how safe am I?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Neil
  • Start date Start date
N

Neil

hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?

any help appreciated,


thanks

Neil
 
Neil said:
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?
Click to expand...

it is always possible to get a virus or trojan... no protective measure
is perfect...
 
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?
Click to expand...
Yes, even moreso if you use Internet Explorer and open every e-mail
you're sent.
 
Neil said:
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?
Click to expand...

Norton? Definitively not one of my favorites. But to answer your question,
you are never 100% safe. You are still prone to getting infected, there are
no guarantees.
 
I have written a few lines....
http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/keepingclean.html
Click to expand...

I concur with most of what you have written but I cannot agree with
you about Microsoft's so-called "updates". I have personal experience
where one of them trashed my Win2K SP4 installation and I had to
restore my disaster recovery archive after wasting a day trying to fix
it.

Microsoft acknowledges that there is a serious problem trying to patch
someone's system. MS has proposed a test simulator which checks if the
updates are stable on your machine and if not allows you to roll back.

I rely on the Service Packs to provide me with security updates. I
rely on the things you enumerate on your website. I do not use IE
unless forced to and then only if I really trust the site. I do not
use OE or any of the other apps from MS that are known to be
vulnerable to attacks.

If you are going to advise people to use MS upgrade, it might be
valuable to warn them of the issues surrounding it.



--

Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
--John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
 
From: "Bob" <[email protected]>

| On Wed, 22 Jun 2005 10:09:30 -0400, What's in a Name?
|
| I concur with most of what you have written but I cannot agree with
| you about Microsoft's so-called "updates". I have personal experience
| where one of them trashed my Win2K SP4 installation and I had to
| restore my disaster recovery archive after wasting a day trying to fix
| it.
|
| Microsoft acknowledges that there is a serious problem trying to patch
| someone's system. MS has proposed a test simulator which checks if the
| updates are stable on your machine and if not allows you to roll back.
|
| I rely on the Service Packs to provide me with security updates. I
| rely on the things you enumerate on your website. I do not use IE
| unless forced to and then only if I really trust the site. I do not
| use OE or any of the other apps from MS that are known to be
| vulnerable to attacks.
|
| If you are going to advise people to use MS upgrade, it might be
| valuable to warn them of the issues surrounding it.
|
| --
|
| Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
| http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html
|
| "Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
| --John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

You stated "Microsoft acknowledges that there is a serious problem trying to patch someone's
system"

Show us the URL.

At most they will admit that if you have spyware/adware it can corrupt and HotFix or Service
Pack. MS can't be held responsible for that.
 
Bob said:
I concur with most of what you have written but I cannot agree with
you about Microsoft's so-called "updates". I have personal experience
where one of them trashed my Win2K SP4 installation and I had to
restore my disaster recovery archive after wasting a day trying to fix
it.

Microsoft acknowledges that there is a serious problem trying to patch
someone's system. MS has proposed a test simulator which checks if the
updates are stable on your machine and if not allows you to roll back.

I rely on the Service Packs to provide me with security updates. I
rely on the things you enumerate on your website. I do not use IE
unless forced to and then only if I really trust the site. I do not
use OE or any of the other apps from MS that are known to be
vulnerable to attacks.

If you are going to advise people to use MS upgrade, it might be
valuable to warn them of the issues surrounding it.
Click to expand...
I also have had issues with updates(it was a updated driver for my cable
modem-caused it to stop working).I think you are right and I need to
make some additions. I still think that for the average user,autoupdates
are nesessary because they will forget to update their systems.
-max
 
I also have had issues with updates(it was a updated driver for my cable
modem-caused it to stop working).I think you are right and I need to
make some additions. I still think that for the average user,autoupdates
are nesessary because they will forget to update their systems.
Click to expand...

I am not encouraging people to avoid updates - although I do because I
have essentially everything else in place for protection.

I am encouraging a warning be issued to newbies that updates can be
problematic and a clone backup would be wise in case you have to
recover.


--

Map of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
http://home.houston.rr.com/rkba/vrwc.html

"Whatever crushes individuality is despotism."
--John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"
 
I am not encouraging people to avoid updates - although I do because I
have essentially everything else in place for protection.

I am encouraging a warning be issued to newbies that updates can be
problematic and a clone backup would be wise in case you have to
recover.
Click to expand...
(Do I smell some serious back-tracking there???)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
If people feel apprehensive about "upgrading", why not switch programs? As
is known there *are* alternatives to Internet Explorer, while anything so
widely distributed as Outlook just *has* to be a prime target for hackers
and scriptkiddies (or whatever they're called nowadays), so why stand in the
way of danger? I have never used Outlook, but stuck with Eudora for nine
years.
 
Neil said:
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?

any help appreciated,
Click to expand...

Yes, it's more than possible due to those solutions running at the machine
level with the O/S. The O/S can be attacked and the solutions circumvented
and defeated by malware. This usually happens by the end-user that has has
happy fingers that clink on unknown things like links and email
attachments. The user should learn how to secure IE or OE to prevent things
or use a different browser like Firefox (free) and only use IE for those
sites that require IE and/or a different email client program to better
deal with the situation.

Duane :)
 
Neil said:
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?

any help appreciated,


thanks

Neil
Click to expand...

If you have OE/O set to read in *text* mode only and set to restricted
site, to warn if other applications try to send email using OE/O to block
images and other external content in HTML and to no allow attachments to be
opened in the security tab of "tools\options then the security tab" you will
be considerable safer then if you don't set it this way. Also if you have
it set to read all email and news groups in text mode only then you are also
considerable safer if you have preview payne enabled because with it set to
read in text only no inline html or script can run.
Just remember that NO antivirus or Trojan or bug or spyware application
can protect you from your self; because if you open and run an attachment
and allow it to run/install (in the case of activex controls) then that
program can do absolutely anything; because an activex control can do
anything to your system it wants if you allow it to install. The best
protection for your system is the wet ware between your ears.

--
^^^^^
(@@)
-----o00o-(_)-o00o-------------
Best Regards
Sugien
---------------Oooo-------------
oooO ( )
( ) ) /
\ ( (_/
\_)
 
What's in a Name? said:
I have written a few lines....
http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/keepingclean.html
-max
Click to expand...

I read your site and it has some good information. However, I am curious
about the Web server itself since it seems to be IIS.

1) Did you lockdown IIS with the IIS Lockdown Tool?
2) Did you properly secure the NT based O/S that's running IIS?
3) Did you propely secure the registry for a machine running IIS?
4) Did you secure the files system on the NT based O/S running IIS?
5) Did you properly secure user accounts on the NT based O/S running IIS?
6) Did you further secure IIS properly?

These things must be done in order to secure the machine and IIS that's
being exposed to the public Internet, otherwise, it's just another
launching pad for hackers to attack other machines and networks on the
Internet.

Duane :)
 
Duane said:
What's in a Name? wrote:




I read your site and it has some good information. However, I am curious
about the Web server itself since it seems to be IIS.

1) Did you lockdown IIS with the IIS Lockdown Tool?
2) Did you properly secure the NT based O/S that's running IIS?
3) Did you propely secure the registry for a machine running IIS?
4) Did you secure the files system on the NT based O/S running IIS?
5) Did you properly secure user accounts on the NT based O/S running IIS?
6) Did you further secure IIS properly?

These things must be done in order to secure the machine and IIS that's
being exposed to the public Internet, otherwise, it's just another
launching pad for hackers to attack other machines and networks on the
Internet.

Duane :)
Click to expand...
The servers are maintained by RoadRunner.I will look into these matters.
-max
 
What's in a Name? said:
The servers are maintained by RoadRunner.I will look into these matters.
-max
Click to expand...

Oh, you're using a Web hosting service and you're not running a machine that
has IIS Web services running on a NT based Pro or Server edition O/S at
your house. If that's the case that you're using a Web hosting service,
then they should have done all of the above for the protection and you
should not have to deal with it.

Duane :)
 
I also have had issues with updates(it was a updated driver for my cable
modem-caused it to stop working).I think you are right and I need to
make some additions. I still think that for the average user,autoupdates
are nesessary because they will forget to update their systems.
Click to expand...

The only updates from MS I don't apply is anything dealing with drivers for
devices such as NIC(s), monitors etc. If I need those updated, then I'll
go to the manufacturer's site and do if from there.

Also, I don't apply updates to something I'll never use like some kind of
currency conversion thing or something like that to be applied to an
Office product.

But anything that applies to security is applied no questions asked or some
patch that I deem necessary for something I use.

Twice I have allowed MS update to replace or update drivers one for a 3COM
NIC and for the display on a Toshiba laptop and I paid the price and avoid
any drivers -- period.

Duane :)
 
Neil said:
hi guys,

so, how safe am I if I have Norton firewall and anti virus and do a spybot
check every week?

is it still possible to get a virus or Trojan?
Click to expand...

In answer to your question, "yes".
For the umpteenth time...
One cannot rely on any application to keep your system 100% "safe" or
"secure". As Sugien said somewhere in this thread, it is a matter of using
your own common sense.
In order to put it simply, think of your system as your home or workplace
and apply this method of thinking:

1. Firewall = Security gateway.
2. Anti-Virus = In-house surveilance cameras and trip
alarms.
3. Anti-adware = Sniffer guard dog for deterring hawkers, peddlers and
unwanted sales persons.
4. Regular back-ups saved to removable data storage = Insurance (by this I
do not mean MS's restore point option, which is a waste of time. A DVD
writer and 4.7GB's worth of space is more than adequate to insure your
data!)

NB: none of these measures are fool proof and their efficacy is totally
dependent on the competence of your security personnel... in this case
yourself!

5. Regular housekeeping =
(a) The daily/weekly clean up crew - defragging the HD, cleaning out the
cookie folders, temp folders and defunct short cuts.
(b) The Big Clean - A good spring clean by scrubbing the HD totally and
re-installing only your most necessary applications is worth the time and
effort once or twice a year (or more), in order to clear out any accumulated
vermin, detritus and assorted applications that might have seemed a good
idea to install at the time but promptly forgotten.
6. COMMON SENSE: Ultimately, the best commodity for ensuring peace of mind.

[I deliberately ommitted email scanner, because as far as I'm concerned, it
simply isn't necessary. If mail arrives through my door that is not
addressed to me and is not expected, particularly if there is a parcel
together with it that requires my acceptance authorization, then I dump it
or inform the postman that it is unwanted and return it. I certainly would
never open it. Why would I treat email any differently?]

HTH
DANG
 
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