OSP - Assignment 1 Task 2

 Creating a Windows Virtual Machine 

Choosing the right operating system is the first step when setting up administrator and local user accounts. In this case, Windows 11 Pro has been selected, and a virtual machine has been created in Oracle VirtualBox to host the installation. 

It is essential to download the operating system from a trusted and legally compliant source. Using Microsoft Azure ensures access to genuine installation media and valid product keys, helping organisations meet software licensing requirements under UK law, including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. For small and medium‑sized organisations, non‑compliance can lead to fines, legal disputes, and reputational damage. 

When configuring the virtual machine, adequate memory and disk space must be allocated, especially as Windows 11 requires more storage than Windows 10. Poor planning can lead to performance issues, downtime, and increased support costs, challenges that small to medium-sized organisations feel more acutely due to limited IT capacity. 

The operating system choice also affects wider compliance and security obligations. Windows 11 Pro includes features such as BitLocker encryption, secure boot, and improved account controls, which support adherence to the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. It also validates different software's OS requirements, as newer software will require more resources to facilitate the software. Properly separating administrator and local user privileges reduces the risk of data breaches and strengthens overall cyber resilience. 

 

 

 

Once the virtual machine is created, you will need to go through the setup process. This information involves things like setting up regional options, such as keyboard layouts. You will thereafter choose the Windows operating system; this is where you pick the Windows 11 Pro. 

 

 

To install Windows 11 Pro, we need to make sure that we click on “Previous Version of Setup”, which will allow us to access other Windows operating systems. This is located in the bottom left corner, highlighted in blue. 

 

You are required to go through setup procedures again, where you select the language, time and currency, and keyboard layout. 

 

 

At this stage, it requires entering a product key, which we can bypass now by selecting “I don’t have a product key” However, it’s important to have a product key ready if you want to create a permanent Windows operating system. 

 

 

To install Windows, you choose the edition you want from the setup screen, such as Windows 11 Pro, then select “Next” to continue. The installer uses this choice to determine which features and licensing terms apply. After selecting the edition, the setup moves on to accepting the licence agreement, choosing where to install Windows, and completing the installation. 

 

The screen shows the terms and conditions for the Windows licence agreement. Accepting these terms is important because it confirms you are using Windows legally and that you agree to Microsoft’s conditions for installation and use. Without acknowledging the terms, the installer will not proceed, as the agreement forms the legal basis for running Windows on your device. 

 

A customised installation will allow us to delete any files, settings, and previous applications that may be on the drives. We can make changes to partitions and drives. 

 

We need to make sure that all partitions are deleted before proceeding any further, so they don’t affect any future steps with our installation, and we can ensure that there is sufficient storage for Windows 11 Pro. 

 

Once we proceed to the next steps, we will be required to wait until the operating system is installed; the virtual machine will not be usable, and you will be required to wait until the installation is fully completed before continuing with the setup of the virtual machine. 

Once again, you will be required to go through the setup procedures, where you select the language and keyboard layout. This is how your Windows operating system will be presented once all the installation is processed. 

 

 

 

Here you have the opportunity to either name your device, or bypass this currently by “skip for now”. Within an organisation, naming the device can help manage and identify the device within a network system and help distinguish your device from others. 

 

 

 

 

Selecting “set up for work or school” allows the device to enrol within the organisation's network. As we are installing a stand-alone device at the moment, we can still set up the device for work or school, and if we need to later enrol the device into the organisation system, it's still possible.  

 

As we are not signing into an account, we would need to select a different sign-in option, and we will make the device a domain join instead, which creates a new domain separate from any other current devices for now.  

 

 

You can now input the name of the user of the device and set an administrator account under their name. The next step is to create a secure, memorable password that would for the administrator account.  

 

 

This is followed up by security questions, which provide a secondary layer of authentication to protect online accounts from unauthorised access. They offer a convenient, password-free method for account recovery and help verify users' identification. 

 

 

 

 

 

Windows will now ask you for permission for various factors , such as location, Find My Device, and diagnostic data.  I have accepted all these optional permissions; however, you are not required to accept them based on the use of the device, the user may have different preferences. 

 

 

 

 

 

At this stage, Windows 11 will now begin downloading required updates and installations to finish the setup of the device/virtual machine. This download may take a while, depending on the virtual machine’s storage specification.  

 

The device will automatically restart, and you will be able to log in using the credentials that were created earlier. You will have access to the Windows 11 operating system and can now begin setting up the device/virtual machine how you want. 

Before proceeding any further, we must check for updates to make sure all additional updates are installed. We can easily check this by going on the search bar and entering “Windows Updates” These will pop up with the setting page and will list all available updates. 

 

Before: 

 

After: 

 

Configuring a local administration account and a local user account 

Once everything is ready after all updates, you can now begin configuring accounts on the virtual machine, starting with the administration user account. By going to settings and either clicking on my account icon on the top left or the “accounts” options, you will be redirected to the account information and options. 

 

 

The first thing to address is that my account has been automatically set as the administrator. Any devices will have their first set account on the operating system pre-set to be automatically administrator, and any new accounts will have to be manually set as administrator.  

This account can be configured by the user directly by navigating to account options and allowing you to make any changes to sign-in options, passkeys, or any other security-related account the user would want to amend. 

The “Accounts” settings menu also gives the option to navigate to “Other Users”, which would currently hold no additional users, as the operating system is new. 

  

However, the settings do allow us to create a new user account from here, which we can do for a new local administrator or a new local user account. 

 

 

It will ask you how the user will be signing in (either through email or phone). However, if we want to create a brand-new account, we should select that we do not have their personal sign-in information. This will then bring us to creating a Microsoft account. 

 

From here, you have 2 options: either you create a new Microsoft account using a brand-new email address, or you can add a user without a Microsoft account, which we will use, as we have no reason to require a Microsoft account or an email. 

 

This will then lead to creating account details, which are like what we did earlier. Here we need to set a user’s name and password, followed by 3 security questions that will be asked in case the user forgets their password.  

Thereafter, the account will be successfully created, and you can sign off and sign in as a local user account. 

 

The new account will be automatically set up as a local user; however, you can change the account type as the main administrator by using the scroll-down list beside the User. We are given the option to either change the account type or remove the account. 

 

Click on “Change Account Type”, and Windows will provide you with the option to either switch to a “Standard User Account” or “Administrator”. Where the standard user account will have restricted access depending on the role in the organisation. ***RBAC***

 

You can either set this to an administration account by giving them administrative permissions on the device, or set it as a local standard user, which will have restrictions on how much access they have. 

Installing password management software on the virtual machine 

Due to the firewall restrictions on the school network, I couldn’t access the BitWarden website directly. To work around this, I installed BitWarden using a shared folder that already contained the installation files. If you need to install BitWarden yourself, you can do so by visiting their official website at “bitwarden.com” on a network without these restrictions. From there, you can download the latest version safely and directly from the source. 

 

 

At this stage, you are asked to set up the software, which can be specific to the user or allows any user who uses the computer to be able to access the password manager. 

 

 

 

You are now required to create an account; this will allow you to access your passwords in the future. Weather that's on the web application or the software application.

 

It is crucial that you make sure that the master password is memorable but strong. This password will be asked of you to log in. It is important that it is confidential and only accessible to authorised users. 

 

Once the registration is complete, log in with the credentials you recently created, which will redirect you to the homepage. 

You will be given a personal “Vault”, which is where you will be able to store your personal passwords. They are stored on the cloud and are accessible both on the web version of Bitwarden as well as the software.  

 

When creating a password manager file, you are required to enter your username/email and password, as well as the web address for the website. 

 

It offers more opportunities; it can help you generate strong passwords which can be used for the credentials for websites. 

 

When you try to access the website, you will need to sign-in into the web extension. This will then allow you to auto-fill credentials when accessing the websites. 

 

 

 

Installing a File Encryption Tool on the virtual machine 

 

When downloading the 7zip downloader, it will ask for permission to make changes to the hard drive so that it can store its software data. It is important to allow this to install the software. 

 

Once this stage is completed, you need to choose a destination where you would like to store the software. Thereafter, you just need to click on the install button. It will appear on the home screen. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Table 

Tests	Expected Outcome	Actual Outcome	Remedial Action
Install Windows Operating Systems	Successfully installed Windows 11 Pro following the guides	Successfully installed Windows 11 Pro with no issues	N/A
Logging into Windows	Successfully logged into Windows	Logged into Windows without signing into a Microsoft Account	N/A
Check for Updates	Successfully updated the system and made sure everything is up to date	Had some optional updates that I made sure to install	N/A
Add a Local User Account	Successfully added a local user account with restricted permissions for users.	Successfully added a local user account with restricted access for users	N/A
Install Bitwarden	Bitwarden has been installed successfully and functions as intended. Passwords are stored safely.	Successfully installed Bitwarden and have been testing it, and can confirm that it works correctly. All passwords are stored safely, with functions like autofill now available to use	N/A
Install 7zip	Install the software successfully and make sure that it functions properly	Software installed successfully, with tests like encrypting files being carried out to make sure that it functions accordingly	N/A
Install Zone Alarm	Installs Zone Alarm successfully and filters IP addresses successfully.	Zone Alarm is installed successfully, created a rule successfully and set to filter IP and lock the local host file.	N/A

 

Test	Expected Outcome	Actual Outcome	Remedial Action
OS Installation	OS installs successfully	Completed successfully	N/A
User Accounts	Admin & user accounts created	Both accounts created	N/A
Firewall Installation	Firewall is active and filtering traffic	Active and blocking unauthorised traffic	N/A
Firewall Rule Test	Block unauthorised connection	Connection blocked successfully	N/A
Password Manager Setup	Vault created and accessible	Vault operational	N/A
Password Storage	Credentials saved securely	Data stored and encrypted	N/A
Encryption Tool Setup	Drive/files encrypted	Encryption successful	N/A
File Access Test	Files require authentication	Access denied without a password	N/A
Full System Scan (Firewall/AV if bundled)	No threats detected	No threats found	N/A

7. Security Justification

Firewall

Protects against:

• Unauthorised access

• Malware communication

• Network-based attacks

Password Manager

Improves:

• Password complexity

• Credential management

• Reduces risk of phishing/reuse attacks

File Encryption

Ensures:

• Data confidentiality

• Protection if device is lost/stolen

• Compliance with data protection regulations

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8. Additional Security Measures Implemented

• Enabled automatic updates

• Configured secure Wi-Fi usage (VPN recommended if required)

• Disabled unnecessary startup programs

• Applied least privilege principle (standard user account)

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9. Conclusion

The device has been successfully configured and secured for remote use at Lockchat Gaming. All required software solutions:

• Are correctly installed

• Fully configured

• Tested and verified

This setup ensures:

• Confidentiality (encryption)

• Integrity (controlled access)

• Availability (secure, stable system)

The system is now suitable for secure remote working with minimal risk exposure.