11 Deploying, Configuring, and Managing SSL Certificates

Lesson 2: Configuring SSL for IIS

The most common use of SSL is to authenticate Web servers and to encrypt communications
between Web browsers and Web servers. SSL, when used to protect HTTP, is referred to as Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). HTTPS is used by virtually every e-commerce Web site on the Internet to protect private information about end users and to protect end users from submitting private information to a rogue server impersonating another server.

Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0, included with Windows Server 2003, supports both server and client SSL certificates. Configuring these certificates is simple when you are managing a single Web site with a single server certificate. However, managing certificates can be complicated when a server has multiple certificates or when you are using client certificates for authentication.

Using SSL Certificates with a Web Site :
You can use SSL certificates to allow users to verify the identity of your Web site and to encrypt traffic sent between the client and the Web site. It is important to understand that an SSL certificate identifies a Web site, and not a Web server. A single Web server can host multiple Web sites. Alternatively, a single Web site can be hosted on multiple Web servers to provide redundancy and scalability.

For example, an Internet service provider (ISP) that hosts Web sites for 20 customers on a single Web server needs 20 SSL certificates to allow each site to use encryption. Alternatively, if an ISP stores a copy of a Web site on 10 different servers to allow the Web site to remain online in the event of a hardware failure, the same certificate can be installed on all 10 servers.

SSL certificates use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) to identify the Web site.When the client retrieves the site’s SSL certificate, the client checks the FQDN of the Web site against the subject name, also known as the common name, listed in the certificate. Checking the name used to identify the site against the name listed in the certificate prevents a rogue Web site from intercepting traffic destined for a different site.

The Web Server Certificate Wizard :
Using HTTPS on an IIS Web server requires the server to have a certificate installed and configured. The exact process you will use to configure the certificate varies depending on the source of the certificate; however, you will always use the Web Server Certificate Wizard to perform the configuration. To launch the Web Server Certificate Wizard:
1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Expand the computer name, and then expand Web Sites. Right-click the Web site for which you want to configure an SSL certificate, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Directory Security tab, and then click the Server Certificate button. The Web Server Certificate Wizard appears.

You can use the Web Server Certificate Wizard to request a new certificate, assign an existing certificate, renew a certificate, and delete a certificate, as described in the following sections.

Lesson 3: Analyzing Security Configurations

Security Configuration And Analysis :

The Security Configuration And Analysis snap-in gives you an immediate, detailed list of security settings on a computer that do not meet your security requirements. Recommendations are presented alongside current system settings, and icons or remarks are used to highlight any areas where the current settings do not match the proposed level of security. Security Configuration And Analysis uses a database to perform analysis and configuration functions. Using a database gives you the ability to compare the current security settings against custom databases that are created by importing one or more security templates.
To analyze a computer’s security settings by comparing it to a security template:
1. Create a new Microsoft Management Console (MMC) console, and add the Security Configuration And Analysis snap-in.
2. Right-click Security Configuration And Analysis, and then click Open Database.
3. In the Open Database dialog box, type a name for the new database, and then click Open.
4. In the Import Template dialog box, select a security template to import. Click Open.
5. If you want to import more than one security template, right-click Security Configuration And Analysis, and then click Import Template. Select the template to import, and then click Open. Repeat this process for each security template you want to import.
6. Right-click Security Configuration And Analysis, and then click Analyze Computer Now.
7. In the Perform Analysis dialog box, click OK.
After the analysis is complete, examine the results by expanding the nodes contained within the Security Configuration And Analysis node.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer—Graphical Interface :

MBSA includes graphical and command-line interfaces that can perform local or remote scans of Windows systems. MBSA runs on computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 and will scan for common system misconfigurations in Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, IIS 4.0 and 5.0, SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000, Internet Explorer 5.01 and later, and Office 2000 and Office XP. MBSA will also scan for missing security updates for the following products: Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows
Server 2003, IIS 4.0 and 5.0, SQL Server 7.0 and SQL Server 2000, Internet Explorer 5.01 and later, Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange 2000 Server, and Microsoft Windows Media Player 6.4 and later.
MBSA can determine which critical security updates are applied to a system by referring to an XML file that is continuously updated by Microsoft. The XML file contains information about which security updates are available for particular Microsoft products.
This file contains security bulletin names and titles, and detailed data about product-specific security updates, including the files in each update package and their versions and checksums, registry keys that were applied by the update installation package, information about which updates supersede others, related Microsoft Knowledge Base article numbers, and much more.

Lesson Summary

■ The Security Configuration And Analysis console can be used to apply settings from a security template. However, it is more commonly used to determine which active security settings do not match those specified in a security template.
■ MBSA identifies potential security vulnerabilities, including critical updates that have not been applied, on one or more systems.
■ Mbsacli provides a command-line interface with functionality that is similar to that of MBSA. Mbsacli can be used to create XML files that summarize security vulnerabilities on one or more systems.