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Computer Security

All Acting Regiment

16:53 / 23.06.06

Apparently, people in my building have recently had bother with their computers being hacked into. I don't know the specifics, but apparently it involves their mouse being operated out of their control and things getting deleted. Nasty stuff.

So I thought I'd start this thread. Let's start from the assumption that I want an impreganble fortress of a computer. I have a lot of free time at the mo and so I've decided to put this into practice.

Can I trust Microsoft/windows at all?
What programs do I need?

17:02 / 23.06.06

You'll want a firewall, I believe. Windows XP has a firewall thingie you can activate, but I imagine there are better pieces of software out there. Someone will confirm that suspicion in a mo', I'm sure.

You'll also want to getcher paws on a piece of software called Spybot-Search and Destroy. Can't provide you a link (sorry) but a Google should point you right to it. Free program. Free updates. Kills mal-ware dead.

All Acting Regiment

17:31 / 23.06.06

Cheers Monk. I have the XP Firewall, but as you say i'm sure there's better stuff out there. I use the Lavasoft anti-mal program, I think that's meant to be as good as spybot.

All Acting Regiment

17:34 / 23.06.06

Also, I have a fair few sites I have an account with but no longer use- Faceparty and so on- for the sake of completeness I'd like to scrap my accounts. Problem is there doesn't seem to be any quick way of doing this. Anyone have any similar experience?

All Acting Regiment

17:42 / 23.06.06

(This thread's for anyone in a similar situation by the way)

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:09 / 23.06.06

I'd also suggest ZoneAlarm rather than the Windows firewall.

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

18:27 / 23.06.06

If they are seeing the mouse moving when they arent doing anything it sounds loike it could be a problem with either Windows Remote Desktop or a recnet VNC vulnerability (the latter is only if VNC is installed on the machine, which many office IT people install so they don't need to get up when something breaks)

Disabling Remote Desktop is something you should be able to google. Go to the Add/Remove programs in the control panel and if VNC client is installed kill it unless you use it.

18:41 / 23.06.06

I rekon you've got to be more careful if you'r on a wireless network - make sure you change all default passwords on routers etc.

If you're just securing a computer pluged into the wall I find zonealarm much better than XP firewall. It also pays to have a few virus/malware/spyware available. I use spybot, lavasoft and avast. One program never seems to pick up everything. If you're up for spending cash many of the techy forums seem keen on Kaspersky antivirus/firewall.

For surfing the net firefox with with the noscript extension prevents alot of nasty things getting in at all. The only problem is when clicking a link with video - if you don't allow javascript for the site quickstyle then the browser will crash. I tend to set my history kept to zero days so each tme you open it you have a slighty cleaner slate.

Some sort of cleaner program is also recommemded to get rid of info stored in programs and on the registry.

If you slighty more parnoid something like eraser will ensure everything you remove with the other programs goes for good. It uses the gutman data wipe which takes forever and makes data almost unrecoverable, I think.

I you can be bothered trawling through reviews of security programs on download.com there are usually a few people who really know their shit.

19:42 / 23.06.06

My lovely man is a paragon of security consciousness and he has Done Some Things to my computer to make it safe.

I have the following running on my machine and (TOUCHWOOD) nothing bad has ever happened to me:

PC Internet Patrol
Spyware Blaster
Spybot Search and Destroy
Spyware Guard
AVG Antivirus

The only annoying thing is that you have to agree to download images in emails but I have got used to that now.

We also have a firewall for me, and a firewall for the wireless network.

Paranoid we may be, but unattackable we are!

21:28 / 23.06.06

Nothing helps as much as a firewall appliance to keep the kiddies out of your hair and your cpu free to do things you want to do.
Legba is this your home or your work you're worried about?
I suspect it is your home but if it is your work do you have any IT folks?

If it is your home can you describe your internet connection? Jacking directly in via a cable modem/DSL is bad bad news.
Routers are cheap and most these days function as firewalls.

All Acting Regiment

23:22 / 23.06.06

This is flats, xk, so we plug into the network and the ISP are the nearest "it guys". I think it'll be ok now though.

00:26 / 24.06.06

cool.
Just remember it is worth the 40$ to slap a basic firewall appliance in front of your 'puter so your CPU is working on the important stuff (like keeping you chatting on Barbelith) not running extra firewall software. PC's running firewalls are like bands who don't have roadies, you can do it but it means less time for fun.

..or something....

12:44 / 24.06.06

If people are having their machine 'taken over' then it's very likely some kind of trojan, which is like a virus but tends to allow other people to take control of your machine. A decent virus scanner like Avast is a must here and will guard you agaisnt such things, and it's free into the bargain. Firewall-wise the built in XP one is shit so install the free version of ZoneAlarm instead as others have said. Having done that you should disable the XP firewall in case of conflicts.

The Remote Desktop service being takn over is also a good possiblilty as someone else said so disable it by going into the Service control panel (click Start then Run, type services.msc and hit OK) then scroll down to the "Remote Desktop Help Session Manager", right click on it and select Stop. After that, double-click it and set the Startup Type to Disabled and it'll never bother you again.

In terms of prevention of infection from all sorts of nasties stop using Internet Explorer! I can't stress that strongly enough, IE is a massive vector for infection and it allows all sorts of shit to get into your machine that something like Firefox just laughs at. Plus Firefox is just better in general for all sorts of reasons, not least stuff like the Adblock and Filterset.G Updater extensions.

All Acting Regiment

13:43 / 24.06.06

Oh,I use Firefox. Is it advisable to completely remove IE from the system?

15:25 / 24.06.06

No, as I believe Windows will only let you do updates through IE, also some badly coded websites only work in IE.

03:00 / 25.06.06

If you want to be free of virii, you shouldn't be using Windows. Get a different (UNIX-based) operating system like Linux or Mac OS X. But if you must stay with MS Windows, use AVG antivirus and Zonealarm. As mentioned previously in this thread, use Firefox (with torpark, if you want to surf anonymously). Never download files that aren't widely used to avoid trojans.

Other tips:
-Never use a wireless network that isn't run by you or someone that you trust - it is possible fr network owners to scan all network traffic. You should only use wireless networks that use WPA (or WPA2) encryption.
-

*

04:20 / 25.06.06

WindRabbit, OMG, you were giving us some really good advice but it looks like you disappeared in the middle of it! Were you abducted by Microsoft? Did the virii get you? Plz respond so we know you're okay.

00:01 / 26.06.06

Yeah, I had to go to bed. So I'll continue...
-If you have a Dell (or any computer, for that matter), make sure that you never use an administrative (or root) account unless it is absolutely necessary. And make sure that there is a very strong password on every user account. I just mentioned this because the Dell's installer, by default, gives users Admin accounts without a password.
-Security is a process, not a product. ALWAYS download security updates.
-Err, your building has a problem with hackers? Windows is far from invulnerable, even with firewalls and virus scanners. If you truly are dedicated enough to make an 'impregnable fortress', use a Mac, Linux or BSD instead. I found it suprisingly easy to switch.
-Legba, can you give more details about your building? Is it primarily an office building or residential? Do you share a network? If so, is it wireless?