Connect as administrator?

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Ellis
  • Start date Start date
D

David Ellis

Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
--David
 
from the said:
Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
Click to expand...

User stupidity permits lots of things to happen that can't be done if
you're not an admin. Your IT department would prefer you didn't. They'd
prefer you didn't know admin existed.

If you have your brains turned on, practise safe hex, and are aware of
the dangers, it really isn't that big a deal (meaning 'I do it most all
the time'). Actually most XP Home users do it all the time, since XP
home accounts default to an administrator ('an', not 'the').

Half (I exaggerate, probably only 45%, *grin*) of the software out
there =still= doesn't work right for non admin users.
 
Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
--David
Click to expand...
If you're running Intershite Exploder...EVERYTHING.
 
Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
--David
Click to expand...
************** REPLY SEPARATER ****************
Considering that most home users are already logged in as an administrator
without even knowing it, I would say that the risks are minimal. The standard
user groups available under an NT style operating system (which includes W2K &
XP) are:
Administrators
Backup Operators
Guests
Power Users
Replicators
Users
System

Just because XP doesn't show you all these doesn't mean that they are not
there. Microsoft just chooses to hide most of them, and encourages the use of
Administrators and Users only. There are supposedly some hacks that default to
the privaleges of the currently logged in user, but most hacks will default to
the system privaleges. You don't even have to be logged in for the hacker to
gain entry.

What I personally find as a good compromise is for normal users be configured
as power users. They can do virtually everything that an administrator can do
except add software or make system wide changes. There are a few pieces of
software where you may have to change the permissions on directories to which
they need read/write/execute privaleges, but those are few and far between.

If all this sounds confusing, it is to many people. I have always said that NT
is too powerful an operating system for the average home user.

J.A. Coutts
 
David said:
Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
Click to expand...

principle of least privileges
(http://makeashorterlink.com/?M2BE4215A)... as an administrator,
anything you happen to activate (with your browser, say) will have full
access to all parts of your machine...
 
Assuming a proper firewall and real-time antivirus are running, what
are the arguments against dialing up the internet with XP Pro SP2 (or
SP1) while logged in as administrator?
Click to expand...

Firewall and anti-virus are no good against much "new" exploit code
'cause ir may be too new for AV and come through the firewall as part of
a permitted communication. Much exploit code is of the type that gains
privilege of the user running the exploit - so why make that user more
privileged if you don't have to. New exploits happen all the time, IMO
the administrator should administrate (shouldn't even read e-mail as
administrator), otherwise what is the point of permissions.
 
************** REPLY SEPARATER ****************
Considering that most home users are already logged in as an administrator
without even knowing it, I would say that the risks are minimal. The standard
user groups available under an NT style operating system (which includes W2K &
XP) are:
Click to expand...
If all this sounds confusing, it is to many people. I have always said that NT
is too powerful an operating system for the average home user.

J.A. Coutt
Click to expand...

Long ago I used NT4 for database development; I could get more than 15
minutes without a Windows crash. I tend to think of W2K as NT5 and XP
as NT6. Perhaps it is because they're complex systems that they're so
much fun to learn. Thank you for the thoughtful response.
--David
 
Bitstring <[email protected]>, from the
wonderful person David Ellis said:
Long ago I used NT4 for database development; I could get more than 15
minutes without a Windows crash. I tend to think of W2K as NT5 and XP
as NT6.
Click to expand...

XP is actually NT5.1. I think if you look in some of the binaries and
build numbers it even says so.
 
Back
Top