Protecting Your Pc

[Sel]

This is a summary of how I protect my PC and data against viruses, trojans, adware, spyware and hackers.

1. Partition my hard drive.

I have a 40 gig hard drive. I have partitioned the drive 50/50. That is one 20 gig drive space for operating system and all my other software, and the second 20 gig drive space for storing anything I create or anything downloaded that is not software (like music, video, pictures etc) Depending on the size of your total physical hard drive and how much software you use and its size, you may require less or more for each partition. With a partitioned hard drive, if your operating system becomes corrupted by a virus etc., then you can delete everything in its' partition without deleting your documents etc in the second partition.

Read about it here

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,73826,pg,2,00.asp

2. Backup

Religiously backup your your second partition on cd. I do mine every month. You can use something like Norton Ghost as well to backup as an image file.

3. Update operating system

Make sure your operating system is up to date. At least for the critical updates. Windows will scan your system and then recommend the updates to download.

Try it here

http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

3. Peer to peer file sharing

I don't use peer to peer file sharing networks anymore. Be aware that if you use Peer to Peer file sharing like winmx to swap music files etc, that you are leaving yourself open to attack/infection. By downloading other peoples files through the network you are by-passing your firewall protection. If you do use PTP file sharing, you should scan the download with your anti-virus software once it's on your computer.

4. Antivirus, Firewall, Privacy control and spam killer

I now use McAfee for the above four task. I found that the Norton package uses a lot of my system resources and frequently hanged or crashed my computer. I personally stick to main stream brands above and apparently McAfee has better deection than Norton. Make sure that you regularly update your virus definitions from the vendors site at least once a week. I virus check at least once a week. You can set up virus scans as a task so you don't have to remember to manually do it.

5. Adware, spyware etc detection programs

There are so many to choose from and I don't think any one on it's own is completely effective. I use the following four.

A. Ad aware, which can be found here (free)

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

B. Spybot Search and destroy, which can be found here (free)

http://www.safer-networking.org/

These programs find and eliminate spyware etc that may slow your internet connections down by send out information about what websites you visit etc. Make sure you regularly update these as well. I do it every week. I use them at the end of everyday as they run quite fast. I use both as some spyware etc is picked up by one and not the other and vice a versa.

C. win patrol (free)

Can be found here

http://www.winpatrol.com/

It shows what processes are running on your computer and allows you to disable them if you think they are suspicious (or re-enable if they're necessary) Good if you want to learn about what different running processes are doing on your computer. (use google to find out more about the process)

D. Bazooka Spyware Scanner (free)

Can be found here

http://www.kephyr.com/spywarescanner/

You'll have to remove trojans etc manually but it will tell you how to do it. Picks up things that adaware and spybot don't.

6. Finally

Don't download anything that is suspicious especially email attachments that have .exe as the file extension (antivirus should pick this up unless your definitions aren't up to date or the virus is very new)

Scan with antivirus any floppy or cd roms before you transfer files to your hard disk.

[MadFrankie]

hmmmz.. No mention of the physical aspect of IT Security???

The above would'nt be much good if someone simply stole it now would it

The new owner would get automatic updates on their virus definitions though

[stumonster]

hmmmz.. No mention of the physical aspect of IT Security???

The above would'nt be much good if someone simply stole it now would it

don't forget to put on your tin foil hat before you enter your faraday cage mad frankie.

[MadFrankie]

fitted a roof to my cage last week, no need for the tin foil hat anymore, I could do with some blue tack to stick my ears back though, the door isnt very wide

[Firefoxx]

A geek's guide to keeping your 'puter safe (and fast).

1. Use a virus scanner, but not the system scan, just the manual scan when you open new programs/documents. Saves resources, and is just as effective. Update once a month, do a full system scan once a month.

2. Don't use IE to surf, use opera or mozilla (or whatever your choice is). Most web viruses target IE, and you're just inviting them in by using it. This is especially relevant now, since there are MANY of these web viruses out there.

3. Install only programs that you use, not everything that's cool. Keeps your computer fast. Many programs can do the work of 10 other programs. An example: media player classic can do the job of media player, realplayer, and quicktime player.

4. Don't use outlook (or outlook express) to read e-mail. It's just as vulnerable as IE, maybe more. Use web-based e-mail when possible.

5. Use a firewall.

6. If you have the cash, invest in a good case with a good power supply and cooling (which means, not 99% of the cases at Pantip). Invest in a UPS. Maybe invest in harddisk mirroring, which is actually not that expensive, if you have important data. If you have only 256MB of memory on your XP machine, you don't have enough.

7. Turn off auto-updates. It's annoying and not actually useful, since many updates crash your system. Update manually, and even then get only critical updates.

8. Turn off all vulnerable services and programs. Turn off all system tray stuff that you don't actually use (ie. quicktime, realplayer, winamp, etc. etc. etc.). Just because it's hidden by the auto-hide function doesn't mean that it's not hogging up system resources.

9. Once you have a stable, working system, ghost it to bootable CDR to save you the grief of re-installing once you make a mistake. System restore is next to worthless in most situations.

In more than 15 years of intensive computing, I've only been struck by a virus once. You WON'T have to go through the process of killing/removing viruses/trojans/spyware if you don't get them in the first place.

[MadFrankie]

in 15 years of computing you have only had one virus??? What have u been using, a playstation??

[kenk3z]

Windows XP has a nice feature called "System Restore". You can find it under "Accessories" and then "System Tools."

XP can create automatic system restore points, and this is often done when service packs and hotfixes are installed. You also have the option to create these system restore points manually. The big thing this feature does for you is store a copy of your Registry.

If you have some kind of Registry problem, or a virus infection, you have the option of returning to a System Restore Point when you had no problem.

This feature just saved me a lot of work when I got infected with some malicious Java code that installed a DLL and started tracking my web browsing. It was sending back to some unknown site a connection every time I changed sites, and took over my Search feature inside IE as well. I tried to clean up the effects manually but ended up breaking IE, so I went for a recent System Restore Point. Worked great.

If you have a file called jtdfc.dll in your C:\Windows\System32\ folder, you are infected with the same thing. I've been trying to find information on this exploit on the web but it seems to be unknown at this point.

If you open up a DOS window and type "netstat" this shows what connections are being made to and from your computer.

kenk3z

[george]

Great Post, Sel.

I am protecting my computer like this:

1. I have a D-link WiFi router and have blocked dangerous ports that I don't need. Just a basic coverage, but very effective.

2. ZoneAlarm Pro. Paid. Updated.

3. Norman Antivirus. Not Norton! Norman! http://www.norman.com

4. Original Windows XP license, all service packs and patches installed, with auto windows-update.

5. Killed ICQ and MSN on my machine, and are now runing Trillian instead. http://www.trillian.com

6. I never accept attachments in emails anymore. All mails with attachments are rejected and routed to the bin at server level. If I need an attachment from someone, I have a special email address, or I can arrange FTP transfer.

7. My private and business data and documents is on my laptop (my mia-noi...) and is not connected to internet at all. There is no cable or network installed!

8. Advanced firewall, spam and virus protection via thaivisa.com server. I don't go into details here.

9. My fridge is full of Beer Chang! Mee too!

Me wired?

[Firefoxx]

Actually, no, I don't own a playstation. I've never actually had ANY gaming console for more than a few days (on loan). My computer is my gaming platform.

I can understand it when others say it's weird that I've had only 1 virus. However, I'm an IT professional, and it would be pathetic if I were to get infected with a virus every month or more. I'm a very careful person, and I follow my own guidelines (written above), and hence no virus infections. My friends, on the other hand, get viruses on a fairly regular basis, and I'm often the one they call on.

I use my computer extensively. I'm connected directly to the net, via ADSL, pretty much 24/7. I surf extensively. I p2p extensively. I download gigabytes a day. No fancy anti-spam, routers, or whatnot. Just the common sense of a computer geek. I use only the tools I know are effective and safe, tools which don't impede on my system or my workflow. I think it's a bit counter-productive if all those anti-virus/trojan/whatnot programs/instruments make you jump through hoops or brings your expensive computer to a crawl. Is the cure worse than the disease?

As always, it's much better to prevent disaster rather than remedy it. Or in Thai: Don't build the fence AFTER the cows have disappeared.

A caveat: My methods work for me because it's my job to be knowledgeable in this area. They won't work for everyone.

[stumonster]

I have no problem believing firefox, I have only had one virus and that came from connecting to a mates machine and giving him some permissions.

I am not an IT professional, but I have been playing with computers ever since I realized you could play space invaders on a trash80.

George have you configured your access point only to allow connection from the MAC addresses of your wireless cards?

[george]

Yes, only dedicated macxhines can reach the access point. Plus there is encryption on.

[igotworms]

I have my rottweiler chained up to my PC case. Not only is he very protective, he also acts as a ground.

Oh, and I also have the usual spyware blasters/blockers and Sygate Firewall (free to home users).

I had Norton Systemworks installed, but the Norton firewall was an annoying peice of kee, thus it has been replaced by the Sygate Firewall. Bot Norton Antivirus thus remains and has been pretty reliable for me over the years.

I also tried Mcafee Security before, but I found it to be a cumbersome resource hog and was quickly uninstalled.

Contrary to that posted above, I have found System Restore to be a useful feature when needed. But if you have limited hard drive space, I recommend disabling it as it will eat all of the free disk space you have left.

[lopburi3]

One caution on Zone Alarm. The current version 5 has been reported to cause a number of problems and is supposed to be in the process of being fixed - I had problems even when I installed with all the new features (anti virus and such) turned off; as have many others. They have not publicly admitted a problem AFAIK and privately only advise return to previous version as a work around.

Am currently just using XP built in firewall and it seems to do the job. No presence seen on Shields Up test at

http://www.grc.com/

[MadFrankie]

I have no problem believing firefox, I have only had one virus and that came from connecting to a mates machine and giving him some permissions.

I am not an IT professional, but I have been playing with computers ever since I realized you could play space invaders on a trash80.

George have you configured your access point only to allow connection from the MAC addresses of your wireless cards?

MAC addresses can be spoofed quite simply even more so on a wireless domain... Still find it quite hard to belive that in 15,20 years or whatever it was you have only had 1 virus

[george]

George have you configured your access point only to allow connection from the MAC addresses of your wireless cards?

MAC addresses can be spoofed quite simply even more so on a wireless domain...

With a strong 128 WEP key I don't think someone can gain access to to the network.

[MadFrankie]

I dont want to be banned or nothin.. but it would be WEP2 if its 128bit WEP is quite easyly broken

[bkk_mike]

Nobody's said this yet, but you should also change your SSID from the default, and NOT broadcast it...

The change in SSID from the default is so that you don't get attempted connections by someone in your neighbourhood with an access point from the same manufacturer. (Can slow down your network - and their network, even if they don't have your WEP key, so they're not successfully connecting).

I'm not saying that it's 100% secure (128 bit WEP + no broadcast SSID), but it will keep off the 99.9% of people who are just looking to piggy back on your internet access for free.

And - ideally none of the PCs in the network should have file or printer sharing turned on. so even if someone does get onto the network - they don't have access to the data on the computers.

However, if security is a big thing for you (i.e. for instance a bank network) - you shouldn't really use wireless anyway.

[stumonster]

and if it is a standalone access point, turn the power off when you are not using it.