Be Selfish – Turn off those hidden shares
So, you got your OS patches and browser updates installed and you have a good antivirus waiting to zap any malicious thing that comes through your internet connection. But security doesnt stop there, my friend. You gotta be selfish (at least to intruders) and turn off those hidden network shared folders.
With all the attention that spyware, phishing, e-mails, and corporate hackers get on any given day, we mustn’t forget that good ol’ Windows itself can be the source of a security hole. It turns out that Vista has a back door that could permit someone else to read any file on your hard drive, and the same problem exists in Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP. But don’t expect a fix anytime soon. This bug is a “feature.”
Before you can copy files from one PC to another on your network, you need to share the folder containing the files. That’s contrary to conventional wisdom, which holds that you should share only those folders you want made public and keep everything else unshared.
Here’s how to turn off those hidden shares:
1 Everything Looks Peachy
Open Windows Explorer, navigate to the Network folder in the tree, and select your own PC to see all (visible) shared folders.2 Expose the Hidden Shares
To see a hidden share, type it into Windows Explorer’s address bar, complete with trailing $, and press Enter. Easy—if you know the name.3 See Everything That Can Be Seen
Use the Computer Management tool (comp mgmt.msc) to see a complete list of all hidden and visible shares on your PC. You can right-click any shared item here and select Stop Sharing to get rid of it, but Windows will share it again when you restart unless you disable the feature altogether.4 Plug the hole
In the Windows Registry (Start | Run, regedit), navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters, and create two new DWORD values, AutoShareServer and AutoShareWks, both set to zero.5 Reboot and take stock
You’ll need to restart Windows for the change to take effect. But this time, the hidden shares have been banished to the land of wind and ghosts!
original article here
