Many novice users use the software that comes preinstalled with their purchased computer and rely on these to be safe from the dangers that lurk on every corner in the Internet. Trojans, Malware, Spyware, Phishing and worse are threats that every user should know about and be able to deal with. It is pretty easy to detail my security concept, it is not the most secure on earth but even those are not secure at all. If you want security do not connect to the Internet at all, that is my advise.
Let me explain my security concept and ask some questions about yours afterwards. The most important part in my security concept is my knowledge. I know what I should do and what I should not do on the Internet. I know how phishing emails look like, I know when I should be doubtful of files that I want to execute and I do know how to select passwords that can not be bruteforced in a short period of time.
Firewall:
I do rely on a hardware firewall that is properly configured keeping many attacks away from my computer. I do however run no software firewall because I think this is a) not necessary because of the hardware firewall and b) could lead to attacks that are not there without it. Every piece of software installed on my system is a potential way to hack my system.
Anti virus:
I use the free AntiVir as a virus scanner. This is probably not the best choice in the world but good free scanners are rare. I keep it running all the time with automatic updates. Nothing compared to commercial products that update once every 30 minutes but good enough to react on all threats that make it on my system. My Knowledge prevents most possible ways of attacking my system with viruses and trojans anyway.
Encryption:
I have two hard drives with more than 500 gigabytes of encrypted data using the excellent Open Source software True Crypt. This is important to prevent local access to my files as long as the hard drives have not been mounted.
Spyware:
Something that I feel is overrated. I tend to run Ad-Aware and Spybot every other week to scan my system but I normally find some tracking cookies, that is all.
Rootkits:
The same can be said for Rootkits. I tend to use Rootkit Revealer or other products to check my system for rootkits but only occasionally. I would never put a Sony CD into my Computer anway ;)
Browsing, Email:
No Microsoft products if possible. I do use Opera and Firefox for web surfing and Thunderbird as my main email client. Both browsers are more secure than Microsofts Internet Explorer and Outlook. Maybe because they are better products, maybe because hackers like to concentrate on Microsoft products because more users are using them.
Did I leave something out ? What is your security concept ? Let me know, I like to read about software or tips that I never thought about in first place.
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9 Responses to “What is your Security Concept ?”
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[...] What is your Security Concept ? [...]
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[...] Original post by GHacks [...]
Mine isn’t that much different to your’s but there are a few differences.
Firewall: Comodo (Free)
Anti Virus: Avast Home Edition (Yep it’s Free but as good as most of the commercial AV’s in my opinion)
Encryption: Not much really since I’ve never considered anything on my machine to be important enough to encrypt LOL
Spyware: Spybot (I like you tend to only find tracking cookies) I do also use Bazooka Scanner (Free) which helps you manually remove the worse ones should you be unlucky enough to pick them up
Rootkits:Rootkit Revealer (I to would never put a Sony CD in my machine)
Browsing/Email:Firefox/Thunderbird
in addition I also run Startup Monitor (Free) which does exactly what it says and watches for anything being added to a startup routine and asks me if I want to allow it
Anti virus: nod32 (the torrent is also free)
sometimes I run hitman pro.
In addition to a firewall, anti virus etc. I have a restricted user profile on xp, which is another safety net.
But caution is the most important of all.
after install: xpy
firewall: Sygate Peronal Firewall (old unsuported – imho the best)
anti virus: ClamWin (once a week)
anti rootkit: IceSword, GMER, BartPE
anti spyware: SpyBot (once a week, runed from GMER after ‘kill all’ option), Unlocker
encryption: TrueCrypt + TC-Temp + SecureTrayUtil, AxCrypt
encryption (fileserver): CryptoBOX
wiping/shredding: Eraser, DBAN
www:
- nice: SeaMonkey
- warez, p0rn, etc.: Firefox + Privoxy
- banking: Opera
Linux. :(D
FreeBSD
pf – firewall best in the world imho
anti-virus – none, no need
spyware/adware – none, no need
Opera – Due to that has less vunerabilities than most browsers out there and less mem useage.
Encryption – Using the built in encryption that FreeBSD comes w/ for partitions(even have my swap encrypted, lol)
Rootkits – none i dont haev that problem
Firewall: Sygate
Antivirus: Symantec Corporate + Kaspersky
Encryption: True Crypt + Security Box + AxCrypt
Traces: Mutilate File Wiper, CCleaner, Mars WinCleaner, RamDisk Plus
Monitoring: Security Task Manager +Spy protector