Like most operating systems, a default Windows NT installation is vulnerable to hacker exploits until it has been hardened. In particular danger is remote file access, remote registry access, and the many subsystems that come with Microsoft's web server IIS. The first hardening step is to consider the difference between local access and remote access. A "local user" is anybody logged into the console directory, or remotely via Terminal Server, SMS, etc. A "remote user" is somebody logged onto via the webserver or file service.
Hardening concerns itself mostly with remote rights, especially against hackers that do not already have rights (other than anonymous) to the machine.
