Baselines help you collect and analyze the data required for auditing needs without collecting a lot of extra data. A baseline defines the settings and data you want to collect for later comparison and trend analysis. The following guidelines will help you identify and create baselines you can use to ensure compliance with your security policy:

• Create initial baselines that represent a secure starting point for each computer. Develop security templates in Security Configuration and Analysis (SCA) that contain the security settings for each type of workstation and server. Change the templates as needed and use them when building new computers. You can apply up-to-date templates to new Windows installations to quickly configure a new computer to your security standards.

• Run SCA/Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) using command-line interface options to compare computer settings and configurations with your standards. Schedule scans to run periodically (weekly or monthly), and review the resulting output files for any identified problems.

• Develop batch files to run scans and collect ongoing operational information. Collect information using a set daily, weekly, or monthly schedule and archive collected data files.