Basic PC/net setup and security

[megabyteme]

At times, I'm more paranoid than others. Over the past 2 months (after hitting the reset button on the back of my router DOH!) I've left my connection open, and unsecured. My network is fractured (I know how to set it up, I just haven't done so), and I am left wondering just how much security people bother with.

My primary PC uses Symantec Endpoint, but my other PC, and netbook aren't using anything.

Basically, I find myself drifting from caring- and probably overshooting, to the current state of not giving 2 squirts whether, or not, someone grabs a bit of my bandwidth as they drive by. I keep an eye on my monthly usage, and I haven't had any suspicions of serious over-use.


So, what is the minimum protection(s) you would ever implement on your network/PC, and what level of security do you feel necessary (perhaps your current setup).

Thanks. Perhaps this thread will also be of interest to others left with similar questions.

[mjmacky]

WPA2 on WiFi, Avira on all computers, basic User Account Control (Win7, more for programs functioning correctly than security).

I don't run any of those extensive firewall programs, as they tend to cause me more hassle than they do for the 0 people looking for my glory hole.

[anon]

Brain.exe is my first line of defense. Sadly it doesn't work for everyone.

My setup is that, plus wired router firewall, plus Sandboxie, which is a true blessing to test stuff - it works, and doesn't demand as many resources as a virtual machine does. Not everything works on it, though, and for those programs I have VirtualBox installed.

[johhny]

i really don't bother too much with security i have an antivirus installed but 90% of time is oFF,firewall none;for testing stuff vmware and sandbox
in rest my brain.

[Artemis]

For virus detection I use Microsoft Security Essential (finally a Microsoft program that doesn't have a massive memory foot print) it just runs happily in the background and doesn't even nag you when definitions are updated. I use two IOBit programs Advanced SystemCare for maintenance and Malware Fighter for other baddies. I also use Network Magic to look after the network. Adblock Plus (with Fanboys list) rounds out the protection.
The router has the firewall enabled with minimal pinholing plus WPA2 PSK WiFi encryption. As others though have mentioned brain.exe is my primary defense, I can recognise a phishing redirect, and if in doubt will restart the browser or hard reset the PC.

[contemp]

If i were you, I would first secure the wifi network, because as you may already know, an attacker could sniff all the data which is passing through the router. That's were there's no sign of intrusion, No AV, Internet Security or even IDS or IPS can detect this, why? because nothing happened. Packets were flying when someone just captured them.
With today's information flow, it is relatively easy to learn how to do so, so don't be surprised if you saw your 6 year old brother or (child) knows which website's you surf.
Of course, the data which is transferred through using SSL such as banking or PayPal, is encrypted using asymmetric encryption algorithms (RSA in this case.), it can be captured but it's useless until decrypted.
There's no known way to do this as of now.

Secure your wifi with WPA2 and STRONG password, often people think using WPA2 could make them safe so they choose weak passwords, in many cases i could do a successful penetration to an enterprise network just because of a weak password.
Oh! and don't forget to turn on mac filtering, allow all your devices and block others. (If you don't know how to do so let me know.)

And for local PCs,
Using an antivirus with firewall is a good practice.
In order to choose which antivirus is a good choice, the last factor should be money, why? because the difference is not THAT much, at most about 20 to 30 dollars, but what if you buy an antivirus with lower price and the next week you wonder whats that withdrawal on your credit card or who is that tags all of your private photos to your profile on Facebook !
But how to choose a good AV?
well, here are the factors which i consider when buying an AV, but before that please note that there's no absolute best one, month by month it changes, and because licenses are annual you may need to change your AV to a better one for the new year.

Consider these:
1- Detection rate & False Positives (False positive is a false alarm which happens when an av detects a file to be virus when it is actually isn't. as far as i knew, avast was the leader on this!)
2- Sand-boxing & Behavior analysis, which means that the AV can open the file in a safe and isolated environment to study it's behavior.
3- Safe Zone , means that the AV can switch you to a new desktop which is protected from Spys, keystroke loggers, information stealers , Trojans etc, even if you are infected at the time ,whether you know or you don't. this is a VERY useful & important feature. the usefulness is obvious but why important? because if it's not implemented correctly in the software, it can give you a False Sens of Security which is the worst thing in this field.
4- Update rate & Cloud network. This feature helps to be updates against new and unknown attacks by analyzing millions of AV user data.


How to find these? I suggest not to trust sites that make direct profit from reviews, Independent Organizations are by far more reliable,
www.av-comparatives.org is an independent one which does monthly tests and has nice charts to compare detection rates etc.

By my personal experience i can suggest Kaspersky Internet Security which has all the above features but you should do a search by your self too.

The last thing i always say in my classes is : Reduce your attack surface, in Technical words, In other words Don't Get into trouble.
Don't visit unknown websites simply because it has emailed you a low price on iPad, Don't talk to strangers you don't know, Don't accept Candies (Files of ANY KIND.MP3, JPG etc), Don't ignore you security software warnings, Do the suspicions or harmful things in an Isolated Environment ie.Virtual Machines .
Let me know if there's anything else mate.

[megabyteme]

Sincere thanks for all of the suggestions! I plan to quit being a lazy bum, and set up my network sometime this week. I'll go back over each of these posts as I do. :happy:

@contemp: I've never seen anyone put so much effort into a 2nd post. Respect, and welcome!

[contemp]

Sincere thanks for all of the suggestions! I plan to quit being a lazy bum, and set up my network sometime this week. I'll go back over each of these posts as I do. :happy:

@contemp: I've never seen anyone put so much effort into a 2nd post. Respect, and welcome!

That's all i could do mate.:happy:
Thanks for your kind words.

[anon]

@contemp: I've never seen anyone put so much effort into a 2nd post. Respect, and welcome!

Very true. Most newcomers post crap so that they can trade. This guy made a very good post and he's also offering to help if you need anything else.

About buying an antivirus... we're on a filesharing forum, mate :P

[johhny]

you can add RADIUS on WPA2 to be more secure.

[Artemis]

you can add RADIUS on WPA2 to be more secure.

Really ? so you have your own personal RADIUS server, well I am impressed, that is almost as impressive as bijoy's awesome computer.