"Windows Secrets" personal security baseline

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leejosepho
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03 Mar 2011, 1:46 pm

Quote:

We worry about data miners and identity theft but put our life stories up on Facebook. Here are some basic steps to enhance your personal security ...

http://windowssecrets.com/2011/03/03/03 ... ne/#story1

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Fogman
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03 Mar 2011, 3:48 pm

Here's an even better suggestion,

Download and install this

All of your windows security and malware headaches will still be there, one reboot away if you insist on going back.

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leejosepho
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03 Mar 2011, 4:00 pm

Fogman wrote:

Here's an even better suggestion,

Download and install this

All of your windows security and malware headaches will still be there, one reboot away if you insist on going back.

I already tried that, and doing so actually made going back into my several Windows (multi-boot) operating systems impossible! However, I do plan to begin setting up a completely separate Debian machine tomorrow so it can do as it pleases without messing up anything other than possibly itself.

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Fogman
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03 Mar 2011, 4:06 pm

leejosepho wrote:

Fogman wrote:

Here's an even better suggestion,

Download and install this

All of your windows security and malware headaches will still be there, one reboot away if you insist on going back.

Odd that that should happen as it runs a virtual ext4FS on an NTFS partition, unless the bootloader overrides your windows boot options. With Debian, I would suggest you look into the LXDE/Openbox desktop as it's not as resource heavy as the standard Gnome and KDE environments.

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leejosepho
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03 Mar 2011, 4:52 pm

Fogman wrote:

Odd that that should happen ... unless the bootloader overrides your windows boot options.

I had *lots* of trouble there over several months of trial-and-error ... and then when I finally got that under control, Debian did some kind of self-update that again trashed all of that and even more.

Fogman wrote:

With Debian, I would suggest you look into the LXDE/Openbox desktop as it's not as resource heavy as the standard Gnome and KDE environments.

I will do that, and I thank you!

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Brianm
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04 Mar 2011, 2:16 am

JoeSchmukapop wrote:

Fogman wrote:

Here's an even better suggestion,

Download and install this

All of your windows security and malware headaches will still be there, one reboot away if you insist on going back.

Why did you bring up ubuntu? I get it that you're an ubuntu fanboy and clearly didn't read the article. Ubuntu isn't going to keep your info you put online anymore secure than windows will. The article has nothing to do with malware.

Anyways, windows users don't need anti-virus/malware/spyware apps running on their computer. Apparently you don't know this. Moving to linux because you got a virus or malware isn't going to solve anything. It's their fault for executing the malware or virus and now they're just trying to avoid the problem, thinking that ubuntu or linux is keeping them more secure. The same could be done to you, just get you to execute a deb package or a script. I imagine it's quite simple to do with ubuntu users or any new linux user.

Malware is basically something that can break your system. I notice quite often, new linux users blindly install incompatible packages that breaks their whole system.

You talk about not having to run antivirus? Client side scripts can download Virises, Spyware, and rootkits without the user even knowing it unless the scripts are disabled in the browser. When I looked my internet explorer settings I looked for a way to disable scripts, but I could only disable script debuging. A malicious or Potentailly Unwanted program could be downloaded by script pretty much anywhere on the harddrive. As to Linux. the only reason Linux isn't affected by Viruses is because there are few if not any made due to the fact that Linux has such little of the market share.

leejosepho
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04 Mar 2011, 7:41 am

JoeSchmukapop wrote:

Were you using Testing or sid? Before you update using those, you should check to see if there are any warnings about packages possibly breaking your system and grub.

I do not know all the categories there, but I was using "latest stable" or whatever that is called. My various Windows installations occasionally quibble with or elbow each other a bit, but Debian acted more like they were not even there.

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Cornflake
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04 Mar 2011, 12:29 pm

Brianm wrote:

the only reason Linux isn't affected by Viruses is because there are few if not any made due to the fact that Linux has such little of the market share.

Oh, right. :roll:

So the security inherent to the OS has no bearing on this at all, and security exists only though obscurity?

If what you said was even remotely true then the whole Internet would have crashed and burned years ago, because it's basically Unix.
Rather like Linux is basically Unix. Rather like a Mac is basically Unix.

And nothing like Windows.

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Asp-Z
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04 Mar 2011, 1:44 pm

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

leejosepho
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04 Mar 2011, 1:52 pm

Asp-Z wrote:

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

Same here. In all my years on the 'net, only once did I ever get an actual virus ... and that was from clicking on something inside an e-mail from a not-so-savvy friend. So, I no longer click anything inside any e-mail other than from some very specific subscriptions I absolutely know I can trust.

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Asp-Z
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04 Mar 2011, 1:59 pm

leejosepho wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

Well, UNIX systems require you to provide an admin password anyway, which I never do. I also run NoScript on Firefox, regularly clear tracking cookies, and post very minimal information about myself online.

Cornflake
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04 Mar 2011, 3:37 pm

leejosepho wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

The trouble is that this is only one route for malware. If a web site has been compromised then simply accessing that site is enough, and a user doesn't need to actively download or open anything.
And there is nothing inherently wrong or risky with opening an e-mail attachment; it's the OS design itself which makes that activity risky.

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leejosepho
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04 Mar 2011, 3:47 pm

Cornflake wrote:

leejosepho wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

I see things this way: If I did nothing wrong, then the system is at fault ... and if I did something wrong, the system should have caught it! So no matter what, everything falls on the system, eh?! :wink:

Anyway, I have Debian going in alongside XP in an older machine, so I might soon see which is the first to goof up ...

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Asp-Z
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04 Mar 2011, 4:58 pm

Cornflake wrote:

leejosepho wrote:

Asp-Z wrote:

I do all the stuff suggested in that article anyway. It's common sense.

Not on a UNIX system, which is why they're so much better.

(unless you're running a very unsecure browser with root access exploits, but really, you shouldn't be)

Cornflake
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04 Mar 2011, 5:04 pm

Quote:

Not on a UNIX system, which is why they're so much better.

Yep, that's my point.

Quote:

(unless you're running a very unsecure browser with root access exploits, but really, you shouldn't be)

Absolutely. That's what Windows is for, and it does it so well. :lol:

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leejosepho
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05 Mar 2011, 7:52 am

Fogman wrote:

leejosepho wrote:

Fogman wrote:

Here's an even better suggestion,

Download and install this

All of your windows security and malware headaches will still be there, one reboot away if you insist on going back.

Okay, here is today's challenge ...

I first installed XP in this new Debian machine of mine, and it (XP) is in the third partition on the first drive;
I then let Debian "self-install" on the "largest free space" it found (and which just happened to be on my second hard drive);
Debian's GRUB saw my XP and said "It should be safe to let GRUB take over" (emphasis added there);
XP did not actually make it into Debian's GRUB loader;
I suspect that is because XP's boot files are in "C:", but GRUB possibly saw XP in "E:" (where it actually is).

Question: Do you know how to edit/fix the latest Debian GRUB boot loader by adding an XP entry and making it work?

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