Local Security Policies, or "Diretivas de Segurança Local" in Portuguese, are a set of security settings that control various aspects of security on a Windows computer. These settings are crucial for managing user permissions, audit policies, and other security-related configurations on standalone computers or within a network environment. This article will guide you through accessing and configuring these policies using the Local Security Policy editor and command-line tools.

Accessing Local Security Policies via GUI:

1. Open Local Security Policy Editor:

   • Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
   • Type secpol.msc and press Enter.
   • This will open the Local Security Policy editor where you can view and modify security settings.

2. Navigate Through Security Settings:

   • In the Local Security Policy editor, you can navigate through various security settings such as Account Policies, Local Policies, and Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
   • To modify a policy, simply double-click on it, make the necessary changes, and click OK.

Examples of Security Policies:

• Password Policy: Set requirements for password length, complexity, and expiration.
• Account Lockout Policy: Define conditions under which an account will be locked out after failed login attempts.
• Audit Policy: Configure auditing for successful or failed security events.

Configuring Local Security Policies via Command Line:

While the GUI is user-friendly, command-line tools offer automation and scripting capabilities. You can use secedit to configure security policies via the command line.

Example: Export and Import Security Policies

1. Export Security Settings:

   • Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
   • Run the command:

     secedit /export /cfg C:\Path\To\ExportedPolicies.inf

   • This command exports the current security settings to a specified file.

2. Import Security Settings:

   • To apply settings from an exported file, use:

     secedit /configure /db secedit.sdb /cfg C:\Path\To\ExportedPolicies.inf

   • This command imports the settings from the specified file and applies them to the system.

Using PowerShell to Manage Security Policies:

PowerShell provides a more modern approach to managing security policies with scripts and cmdlets.

Example: Retrieve Password Policy Settings

• Open PowerShell as Administrator.
• Run the following command to get password policy settings:

  Get-LocalUser | Select-Object Name, PasswordLastSet, PasswordExpires