bAz
bAz
hurray for chess(e)
posts : 288
| i`m gonna write a series of "pc cluck" columns, which should hopefully be some form of guide/help.
right lets start, scenario is you have your pc all up and running, but have no secuirty measures at all,
especially since you play online games and irc a bit.
password the pc
simple first thing, password you user account on the pc, goto admin tools and its in there somewhere, also delete the account called administrator(nasty backdoor way of getting admin to your machine).
windows service packs
you can see what your running be going "start > run > winver" it should tell you what service pack you have installed.
the latest being sp4 for win2k and sp1 for xp, altho these are bundled sp`s and for upto date stuff you should go :here:
install the critical updates and what not.
firewall
maybe a wee intro here, each pc has an ip address when connected to a network, each ip address has ports
to determine where network data should be sent and received(to identify it)
think of the ip as your house and the ports being names of people in the house. if the postman is sending something to your house, it need a persons name to denote who gets the package
anyway if these ports are open, data can come through.
so its a good idea to only have the ports that you use open and the rest closed, makes sense eh?
so thats why a default windows install has all ports set to open.
install a firewall, here`s a good one :link:
dont just download it install it and expect it to work
the manual is fairly good there, explains it all, if you think about the only main ports you need open are port 80(www), 21(ftp), 6667(irc) and your quake ones, as well as one or 2 others.
once you install that you`ll be able to see what program or whatever is doing what on your machine(your in for eye openers)
not bad so far in terms of locking the machine down, next off
anti virus
go :here: first for an online scan
hopefully there should be none, next you need to install some anti virus software, my fav is the mcafee one, but there are free alternatives like avg
and antivir.
theres no point in having antivirus unless its up to date, so if your not gonna keep it upto date, dont install, better off knowing your open to virus`s than thinking you`re safe
most updates come out weekly, usually thursday at some stage, im not sure how it works with the free ones.
spyware
this is the shite on your pc that fucks up your bandwidth,by reporting back to some mother server details on your machine, typical programs are kazaa and bonzai buddy crap
your q3 spiking to 500 ping in game? this could be the reason.download spybot :here: make sure you get the updates with it as well, run a full scan and see what happens.
tenner to the lad who has a clean machine :d
web browser hax0red
we`ve all been there where our home page is replaced by some polish fetish one and your dialup is routed thru slovakia, usually due to the massive secuirty loopholes contained in internet explorer
good news tho, there is a faster and more reliable web browser from :here: called mozilla firebird, built from the ground up based on a rendering engine, really owns ie all over the shop.
if you only listen to one part of this column (hehehe baz ur gay etc.) let this be that bit
windows 2000/xp services
remember i said windows 2k and xp come with all ports open as default, there ports are used by services, which are turned on as well
by disabling these services you not only stop the threat of getting haxed but also optimise your machine greatly
loadsa information :here:, most of you already know about "start > run > msconfig" to disable shit that starts when your pc boots, read the info on that site.
well thats about it from what i can think of, feel free to correct me or add bits.
its an effort to keep youre machine and info safe, but a worthwhile one.
remember the blaster worm that was doing the rounds, well most of lads were on the ball, with the patch and info being banded around the irc channels well, apparently not well enough. poor spaceman was told a couple of times, even linked and reminded by fellow clanmates of this threat
a quick 5min download/update/reboot was all it took, but he didnt listen and was left with no working pc for a week, massive problems there after, and the inevitable format
most of pc security is common sense.
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pc cluck - security
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