Windows network inventory

Microsoft evidently recognizes this new reality. Thus, as part of its Trustworthy Computing initiative, the company has made security the focus of Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2)—the most security-centric service pack since Windows NT 4.0 SP3. Many people in the user community dubbed that service pack "Security Pack 3," and XP SP2 (which as I write this article is scheduled for release late this summer) deserves the same moniker. SP2 is chock-full of new security features to combat worms and malware that can infect networks through unprotected workstations. SP2's most important feature is Windows Firewall, a much enhanced version of Internet Connection Firewall (ICF). The feature's name change reflects the emphasis that Microsoft is placing on using windows network inventory to protect workstations that connect solely to a local intranet as well as those that connect to the Internet. The best way to begin to take advantage of SP2's new firewall feature is to install SP2 on a standalone test server, which I'll show you how to do in this article. After you're familiar with the feature, you can install SP2 and centrally configure Windows Firewall on all the workstations on your network (something I'll show you how to do in a follow-up article).