Submitted by Andrei Belogortseff – Website: WinAbility Software

Elevate starts programs elevated from batch files and scripts.

The syntax of the Elevate command is as follows:

  elevate [-opt1] [-opt2...] [path\]file[.exe] [param1 [param2...]]

Where -optN can be one of the following:

  -?         - Display the help screen and exit
  -info      - Open the web page with more information
              (the web page you are reading now!) and exit
  -wait4idle - Wait for the target process to initialize before returning
  -wait4exit - Wait for the target process to finish before returning
  -noui      - Don't display any messages, even if an error occurs

After the options, the following arguments should be entered:

  file       - The file name of the program to launch elevated
  paramN     - Optional parameters (as expected by the program being launched)

Elevate

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Submitted by Chris Wright – Website: Cjwdev

AD Tidy is a completely free tool that I created to help other IT Pros out. It can be used to identify when user/computer accounts last logged on to the network and can tidy up these accounts in various different ways.

All you need to do is configure the search settings to find the accounts you are interested in (for example you might want to find all user accounts in a particular OU that have not logged on for 60 days), then the tool will query each DC in your domain to find the most recent logon time for each account that matches your search criteria. You can then select any number of accounts from the search results and perform one or more of the following actions: Disable, Enable, Move, Delete, Set Description, Set Expiry Date, Add To Group, Remove From Group, Remove From All Groups, or Export To CSV.

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Submitted by Steve Schimmel – Blog: NetWrix The freeware NetWrix USB Blocker enforces centralized access control to prevent unauthorized use of removable media that connects to computer USB ports, for example, memory sticks, removable hard disks, iPods, and more. USB port access control is a very important aspect of your endpoint security, no matter how good your antivirus and firewall are. The USB device lockdown protects your network against malware and prevents theft of sensitive corporate data.

The product relies on built-in Group Policy mechanisms and seamlessly integrates into your existing environment. Another advantage of the product is simplicity: only a couple of mouse clicks to get the work done. And the most exciting: the software is free of charge for small networks (up to 50 computers). The paid commercial version is also available with advanced functionality and no limitation of network size.

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BitLocker to Go is a new feature in Windows 7 that encrypts data on USB sticks or flash cards. So whenever you lose an USB stick with sensitive data on it, you can be sure that nobody can read the data. However, one downside of BitLocker to Go is that there is no version for other operating systems, like Windows XP. This somehow contradicts the function of BitLocker to Go, because many people use USB sticks to transfer data between different computers. However, those computers may run on different operating systems, e.g. Windows XP, and because of the limitation of BitLocker to Go in Windows 7, you are not able to transfer the data to these PCs.

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The SysKey utility, also called the SAM lock tool, is a built-in Windows tool that allows you to secure the Security Accounts Management (SAM) Database. It can be helpful for preventing hackers from cracking Windows passwords, and it is also a way to stop some cleaning lady cracks.

I will first show you what you can do with the SysKey utility and then discuss how much extra security SysKey protection really brings.

The SAM database is part of the Windows Registry and stores information about user accounts such as user names and password hashes. The corresponding Registry file is located in c:\windows\system32\config. Since Windows NT 4 SP3, the SAM file is partly encrypted. The SysKey utility allows you to move the SAM encryption key off the computer and/or configure a startup password.

Using the SysKey utility

To launch the SysKey utility, type “syskey” at the Start Search prompt of Windows Vista or Windows 7, or use the “run” option of the Windows XP Start Menu.

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I think the Kon-Boot “hack tool” demonstrates perfectly that hacking a Windows machine can easily be performed by a cleaning lady if she has been equipped with the right boot CD. In only a few seconds, she could create a new account with admin privileges. The good woman doesn’t even have to stop shoving her vacuum cleaner around while performing this hack, bypassing all your firewalls, antivirus programs, monitoring solutions, and intrusion detection systems.

Why would a cleaning lady be interested in hacking your computers, you might wonder? Well, your company simply doesn’t pay her enough to resist the generous offer of the nice guy with the thick glasses who explained to her so patiently how to insert the CD. After all, it can’t be that bad to just turn on a computer for a few seconds. Even her vacuum cleaner consumes more power. She probably doesn’t know that the nearsighted young man works for one of those fast-growing industrial espionage syndicates that has been hired by one of your company’s competitors from far east (or far west).

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It appears that removing Windows passwords on a machine where you lost the administrator password has become my passion. Kon-Boot is probably the fastest and easiest way to remove a Windows password. All you have to do is insert the Kon-Boot boot CD, and the tool does the rest for you.

Shortly after the CD drive starts spinning, you will see the Kon-Boot welcome screen. At this point, you have to press a key for Kon-Boot to continue. Somehow this destroys the beauty of this tool because it would certainly be even cooler to hack Windows without touching a key.

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CleanAfterMe is a free NirSoft tool that allows you to erase the computer history after you finish your work. This is especially useful if you logged on as administrator on a user’s computer and want to make sure that you don’t leave any traces. Since CleanAfterMe is a portable application, you can easily launch it remotely or run it from your USB rescue stick.

I’ve counted 29 items that CleanAfterMe checks. For example, it can erase your browser history (cookies, visited pages, etc. in Internet Explorer), your traces in Windows Explorer (Recent Folder, Run MRU list, etc.), Recycle bin, Clipboard, and Event log entries, etc.

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Submitted by Martin Schvartzman – Blog: Scripts, Utilities and Tips for the SysAdmin

Sometimes, SOX regulations, customer agreement or your boss, forces you to have the password periodically changed for all service accounts and/or accounts running scheduled tasks. So instead of having a detailed list of who (the user account) runs what (the service or scheduled task) where (on which computer), and manually change the password at the GUI, you can use the Service and Scheduled Task User Manager tool (aka SSTUM) to help you do the job.

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Sandboxie is a very lightweight Windows sandbox that — guess what — runs applications in a sandbox. This Windows sandbox is completely detached from your Windows installation. So if the website or application starts to do malicious things, everything stays inside the box. No registry keys are set, and nothing is written on your hard disk. You can find the Sandboxie homepage here.

Keeping your computer secure and tidy is a tedious but necessary job. If you don’t want to waste time on dealing with security measures, there is a simple solution to minimize your computer’s exposure to security risks: Install only the most necessary applications, and don’t surf on untrusted sites. However, in an administrator’s daily life there is always a reason to bend this rule.

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According to the developers, Cain & Abel is a password recovery tool for Windows. This is a big understatement, though—it is a multi-purpose security tool. So what does this tool offer besides password recovery? A network enumerator, a remote registry editor, a network sniffer, a route table manager, a password cracker, a password decoder, a traceroute GUI, a Cisco Config Downloader/Uploader, a wireless scanner, a database query tool, and much more. Because of this vast application area, I can’t describe every function in detail here. I will concentrate on the password recovery features.

The homepage says that Windows is only supported up to XP, but the tool also installs smoothly on Windows 7. However, some of the functions don’t make sense in a Windows 7 environment, such as the feature to recover Internet Explorer 7 passwords. Some features won’t work at all. But the limitations for Windows 7 users are few.

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The release of SharePoint 2010 caused a lot of hype. Nonetheless, its predecessor Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is still used in many companies. For those who haven’t updated yet, I want to introduce a very valuable tool: SharePoint Utility with a Smart, Helpful Interface (SUSHI).

SharePoint is a big success for various reasons; one of them is certainly the ease of administration. Once you have internalized the structure of SharePoint, it is very straightforward to use. Almost too straightforward: because it is so easy to create new websites and lists, web applications often grow too fast and unstructured. Keeping the content ‘findable’ often requires the taming of the rank growth. It is a difficult task, but doable.

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Nirsoft’s Network Password Recovery is a free tool that supports Windows password recovery from the Windows Vault in Windows 7, Vista, and Windows XP.

In my article about the Windows Vault I outlined why it is a security risk to store network passwords with Windows integrated functions on PCs. I think Nirsoft’s Network Password Recovery is a perfect tool to demonstrate to Windows admins that the Windows Vault is not really a vault in the literal sense.

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In the last post of my stored Windows password series, I outlined what the Windows Vault is and what kinds of passwords it stores. Today, I will show you how you can manage stored Windows passwords in your network. First, let me explain why disabling stored Windows passwords might make sense in your environment.

Security risks of stored Windows passwords

Passwords that are stored on a computer are always a security risk. Even though the Windows Vault encrypts the passwords, you never can be sure that an attacker can’t get access by exploiting a security hole.

Even more problematic are stored passwords on mobile computers. If the system drive isn’t encrypted with BitLocker, an attacker can get access to a Windows password with a brute force attack. Once the attacker logs on to Windows, he has access to all the sites that are stored in the Windows Vault of the corresponding account.

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Windows Vault, in Windows 7, is the new name for Stored User Names and Passwords in Vista and Windows XP. In this article, I will explain what kinds of passwords are stored in the Windows Vault and in my next post I will describe how you can disable password caching.

Credential Manager

You can access the Windows Vault through the Credential Manager. The easiest way is by just typing “Credential Manager” in the Windows 7 Start Menu search prompt. You can also access the Credential Manager through the Control Panel: -> User Accounts -> User Accounts. The link to the Credential Manager can be found in the left navigation bar.

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