Book of the Month for April 2007: Windows Vista Security Guide

Now I know what some of you may be thinking, this is not really a book but more of a whitepaper.  In that case your in a sense right.  The book of the month has been available online for some time now.  Take a look here:    Windows Vista Online Security Guide With a the emails I have received from some of you for suggestions (Fountainhead (although I am switching to atlas shrugged), Eniac, Blink...etc.) I have had plenty of good books to read. 

So why do I did I pick this book this month?

A few reasons, for one those books listed above are long and I am not a fast reader.  :-)  Secondly, this is a great topic and I know a lot of you have asked my about the security improvements inside of Windows Vista.  Lastly timing.  As the great folks in Southern California found out last week at the TechNet Event, we are giving bound copies of this book to anyone who attends a live TechNet Event this quarter (April - June 2007) see disclaimer below.   This is a small way to say thank you for attending our live events. 

So on with the review.

This book gives some great structure and advice to building and improving your security infrastructure for Windows Vista.  The book has 5 chapters and very large appendix.  The chapters will give you governance around Group Policy.  The book discuss protecting data, which includes Bitlocker, EFS, RMS and even controlling devices.  The discussion also ends up with application compatibility and using windows Vista with limited functionality.  Very good stuff all by it self, but then there is the appendix.

One word on the appendix: SUPERFANTASTIC!  The appendix is longer than the book, and offers a great extra resources around the security settings with group policy.  This section lists and DESCRIBES a majority of all the security settings that can be applied to your client computers.  Some of the settings are new but some of the settings have been around for years.  In addition the section also shows a lot of the Windows Vista default security settings!  The whole book is great and I almost forgot to mention it comes with a CD with a tool called the GPO accelerator tool, that will help you implement the guidance from the book.

So come to one of our events to get the book.  It really is a great book and resource for any IT Professional!

Take a look at my other book of the months here: Past Books of The Month

Please comment if you have read the book and let me know what you think (or if you think I coped out this month)  :-)

I will get back to regular books next month.

 

* Book Promotion Disclaimer:
Offer good only to the first 10,000 people who register and attend a qualifying TechNet Event between April 3, 2007 and June 28, 2007. [See
https://www.technetevents.com  for list of qualifying TechNet events]. Limit one book per person. This offer is non-transferable and expires on June 28, 2007, while supplies last. Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the recipient. Registered attendees must pick up book in person at event. Any gift that is not claimed will be forfeited. This is also offered as free download at the Microsoft Product Information Center.