[neos1]

I would like to hear from the Security Specialists, a step by step procedure on locking down sensitive files and folders, tightening up any possible leaks, closing any possible back-ways-in
and cleaning up any corners where sensitive information could be lying around.

Most of us know about firewalls and anti-malware software, maybe we could concentrate on good habits/best practices.

These days, if you watch any television at all the writers of some of those shows would have the public believe that anyone that uses encryption probably is a criminal/pervert and that if one were honest one would not have anything to hide. I disagree with that, as with most of what I see on the vegimatic.

I use two products; True Crypt, http://www.truecrypt.org/ and
AIRoboform, http://www.roboform.com/

True Crypt is freeware and Roboform is free in limited usage. I like Roboform so much I bought the software only because I have and use more than ten different passwords nine to !tHiR1t3EEn?~ characters long.

BACKGROUND: I was under the illusion that sensitive information was or could be stored in the page/scratch file. I've since learned that was not the case. I'm sure that I'm not the only one that labors under false impressions of one sort or another. So let us hear from the Security MVP's and the Guru's of Code, or anyone that has an hard won nugget of information

[Stoner]

My serious route was to keep sensitive material on a computer that has no network access, meaning no internet connectivity in my case.
That comp is located in my home and access is limited to my usage.

I figure that's the best I can do while still remaining rational about security.


BTW....I'm not a security specialist, but for home protection ...'Roscoe is my Friend'

[neos1]

Okay, I'll bite, who's Roscoe?

[Stoner]

Originally Posted by neos1

Okay, I'll bite, who's Roscoe?

Old fashioned nickname for snub nose revolver _

.....guess that kinda dates me age wise

[neos1]

Originally Posted by Stoner

Old fashioned nickname for snub nose revolver _

.....guess that kinda dates me age wise

I'm wondering though, if you have any online accounts, you don't do any banking or internet buying?

[valis]

use a firewall for any machine connected to the net, and as stoner says, don't keep anything sensitive connected to the internet. With my 'sensitive' machine, about once every couple months I enable the default gateway, see if there are any critical updates I need, then disable the default gateway again. On my home rig I run Zone Alarm firewall, and it's blocked PILE of intrusion attempts.

There was this article by the bbc recently where they simply installed xp on a machine, connected it to the internet (didn't even open a browser, just connected the damn thing) and the AVERAGE time it took before it was infected was something like 15 minutes.

Insane. There's a zillion pc's out there scanning ports, so keep yer data backed up to something other than your pc, and run a solid firewall and a.v. software, and scan regularly for malware.

[valis]

here's the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5414502.stm

The BBC honeypot was a standard PC running Windows XP Pro that was made as secure as possible. This ran a software program called VMWare which allows it to host another "virtual" PC inside the host. Via VMWare we installed an unprotected version of Windows XP Home configured like any domestic PC.

VMWare is useful as it makes it easy to pause the "virtual" PC or roll it back to an earlier configuration. This proved essential when recovering from an infection.

When we put this machine online it was, on average, hit by a potential security assault every 15 minutes. None of these attacks were solicited, merely putting the machine online was enough to attract them. The fastest an attack struck was mere seconds and it was never longer than 15 minutes before the honeypot logged an attempt to subvert it.

[Stoner]

Originally Posted by neos1

I'm wondering though, if you have any online accounts, you don't do any banking or internet buying?

I've used a credit card several times.
I do not keep those records in my online machine, nor the account number.
I do realize there is risk there even the way I minimally use the card.

I do no banking on line and definitely no stock market transactions.
I view the addition expense as the cost of security. Some people accept that, many don't and operate their finances from their online computer.

I made the decision on this some years ago when I first got a computer because I didn't understand the risks.
Something to think about today..........from some of the discussions from the 'experts' I've read, it's now possible for malicious script to be injected into a web site that can add code to the firm ware of a connected computer's hardware.
That in essence means, there exists the possibility to flash into your hardware a rootkit only dependent on that hardware being attached to your computer. It ( the rootkit) survives a reboot after removal from memory or the hard drive and it survives a re-format.

Grim, eh?

I am glad I am not in business and dependent on having to accept the above exposure.

[neos1]

I wanted this to be friendly Stoner, you just ruined my whole day

Would you be able to track that article down?

[Stoner]

I'll run a quick search.

Trust me, I'm not trying to be unfriendly.......But it is a 'war' between us and the thieves that want what we have.

[Stoner]

Here's the first article that popped up.....introducing a rootkit into the bios:

http://www.ngssoftware.com/research/...CI_Rootkit.pdf

Crafty ..........

[neos1]

Originally Posted by valis

here's the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5414502.stm

I'm behind a router, and when I do a leak test it shows all of my ports in stealth mode, and I'm using a firewall called Netveda which requires rules to be set up. When first installed in is in learning mode but then eventually the firewall quits asking for instructions until an update changes a program in some significant way, i.e., I updated to Firefox 2.0.0.4 and got flags asking if I wanted to trust the newly updated version.

To be honest I'm not savvy enough to know if I have my Firewall configured well. I've read that Firewalls that require rules to be written are not only the more personally configurable but are better at stopping attacks - that is if the rules are written correctly. What say you?

[Stoner]

Originally Posted by neos1

I'm behind a router, and when I do a leak test it shows all of my ports in stealth mode, and I'm using a firewall called Netveda which requires rules to be set up. When first installed in is in learning mode but then eventually the firewall quits asking for instructions until an update changes a program in some significant way, i.e., I updated to Firefox 2.0.0.4 and got flags asking if I wanted to trust the newly updated version.

To be honest I'm not savvy enough to know if I have my Firewall configured well. I've read that Firewalls that require rules to be written are not only the more personally configurable but are better at stopping attacks - that is if the rules are written correctly. What say you?

I agree that a fire wall that only allows what you designate ...is the best choice.
Something to consider, though.......I've heard that some malware/spyware/trojans have the ability to turn off that firewall or alter the rule sets with out the owner being aware. So if you are infected, there exists the possibility of outbound security being compromised. And you won't know this in a leak test against your router.

So security is a combination of all aspects, from infection to the ability to control connections....as one concept. Not separate concerns.

I did have a Norton firewall compromised in much this manner some years ago, which made me a lot more alert( you could read paranoid), as you can see
Currently I an using Kerio, but there are others that are excellent.

Firefox is a wise choice of browsers.....imo......
I use adblock, flashblock and noscript extensions.
Firewall routers are a good first line of defense against unwanted connections.

Have you changed the default password in your router?

[neos1]

Originally Posted by Stoner

Here's the first article that popped up.....introducing a rootkit into the bios:

http://www.ngssoftware.com/research/...CI_Rootkit.pdf

Crafty ..........

The PDF reads like a sales brochure for the Trusted Computing Platform that Microsoft and others have been pushing basically saying that the bad guys are gonna win but if you run into our arms and let us protect you, we will "take care of you" from the cradle to the grave.

A quote from the GNU:

"Who should your computer take its orders from? Most people think their computers should obey them, not obey someone else. With a plan they call “trusted computing”, large media corporations (including the movie companies and record companies), together with computer companies such as Microsoft and Intel, are planning to make your computer obey them instead of you. (Microsoft's version of this scheme is called “Palladium”.) Proprietary programs have included malicious features before, but this plan would make it universal.

"Proprietary software means, fundamentally, that you don't control what it does; you can't study the source code, or change it. It's not surprising that clever businessmen find ways to use their control to put you at a disadvantage. Microsoft has done this several times: one version of Windows was designed to report to Microsoft all the software on your hard disk; a recent “security” upgrade in Windows Media Player required users to agree to new restrictions. But Microsoft is not alone: the KaZaa music-sharing software is designed so that KaZaa's business partner can rent out the use of your computer to their clients. These malicious features are often secret, but even once you know about them it is hard to remove them, since you don't have the source code."

The threat maybe real as you say, but I would question that article just because it is slanted towards selling the "Trusted Computing" platform.

I'm believing that this discourse will bring out alternatives other than giving up control of my life to Microsoft and "those who intend to govern" and still being able to confidently go about my day to day business. But then, I've been wrong before.

Edit: I don't mean this to sound confrontational.

[Stoner]

The PDF reads like a sales brochure for the Trusted Computing Platform that Microsoft and others have been pushing basically saying that the bad guys are gonna win but if you run into our arms and let us protect you, we will "take care of you" from the cradle to the grave.

You've been told ...................