getting started, just a few questions

Hello,

I'm a student, on a shared wireless network in my apartment complex. I have a few security programs installed currently.

Zonealarm free, current version
McAfee Antivirus, updated
Spybot S&D 1.4
GFI Languard 6.0(JUST installed this, messing around with it)

I guess my biggest concern is, with my degree I'll be making material for a demo reel, and I don't want my work stolen and used by someone else. What security programs would be good in addition/in place of my current configuration? I basically want it so I can go to sleep at night knowing that I don't have someone stealing information from an open port.

Also, is there a program that tells you what all the running processes are and what uses them? I'd like to cut down the amount of crap that's running in the background, especially the stuff that I don't know what it's there for.

well that's all I can think of for right now.
Thanks in advance,

Abaddon

Well aside from the security programs you already have you could consider purchasing an external hard drive and just unplugging it when you are not working on the project and keeping it in a safe place, also disconnect from the network at night.

Other than that make sure all your default shares are turned off and youcan also password protect your files in windows XP.

The mos obvious way to tell what processes are runing would be task manager although some malcious programs do hide as svchost and some completly do not show up. there are other alternatives I just cant think of any off the top of my head (sorry long day)

For some of the malicious processes, check here: http://www.liutilities.com/products/...rocesslibrary/. It's not too bad.

But yea, I have the same concerns abotu some of my work being stolen for certain video pojects I do, and I have an external hard drive that I turn off, when I'm not using it.

Cheers!

-jeff

Physically removing the items of interest as suggested above is probably the best way to go, however you may also want to look at encryption (http://www.pgp.com/downloads/index.html) PGP is a reasonable way to go (I would recommend it over the XP encryption). Just make sure you know how to use it and you keep any passphrases in a safe place - very easy to make your work inaccessible to yourself as well if you use this software incorrectly.

Hope this helps

many thanks to everyone that replied! Hopefully I'll get off to a good start.

Thanks again,
Abaddon

HiJackThis from www.download.com is an excelent tool for looking at processes and reg entries. I use this almost daily at work.

TwoFish is excelent for encryption, and it's free....

If you use Hijack This you might be interested in this log analyzer. It highlights the applications and provides links to their function and possible exploits. Well put together.

http://hjt.iamnotageek.com/

TechGrunt has pointed you in the right direction. PGP or an equivalent program to encrypt the data is your best bet. Removing it is not a bad idea...but keep in mind, these are simple measures, just like locking your front door. A determined thief (with the right level of technical expertise) will go through your harddrive, looking in the pagefile, sector slackspace, etc. for left over fragments or temporary versions of the file. How realistic is this concern? ...I wouldn't lose any sleep over it; I just didn't want you to get a false sense of security. The nice thing about the more recent versions of PGP is it has a wipe utility that will securely delete the original version of your data, after encryption has taken place. It can also wipe any unused space on the partition.

As XTC46 and TechGrunt have said, removable media is your single best bet, but combine it with PGP or another form of encryption. There are many open source, shareware, or freeware programs out there. Just make sure you spend the time and energy to learn how they work and become comfortable with them. Use a strong passphrase to protect the encryption key. I have written a small white paper on passphrases, which you can review here.