File & Printer Sharing

[acl03]

We currently do not turn on File & Printer sharing on our workstations. There are some network apps (Dameware, and a few others) that require it be turned on to work.

We currently do not allow users to get to each other's machines via group policy, using the "Can access this machine from the network" policy (Only administrators are in this group).

Does turning on F&PS introduce any security risks?



Thanks,
Andrew

 

[DTracy]

It causes the workstations to show up in the neighborhood. If your users don't share their resources, i.e local printers or local files, there is no need to activate F&PS.

Regards,
David.

 

[acl03]

The reason to turn it on is because many utilities use the protocol to communicate.



Thanks,
Andrew

 

[DTracy]

Sorry, I guess I didn't understand the question.

Thanks,
David.

 

[DTracy]

McAfee wants it off on the W/Stations.

On our network, W2003, the DHCP/DNS won't auto-update with it off.

You might consider configuring the firewalls on the W/S to stop cross connections. Our Cisco firewall solves the unwanted connections so our F&PS is turned on.

David.