Re: The very basics of security

From: Moe Trin (ibuprofin_at_painkiller.example.tld)
Date: 09/21/04

  • Next message: optikl: "Re: Best AV prog for XP = KAV 5 right?" 
    Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 13:54:10 -0500

    In article <2fe7b80f.0409200831.727dc2e5@posting.google.com>, walterbyrd wrote:
    >What is the absolute minimum to do, to keep home PC and client PC
    >reasonably secure? A few things I came up with:

    LEARN about your computer and the software that it's running. They
    lied to you when they told you even an untrained monkey on crack can
    use a computer. Yes, there's a lot to learn

    It just so happens that the most frequently used vector to date is that
    of user stupidity (why is it that we laugh at the cartoon animal who falls
    for the "stand here and press this button" gag, but so many seem content
    to "click here and be amazed") (Paraphrased from an old posting here)

    >- application software
    > - if possible, don't use msie

             - don't use Microsoft Internet Explorer under _ANY_ circumstances
             - disable automatic scripting, auto-run, and auto-install

    If some website "requires" you to use MSIE, or wants you to install some
    special software, or to disable some portion of your firewall to "improve
    your Internet experience" DISCONNECT FROM THAT WEB SITE IMMEDIATELY, and
    go elsewhere.

    Installing a recent version of common_sense.exe should prevent programs from
    "installing themselves". (quoting a post from Thor Kottelin here)

    > - set email client block spam

             - set email client to block ALL mail containing any HTML
             - set email client to NOT auto-open or preview attachments

    >- system software

    You're obviously stressing windoze here - DISABLE sharing of anything.
    If you must share locally, install a perimeter firewall (not some toy
    "personal" firewall) to block all external access to shares.

    >- user policies/guidelines

    Do not download software from any site unless you know that you need it,
    AND that others who you trust have declared it to be safe. IF you don't
    KNOW the source to be trustworthy DON'T DOWNLOAD THE CRAP!

    > - careful about opening email attachments

    DO NOT ACCEPT ANY EMAIL ATTACHMENTS unless you know the person who
    sent them to you, AND HAVE VERIFIED SEPARATELY that they did actually
    send it, and have told you _EXACTLY_ what it is.

    > - delete cache and cookies regularly

    but know that most deletions only make it harder BUT NOT IMPOSSIBLE to
    recover the data. If you're worried that Mommy is going to see where you
    have been surfing - DON'T GO THERE.

    > - check announcements of patches/alerts to make sure they're not fake

    Not many software companies mail announcements of security problems directly
    to users, and NONE mail binaries of updates or patches. Any binaries that
    you may receive are fake.

    Subscribe to security mailing lists SUCH AS Bugtraq and NTBugtraq. For the
    casual home user, that may be overkill, so look a your Usenet news service
    for mirrors of such groups. Two _COMMONLY_ available mirrors are
    mailing.unix.bugtraq (relay from Taiwan) and muc.lists.bugtraq (relay from
    Germany) but there are others. For example, GigaNews carries:

              connectnet.bugtraq
              dfi.lists.bugtraq
              hanse-ml.bugtraq
              list.bugtraq
              mailing.unix.bugtraq
              mgate.bugtraq
              muc.lists.bugtraq
              muc.lists.ntbugtraq

    At the very least, LOOK the article titles, and briefly scan those that
    might appear relevant. You really don't have to read and understand every
    article in the spool. See also 'comp.security.announce' which usually
    mirrors CERT announcements.

    > - don't give out or write down passwords

             - don't click "remember my password"

    Do NOT use the same password OR SIMPLE VARIATIONS of it. If your password
    at the bank is "12343" and is "12341" at that pr0n website, your bank
    account may be at risk. Don't use the same 'Username' at different sites
    for the same reason.

            Old guy

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