RE: [fw-wiz] The home user problem returns

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To: firewall-wizards@honor.icsalabs.com
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 09:04:52 -0500

Let me get this straight,

You 'secured' your wife's PC by removing a few pieces of software, put
Mozilla on it, slapped on some freeware spyware detection and just let 'er
rip?

Rule #1: Don't let a system access the internet unless you've secured the
access, and know exactly what's allowed inbound and outbound through your
network.

Rule #2: Don't let people who don't know what they are doing run with
administrative permissions, or full access to your network services.

Rule #3: If you run Windows, get an antivirus and configure it to scan
everything that comes in and out of the system, be it a read/write
operation or network traffic. It's not the ideal solution, but until
Microsoft makes their OS a little smarter, you need it.

I think user education is important. However, there needs to be a control
for those people who simply refuse to learn it. Using Marcus' car buying
analogy, you could take it a step further by looking at people getting
licensed to drive. Driving without a license can land you a fine or in
jail for a night, or if you were to get in an accident, you can encounter
some serious legal repercussions.

People who refuse to learn the rules of the road don't get licenses, and
if someone who is licensed breaks the rules too many times, their license
and record can be marked and/or revoked.

ISPs could adopt this model by either classifying users based on testing
them on their knowledge (take a few web based tests about web security or
something, and the ISP will open up more ports/access for you?), or
perhaps by basing it on limiting or locking out repeat offenders.

Stefan Dorn

firewall-wizards-admin@honor.icsalabs.com wrote on 09-13-2005 07:39:53 PM:

> hermit921 <hermit921@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> [snip]
> >
> > On the good side, I have a friend who is almost totally computer
> > illiterate, but has never had a virus or spyware or any other malware.
> > Rule #1: never double click any attachment. If you have to open it,
choose
> > a program that should open that type of file and do a File -> Open.
> > Blindly following these rules has kept her safe for over 10 years. So
I
> > know people can learn, at least by rote, regardless of understanding.
> > Rule #2: never use Microsoft software. This probably helps an immense

> > amount, too.
> [snip]
>
> Your friend could be my wife. WinXP (home edition) for some three
> years or so. (She *insisted* on having a 'doze PeeCee.) OE was
> *immediately* removed from the desktop and replaced with Pegasus. IE
> was *immediately* de-fanged (turned off all the ActiveTrojan stuff),
> then used to fetch Mozilla. Wife was told "Use this. Use the other
> only if this doesn't work.") Computer's behind a "firewall router"
> (configured by your's truly, naturally). Same aggressive mail server
> filtering rules as at work. I only a week or two ago finally broke
> down and put AV software on it, because one of her correspondents
> insisted my wife was sending her infected JPEGs. (She wasn't.) She
> has had SpyBot S&D for some time, and uses it religiously.
>
> It can be done. I've seen it with my own eyes.
>
> Jim
> _______________________________________________
> firewall-wizards mailing list
> firewall-wizards@honor.icsalabs.com
> http://honor.icsalabs.com/mailman/listinfo/firewall-wizards

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