LocalAdmins, LocalSystem, and the sysadmin role



During SQL Server 2005 installation, several logins are added to the
sysadmin role including:
- local administrator group (BUILTIN\Administrators),
- Local System (NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM), and
- sa.

A common hardening practice is to later remove the local administrator group
from the sysadmin role, thereby separating server administration from DBMS
administration. However, I don't recall ever seeing the recommendation to
also remove the LocalSystem account from the sysadmin role.

Has anyone seen recommendations to remove BOTH local administrators and
LocalSystem from the sysadmin role for hardening purposes, and - if this
were to be done - what are the consequences?

Thanks in advance (and apologies for re-posting in hopes of a response),
Drew


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