Securing NTFS files and directories

TFS is the secure file system used by NT. Note that the program here can undermine NTFS security.

A. When you right click on a file in Explorer and select properties (or select Properties from the File menu) you are presented with a dialog box telling you information such as size, ownership etc. If the file/directory is on a NTFS partition there will be a security tab, and within that dialog, a permissions button. If you press that button you can grant access to users/groups on the resource at various levels.

There are six basic permissions

* R - Read
* W - Write
* D - Delete
* X - Execute
* P - Change Permissions
* O - Take Ownership

These can be assigned to a resource, however they are grouped for ease of use

* No Access - User has no access to the resource
* List - R User can view directory and filenames in directory
* Read - RX User can read files in directory and execute programs
* Add - WX User can add files to the directory, but cannot read or change the contents of the directory
* Add & Read - RWX User has read and add permissions
* Change - RWXD User has read, add, change contents and delete files
* All - RWXDPO User can do anything she wants!



The permissions above can all be set on a directory, however this list is limited for a file, and permissions that can be set are only No Access, Read, Change and Full Control.

Another permission exists called "Special Access" (on a directory there will be two, one for files, one for directories), and from this you can set which of the basic permissions should be assigned.