Checklist: Block anonymous access

While it's true that the Administrator account uses a known number in its SID, it's also true that a unique number identifying the computer comprises the other part of the SID. To find that information, an attacker must have anonymous access. Anonymous access is the ability to connect to a computer and obtain information without having an account and password. Once connected, an attacker may be able to list account names, access information that is not properly protected by file system permissions and so on.

To deduce the SID of the Administrator account, the attacker obtains the account list, translates the account into

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a SID, retrieves the computer part of the SID, adds the known Administrator account portion and then uses the deduced SID in a logon attack or to figure out the new name of the Administrator account. To foil this process, use the security options below, which block anonymous access and other types of attacks that use anonymous access.

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