Use Dial-in properties to secure remote access connections (Windows 2000 Server/Server 2003)

Do you have a dial-in remote access server in your Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 domain? Allowing dial-in access can pose security risks. What if someone gets the username and password of a legitimate account in your domain?

If your remote users should always be calling in from the same phone number (for instance, their home phones), one way to make dial-in access more secure is to configure the user properties for the account (which you access through the Active Directory Users and Computers Administrative Tool) for callback security. You can specify that, when the user logs on, the server disconnects and then calls the user back at his home number. This also saves the user from having to pay long-distance charges if he lives out of the area. You can configure this on the Dial-in tab of the user account's properties sheet.