Windows Security Center

The latest effort to make users aware of the security status of their system is the Windows Security Center (WSC) included in Service Pack 2. There are a number of ways to access Security Center; all the methods open the Security Center as shown in Fig. 02.

Method One - Click Start > Control Panel > Security Center

Method Two - Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Security Center

Method Three - If the Security Center icon is visible in the Notification Area (by the clock) it can be clicked to open Security Center.

Method Four - If there is an alert balloon (Fig. 01) visible on the desktop, clicking it will open Security Center.

Fig. 01

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Security Essentials Section

Fig. 02
Security Center Immediately After A Clean Install of Windows XP

It's important to understand that Security Center is primarily a monitoring tool. It looks at three separate items Microsoft has identified as being essential to system security; a firewall, system updates, and anti-virus protection. Based on what the monitoring tools find, Security Center provides recommendations a user might want to consider to increase system security.

• Firewall - Windows XP has included a firewall program as part of the operating system since it was first released. Prior to Service Pack 2 the firewall was not enabled by default. With the release of Service Pack 2 the default has been changed to enabled and the status is monitored by Security Center. The Fig. 02 screen capture was taken immediately after a clean install of XP with SP2 and as you can see, the firewall is indeed enabled.

• Automatic Updates - When SP2 is installed users are now forced to make a decision about Automatic Updates (info and screen captures are here) at the first reboot after the SP2 install completes. Because I opted not to turn on Automatic Updates at that point in the installation, Security Center now shows that updates have not been configured. In an effort to get users to enable the updates, a [Turn On Automatic Updates] button is provided in the monitoring section.

• Virus Protection - Again, because this was a clean install and XP does not contain any built-in virus protection, the section monitoring this security essential reports no virus protection was found on the system. If you're upgrading a current install of XP to SP2 that already has an anti-virus application installed you're likely to see an alternative display, although there is a possibility the application may not even be recognized as existing on the system. Just because an anti-virus application is installed it doesn't mean that Security Center will be able to accurately determine its state. Fig. 03 shows that while Security Center knows the anti-virus application is installed it is unable to determine the status. In Fig. 04, Security Center is able to identify the application, determine it is up to date, and verify it's enabled and protecting the system.

Fig. 03

Fig. 04

In some circumstances there will be a [Recommendations] button present in the monitoring modules. Based on the screen capture in Fig. 02 I clicked the [Recommendations] button and this (Fig. 05) is what was displayed. I have to say that it made me laugh. Somehow, "Get another antivirus program" just struck me funny for some reason. Maybe it was the use of 'another' when there wasn't any anti-virus software installed to begin with on this system. At any rate, clicking the [How?] link takes you to the Microsoft Windows Security Center Antivirus Partners site where you can obtain trial versions of different anti-virus products.

Fig. 05

There is one area of the Recommendation screen that deserves notice. At the bottom there is a section with a checkbox where you can disable monitoring of the specific module. Most third party anti-virus and firewall programs place an icon or icons in the Notification area designed specifically to monitor the programs. For example, I use Norton Internet Security, a product that contains both a firewall and anti-virus applications. It places two icons, the green and blue globe and the little yellow computer screen, in the Notification area as shown in Fig. 06.

Fig. 06

I'm so used to using them that I'm never consciously aware of their presence, but any change in them immediately catches my eye. If you're comfortable with the icons you already have, checking the checkbox will stop Security Center from monitoring the specific module and eliminate any security alerts you receive. Checking the box also modifies the monitoring module as shown in Fig. 07 to a Not Monitored status.

Fig. 07

Manage Security Settings Section

Directly below the Security Essentials section there is a Manage Security Settings (Fig. 08) section. I won't deny that the Security Essentials section discussed previously can be valuable for some users, but the fault I find is it doesn't make the user fully aware of all the options available for managing security settings. Half the battle of getting users to tend to their system security has always been pointing them to the location where the settings are located. That's where Manage Security Settings takes over. Each item is a link to the property sheet or dialog box that controls that items settings. The items and associated links are shown in Table 01 below. It's much easier to access the advanced settings by going through the Manage Security Settings section than by using Control panel or keystroke combinations.

Fig. 08

Clicking Internet Options in Manage Security Settings opens the Internet Properties property sheet shown at right. It can also be accessed by opening Internet Explorer then clicking Tools > Internet Options... and selecting the Security tab.
Clicking Automatic Updates in Manage Security Settings opens the Automatic Updates property sheet shown at right. It can also be accessed by using the WinKey+ Pause/Break key sequence and then selecting the Automatic Updates tab.
Clicking Windows Firewall in Manage Security Settings opens the Windows Firewall property sheet shown at right. It can also be accessed by clicking Start > Control Panel Network and Internet Connections > Windows Firewall.

Table 01

Resources Section

The final part of Security Center is the Resources section (Fig. 09) located in the upper left hand quadrant. It contains a series of links to areas located both on the local system and the internet. The links are self-explanatory and the only one I want to comment on is the last one; Change the Way Security Center Alerts Me. Clicking it opens the Alert Settings (Fig. 10) dialog box where you can easily disable the alerts. Obviously one of the main points behind Security Center is to provide the alerts to keep users aware of problem situations. Turning off the alerts defeats that purpose. It would be better to solve the issues causing the alerts than to disable them, but the capability does exist if needed.