Re: Running PC as Administrator

Avatar wrote: 
I shall appreciate if somebody could guide me about the pros and cons,
especially on operational and security issues, of always running a computer
as Administrator.

This is with respect to one machine that is stand-alone and connects to the
Internet with a Wireless Broadband connection (Verizon EV-DO/3G).

Service Pack 2 is installed and Windows Firewall is fully enabled.

The system can boot either into WinXP Pro or WinXP MCE 2005.

The "Shields-Up" set of utilities at www.GRC.com and the probes at
www.hackerwhacker.com were run on this PC to check for vulnerabilities -
none were found. AntiVir and SpyBot, as well as AdAware, are installed.

Why the user wants to run this particular machine as Administrator is a
totally different story. Mine not to reason why! I am just trying to educate
myself on this issue too.  Hence, links to reading material would be very
much appreciated too!




Routinely using a computer with administrative privileges is not without some risk. You will be much more susceptible to some types of malware, particularly adware and spyware. While using a computer with limited privileges isn't the cure-all, silver bullet that some claim it to be, any experienced IT professional will verify that doing so definitely reduces that amount of damage and depth of penetration by the malware. If you get infected/infested while running as an administrator, the odds are much greater that any malware will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove with formating the hard drive and starting anew. The intruding malware will have the same privileges to all of the files on your hard drive that you do.

A technically competent user who is aware of the risks and knows how to take proper precautions can usually safely operate with administrative privileges; I do so myself. I simply don't recommend it for the average computer user.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once. - RAH
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Authority to use Task Manager...
    ... I realize system has Malware. ... Spyware Doctor...but Zone Alarm Pro causes installation problems with this ... administrator has not given authority to open Task Manager. ... Not a good idea since an account with administrative privileges should ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Cannot set auto-protect on Symantec Norton AV. CAn someone help?
    ... First make sure you are logged on as a local administrator. ... command net localgroup administrators at the command prompt to see local ... an attempt to keep you from removing the malware. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.security)
  • Re: Do I have TOO MANY antivirus, antispyware, etc
    ... Running in Safe Mode is always recommended if you believe you have ... you do not need administrator powers such as for installing applications. ... and you therefore can reduce the threat of malware infection if you are not ... administrator account a hard to guess password and write it down and store ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.security_admin)
  • Re: Combining User Accts on Vista Home
    ... From that, I would conclude that I am the Administrator, ... Routinely using a computer with administrative privileges is not ... reduces that amount of damage and depth of penetration by the malware. ... the built-in Administrator account was never intended to be ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.vista.file_management)
  • Re: Norton
    ... >> to administrator only for things that require admin privs ... > admin, which is on by default - even for XP home. ... > effective one given the malware in circulation today. ... > regardless of what environment it finds itself in. ...
    (alt.comp.anti-virus)
Quantcast