Computer security for the Cheap and Lazy

vanity | 9/2/07 | ancell2

[ansel12]

My out of state friend is lazy about computer protection, but he just bought a new laptop that has wi-fi (he may never use that).

I sent him what I hope is an easy, minimal list of actions to take, until he can look deeper into the subject.

I know that everyone has their own preferences for programs, and many of you computer guys have had to deal with indifferent friends and family.

How do you guys keep it simple and free for them, keeping in mind that an imperfect defense that is implemented, is better than no defense at all.

This is what I asked him to do.

ZONEALARM ( You want the free, Basic version) http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp ============================================================ ANTI VIRUS (avast free) http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html ===========================================================

SPYWARE BLOCKERS (download all three, and update each one) DEFENDER http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx ADAWARE http://www.lavasoft.de/products/ad_aware_free.php SPYBOT http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html ===========================================================

Wireless Security Basics http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm

[ansel12]

Unfortunately that post looks sloppier than what I typed in, but at least it is still readable.

[BigTex5]

Simple and easy? What’s the guys computing level? Ubuntu Feisty is perfect for a Windows user. No AV or spyware needed!

[ansel12]

“”Ubuntu Feisty is perfect for a Windows user. “”

________________________________________________________

Since I don’t even know what that means, I don’t consider it simple. The guy bought a computer, he wanted Windows Vista, that is what the situation is.

[Lawgvr1955]

AVG free edition for AV. It is free and I believe it is better than the Nortons I used to pay for.

[ansel12]

A lot of people and experts like AVG, but I cling to a preference for Avast, that is also a favorite of users and experts. ( it is probably 6 of 1, a 1/2 dozen of the other).

[Iris7]

How do you guys keep it simple and free for them?

Depends on what “simple and free” mean. Not requiring any thought or effort, disallowing any frustration or dollar cost, and imposing no learning curve? Can’t be done.

I tell them to keep the system fully patched. They won’t.

A few months ago I used to install NOD32 and Comodo firewall and tell them to use Firefox with NoScript. I tell them exactly how to use it. These are brute easy to use, though only when everything is working.

For totally zero price AVG is the best. Install AVG Anti-Rootkit Free, Anti-Virus Free, and Anti-Spyware Free. Install the Comodo firewall and Firefox with NoScript as above.

Those people WILL open phishing urls.

The AVG Anti-Spyware Free is a development from Ewido, and is probably the best spyware-trojan freeware available. Occasionally SpyBot (the TeaTimer function works well, but can drive the impatient and learning challenged crazy) or Ad-Aware find something that NOD misses.

If you are working through an unsecured WiFi connection do not use a normal browser but instead use Torpark. Torpark puts in a cryptologically secure link to an anonymising server and is secure enough if the file sharing and WiFi hookup are set correctly and one is running a low level password.

[holymoly]

PC security-related links.   All software listed is freeware or open source. Last Update: 08/16/2007  List maintained by holymoly.
Anti-Virus: avast! Home Edition  Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP AVG Anti-Virus Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP BitDefender Free Edition Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand anti-virus program. ClamWin Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand virus scanner. Detects, doesn't clean. Dr. Web CureIT! Windows 95 OSR2/98/ME, 2000/XP On-demand, anti-malware (anti-virus/spyware). Detects and cleans. No installation required. McAfee Stinger On-demand anti-virus/trojan. No installation required. Fits on a 3.5" floppy.	Alternatives to MSIE, Outlook & Outlook Express: Mozilla.org  Firefox browser, Thunderbird E-mail client, Mozilla Suite. Opera  Supports tabbed browsing, etc. Easier on resources than Firefox, Mozilla/Seamonkey. Off By One The world's smallest and fastest web browser. No installation required. Popcorn E-Mail Small, no-frills e-mail client. Seamonkey The successor to the Mozilla Suite.  Web-browser, e-mail/usenet client, IRC client, HTML editing, all in one application. Xnews Usenet client.
Anti-Adware/Spyware/Trojan: a-squared Free Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP, 2003 Server & Vista On-demand anti-trojan/rootkit, etc. Comodo BOClean Windows for Workgroups 3.11 , 95/98/ME, NT4 SP2+, 2000/XP & Vista. Full/real-time protection against trojans, rootkits, etc. SpywareBlaster  Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP Prevent the installation of spyware and other potentially unwanted software! SpywareGuard Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP Full/real-time protection against spyware/malware. Spybot - Search and Destroy  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP Offers both on-demand scanning and full/real-time protection. SUPERAntiSpyware  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP Remove spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, home page hijackers and other malware threats.	Firewall: How to Install a Firewall Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5 Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP (Last freeware version) Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.15A Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0.9  Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP (Last freeware version) ZoneAlarm Free Download Zonealarm at Oldversion.com For those who need a version compatible with Windows 9x/ME
Miscellaneous: CCleaner Windows 95/98/ME, NT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista A freeware system optimization and privacy tool. Over 65 million downloads! Dr. Web anti-virus link checker  OS Independent This plugin/extension allows you to check any file you are about to download, or any web page, with Dr. Web anti-virus. Firefox users may download the extension at Addons.Mozilla.Org MVPS HOSTS File  Windows: All Block known malicious websites & servers. Ping Plotter Windows: All Internet diagnostic tool. Proxomitron  Windows 95/98/ME, 2000/XP A free, highly flexible, user-configurable, small, but very powerful, local HTTP web-filtering proxy. WinPatrol A security monitor.  WinPatrol will alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission.	New and/or Untested: Lavasoft Ad-Aware 2007 Free Windows 2000/XP/Vista (On-demand?) Anti-adware/spyware. Microsoft Windows Defender Windows XP SP2 or later. Anti-spyware. Spyware Terminator Scanner (On-demand): Windows 98/ME, 2000/XP/Vista Real-Time Protection: Windows 2000/XP/Vista TC-Spy Windows 98/ME, NT/2000/XP/Vista On-demand anti-adware/spyware.
Zeroday Emergency Response Team (ZERT) "The nonprofit Zeroday Emergency Response Team is offering VML security patches for out-of-support Windows OS versions. The volunteer group, which is made up of well-respected security professionals, has released updates for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 SP3." Above quote from: ZERT Patches Out-of-Support Windows OS

= A personal favorite.

[Iris7]

You might look at my post #7. AVG has changed greatly since absorbing Ewido.

I think a reasonably secure system can be built as I have described. I would prefer a firewall as good as the freeware NetVeda Safety.Net but without the problems. Comodo is user friendly.

[Argus]

Thanks, I am bookmarking that.

[ansel12]

I thought that Windows Defender and Spybot gave some real-time protection, and that zonealarm was pretty unbeatable for a free firewall.

[ansel12]

I had copied that list a few weeks ago to use for a similar situation with a friend.

Does it do any harm, or good to throw windows defender into the mix. I like that I can set it on automatic update and pre scheduled scans.

[puppypusher]

Just tell your Friend to buy and install Trend Micro’s PCCillin anti-virus and Internet security suit and install it.

Just have him set the settings as high as safety requires and the system will do the rest.

Then test the system at GRC.COM and he can find out how safe his PC is to breaking and entering while he’s connnected to the Internet.

I have tested my machine and I have been found to be stealthed to the Max. I don’t even appear to be on line.Thats what you want.

[DeaconBenjamin]

bookmark

[backhoe]

holymoly's list of software's as good as any I can think of-- one other thing?

Get him to connect to the web via a router ( a LAN, or Local Area Network, AKA home network )- virtually all modern routers have a hardware firewall, and that will stop a lot of the junk from coming through.

It won't fix "foolish," however- Nigerian emails, phishing, and so forth...

[GoDuke]

Bookmark

[DainBramage]

BTTT

[PAR35]

Since he will need to actually do things with the computer at some point, set him up with Open Office.

[ansel12]

What is open office?

[holymoly]

Does it do any harm, or good to throw windows defender into the mix.

Since I'm not familiar with it, all I can say is, many Freepers use it.

[jwh_Denver]

Google it.

[DaGman]

"Since I don’t even know what that means,"

Ubuntu is a Linux operating system flavor that has become about the most popular. Check it out here. I'm using Ubuntu on my IBM laptop as I type this.

[ansel12]

I googled it and it seems to be something that people use for their work, I don’t know when or if my friend will ever need that.

For me personally, although I run a business, I have never used my computer for any kind of paper work related to it, I prefer file cabinets, stenographic work order tickets, and such.

[PAR35]

Word processing, spread sheet, presentation software, a simple database program. The equivalent of Microsoft Office, but in some ways better.

[PAR35]

What operating system will be on the machine?

[ansel12]

He already bought the machine, it has Vista, it is wi-fi capable, but I doubt that there is any rush on that.

I just wanted him to get some basic protections now, and then I thought that I could encourage him to take more interest in security as he spent more time on the internet.

Right now I just want to prevent his eyes from glazing over, and him ignoring me, until I can get him to install a few things, update them and run a few scans.

My theory is that once you can get someone to update a couple of programs and run maybe a half dozen or more scans, then that person will start taking an interest in these programs.

When they see that running scans is kind of fun and rewarding, then they will be receptive to new, and better security ideas.

[Vinnie]

Just tell your Friend to buy and install Trend Micro’s PCCillin anti-virus and Internet security suit and install it.

Exactly what I'm using on 2 machines and zero problems, but..I have a problem

I have an exception in 'scripts' for YouTube. About a week ago my Trend Micro started stopping YouTube for 'anti-fraud'.
I'm reluctant to change the settings until I find out what's going on.

Another... occasionally Trend Micro gives me a screen saying Google is looking for my credit card number. A cookie I believe. I refuse the cookie, but..

I have bought items online w/ my card and was wondering if and where my CC number might be stored on my machine.

I just ran a thorough search w/ 'search' using part of my CC number, nothing.

Any ideas?

[puppypusher]

Exactly what I’m using on 2 machines and zero problems, but..I have a problem

I have an exception in ‘scripts’ for YouTube. About a week ago my Trend Micro started stopping YouTube for ‘anti-fraud’.
I’m reluctant to change the settings until I find out what’s going on.

Another... occasionally Trend Micro gives me a screen saying Google is looking for my credit card number. A cookie I believe. I refuse the cookie, but..

I have bought items online w/ my card and was wondering if and where my CC number might be stored on my machine.

I just ran a thorough search w/ ‘search’ using part of my CC number, nothing.

Any ideas?

Sorry about that but I would’nt have a clue where to find an account number on the hard drive,If its not listed under cookies then it could be encrypted somewhere else.

That’s one of the reasons I don’t like storing account numbers on a computer.You have NO way of knowing how secure they are.