Welcome to Security Administrator

Welcome to the first issue of Security Administrator. Security is an especially technical, challenging, and dynamic sector of IT. Our goal is to provide you with a monthly dose of technical solutions to help you keep your Windows 2000 and Windows NT systems safe and secure and to save you time on security-related tasks with labor-saving tips and techniques. We realize that you still have a large base of NT systems out there supporting critical business processes and managing confidential information. At the same time, Win2K is entering the planning and implementation phases in more and more companies. This successor to NT brings many new security-related opportunities, methods, and pitfalls. The coverage in Security Administrator will reflect the times by giving voice to both Win2K and NT security concerns.

Each issue of the newsletter will include feature articles about important Win2K and NT security subjects. These features will be written by security gurus such as Andrey Kruchkov, who wrote the Windows NT Magazine article "The Accidental Hacker" (February 1998), and the Microsoft Win2K security team's Michael Howard. You can also look forward to two question-and-answer columns—one about Win2K security and one about NT security. These Q&As will cover a wide range of Win2K and NT security problems, and you'll find each installment jam-packed with pithy and concise technical solutions to problems administrators face in the real world. We encourage you to submit questions for these columns to [email protected] (please specify Questions in the Subject line).

In future issues, this back page will contain Reader to Reader hints for even more practical suggestions straight from the trenches. Share your Win2K and NT solutions (400 words or less) with us. Send them to [email protected] (please specify Reader to Reader in the Subject line), and include your phone number in the email message. We'll edit submissions for style, grammar, and length. If we print your contribution, you'll get $100!

While we're on the subject of hearing from you, I'd like to encourage you to send your questions and comments about the newsletter itself. Your feedback helps us determine what information you're looking for and gives you a chance to help shape the direction of the content. Tell us what areas of Win2K and NT security are important to you and what your greatest security problems are. We'll often take your feedback, research it, and turn it into an article.

As a subscriber to Security Administrator, you can access the newsletter online at http://www.secadministrator.com, where you'll find the full text of all articles, starting with this issue. You can search the site by issue, author, and topic. You can also use the site for full-text searches and to access the newsletter when you're away from the office. Enjoy!

—Randy Franklin Smith