Since the introduction of Windows for Workgroups, all Microsoft operating systems have provided the capability to share resources, such as files and printers, with other networked computers.
The security provided to protect these resources falls into two categories:
It is apparent that the original intent in providing share level access was for use in a small workgroup environment where access was from known and trusted users. Since this form of sharing requires only a password (and that password can be blank!), it is often difficult to determine exactly who is accessing your resources once you distribute the password in an academic environment such as Rensselaer's. And, because share level access can be configured to provide full access and allow other users to read, write, copy, change or delete your files, you must take care to protect your files when you decide to share them.
First and foremost, you need to protect all your shares by setting an actual password; if you leave the required password blank, any anonymous user can gain access to your files.
Second, take special care when providing full access to shares, for not only can users having such access alter or delete your files, they can also use all of your available disk space, since there is no way of restricting disk usage. As a result, we generally recommend that you do not give full access to shares using share level access. And when you are required to provide full access, it should be for a specific reason, and also for a short period of time, so as to reduce exposure.
You may also find it advantageous to make use of a sharing feature that allows hidden shares. To do this, use a dollar sign ($) as the last character in the sharename when you name a share; doing this will prevent the share from being displayed when other users are browsing the network neighborhood. If another user wishes to access the share, he or she needs to explicitly map it using the "Map Network Drive" option by right-clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop, selecting the Map Network Drive option, and then providing the appropriate sharename in the path field. (The format of the path field is \\computername\sharename.)
Most computer vendors ship their computers with file and print sharing disabled. However, if you wish to enable sharing, do the following:
IT IS IMPORTANT that you DO NOT select Apply or OK at this point. If you do this without supplying a password, the share will be open to everyone, since you haven't specified a required password.
Please note that the Depends on Password option allows you to share the folder with both Read-Only AND Full access; the type of access given is based on the password supplied.
Once you have enabled sharing, your machine will be known on the network by the workgroup and computer names previously specified. To find these, open the Start menu, select the Settings and Control Panel options, double-click on the Network icon in the window that appears, and then click on the Identification tab.
This article does not discuss print sharing, which inherently allows users to read from and write to your disk. Read access is used to provide printer drivers, and write access is used for the spooling of print files.
In addition, this article assumes a workgroup environment which does not depend on Internet naming conventions and resolution (DNS) to find a particular computer on the network. Name resolution relies solely on Microsoft methods, namely WINS and broadcast. (We will address these issues in a future article.)
In closing, we'd like to stress that, while share level access has been available and used for years, you should take great care to ensure that you grant access only to your intended users.
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