is applied to a specific computer,
and is the only type of security policy you can use on computers that are members of
a workgroup. The specific local policy that you create is referred to as a Local Group
Policy Object (LGPO).
Group Policy is applied to sites, domains, and OUs in an Active Directory environment,
and affects all computers or users that are members of the container to which the Group
Policy is assigned. In a domain environment, administrators typically rely on Group Policy
to apply security settings to computers, but Local Security Policy can also apply. The
specific group policy that you create is referred to as a Group Policy Object (GPO).
After this lesson, you will be able to
■ Configure Local Security Policy on a computer running Windows XP Professional.
■ Describe how Group Policy affects a computer running Windows XP Professional.
■ View policies that are in effect on a computer running Windows XP Professional.
Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes
How to Configure Local Security Policy
By using Local Security Policy, you can implement numerous security-relevant settings
on a local computer, such as group membership, permissions and rights, password
requirements, desktop settings, and much more. For computers in a workgroup environment,
Local Security Policy offers a way to apply consistent restrictions across those
computers.
What You Can Configure with Local Security Policy
Lesson 1 Overview of Security Policy
Windows XP Professional allows you to configure security settings in the following
areas by using Local Security Policy:
Account policies Account policies include password policies, such as minimum
password length and account lockout settings. You will learn about the account
policies available for configuration in Lesson 2, “Configuring Account Policies.”
Local policies Local policies include three categories of policies, as follows:
❑ Auditing policies allow you to track the activities of users and the access of
resources on a computer. Event log settings are used to configure auditing for
security events, such as successful and failed logon attempts. You will learn
about auditing in detail in Lesson 5, “Implementing an Audit Policy.”