Re: What is a good freeware Internet privacy tracks eraser for WinXP?

From: Loan Nguyen (Loan_at_watson.ibm.com)
Date: 05/23/05 

Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 23:57:34 GMT

> One MS program that does impress me is the MS Baseline Security
> Analyzer:
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.mspx
> I also installed and recommend Ewido Security Suite to add better
> protection from exploits: http://www.ewido.net/en/download
> Spyware Guard is another small program that I just added:
> http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
> A good firewall and anti-virus progran are very necessary.
> http://pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005SECURITY.php
> Create an XP boot CD:
> http://www.ubcd4win.com

Is not the MS Baseline Security Analyzer just a stripped down version
of HfNetChk Pro from Shavlik Technologies?
http://www.shavlik.com

What about Belarc Advisor http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html &
BigFix http://www.bigfix.com?

The Belarc Advisor is free software I think. It builds a detailed
profile of your installed software & hardware in your Web browser.

LN

> These are all good programs that provide a certain degree of privacy
> from the inside. There are other tools, such as encryption tools that
> protect files or can make encrypted volumns that are even more secure.
>
> One other approach to enhance internal security is to buy a gig of ram
> (the quality stuff is very affordable) and totally disabling the swap
> file. With a gig of ram you won't need a swapfile in most cases and it
> can be easily enabled when image processing or something like that is
> being done. In this case sensitive data is enclosed within the temp
> files the programs above will clean, rather than scattered all over
> the hard disk. A new disk with a large cache is another purchase
> worthy, as the cache works to enhance machine speed to make up for the
> swap file.
>
> But, until a machine is hardened as much as possible from outside
> attacks I'm not certain that the above tools will render the degree of
> true success they are capable of providing. This is a cat and mouse
> game. The attackers are sophisticated and develop another way to
> exploit Windows after previous holes are plugged.
>
> While Microsoft has provided "nominal" resources to help protect
> machines and users (and they better than anyone have the dedicated
> resources to apply) the offerings are pretty slim. They recommend
> Spybot and Adaware... free of charge... to make their OS and browser
> safer. Strange, eh?
>
> I haven't seen much from the AntiSpyware beta yet. I don't even know
> it's there. I did just do a fresh image reinstall and I have already
> found a trojan that made its way in somehow. These hide in the
> inaccessible folders in XP, so Antivir could not scan it. I found it
> using a Boot CD, which makes all files available for a scan to detect
> and remove it.
>
> One MS program that does impress me is the MS Baseline Security
> Analyzer:
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/tools/mbsahome.mspx
>
> I'd recommend grabbing this, double clicking the .msi file to install
> and scanning the PC. I found several updates that I skipped that allow
> exploits, mostly Office updates. There are Messenger, MSN and Media
> Player exploits I had not patched, as I use none of these and I used
> Gibsons program to kill the messenger. Even unused, the vulnerable
> programs are still present and I guess need to be patched. The above
> tool will show a list and makes it pretty easy to grab the required
> patches.
>
> I also found that after all of my tinkering I had a telnet service
> running to the outside world. It was a quick configuration change that
> the program. This is a thumbs up program free from MS! I have no idea
> how I made this oversight, but the Baseline Security program was quick
> to point it out and guide me to fix it.
>
> I also installed and recommend Ewido Security Suite to add better
> protection from exploits:
> http://www.ewido.net/en/download
> Very solid!
>
> And I got Adaware. I wasn't really concerned until I saw how many
> tracking cookies and such my kids accumulated. I generally don't
> venture to such sites myself, but this is another very useful tool. I
> thought that spyware and exploits were my main concern. I think it
> best to cover all of the bases now.
>
> Spyware Guard is another small program that I just added:
> http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareguard.html
>
> All JavaSoft Downloads: (great programs!)
> http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/downloads.html
>
> A good firewall and anti-virus progran are very necessary.
> Here are the PL 2005 offerings:
> http://pricelesswarehome.org/2005/PL2005SECURITY.php
>
> A boot CD is a very valuable tool to free all disk files for a scan.
> There is no where for malware to hide when booting from a CD and
> running scans. It's a fairly complicated process, but it is well worth
> the effort. This will give a slim, but full XP boot with a GUI and
> many tools. I use AntiVir and find that I can update the definitions
> before CD booting and use that version, rather than the version on the
> CD with outdated files to scan.
>
> Create an XP boot CD:
> http://www.ubcd4win.com/
>
> I'm "trying" to make a page describing the steps more concisely. That
> is a rather difficult task though. I've made so many coasters that I
> need to play more before I try and list the steps...
>
> Print the directions and have a go at it though. I rate this as my
> number one tool to ensure integrity, remove malware, and to image and
> restore my XP partition. Data recovery from NTFS for damaged
> partitions is also possible with this CD.
>

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