Okay, I have read alot of tuts and are looking and reading through more as we speak, but I want to know how I am doing and what I am missing...
I have a laptop that I use for personal stuff (not like managing a network or anything that you guys do for work) with windows vista 32bit OS. I use AVG antivirus, along with trend micro for scans (and jotti's for single file scans, before I open what I download) along with ZoneAlarm for my firewall. My HDD is partitioned into a 95/5 with the 5 for backing up/restore points, it is also encrypted by secure disk. I have turned off netbios, because i dont ever network with any printers etc... my discoverability is off, along with file sharing.
I mainly connect to wireless ap's in my neighborhood, to the schools LAN, or to my LAN at home... So am I doing good? what have I missed?
any questions or comments (I am still working on not getting offended by the tough love approach) would be great, thank you!
October 29th, 2007, 09:58 AM
nihil
Two things to look at and think about:
1. What browser are you using and what are its security settings. For example, I use FireFox with the "noscript" plugin and IE with the security set to ask permission before running scripts (Java & ActiveX)
2. What wireless encryption protocol are you using.
You don't mention any anti-spyware or adware so I would recommend that you look at:
1. Spybot Search & Destroy
2. AdAware SE
3. SpywareBlaster
With Spybot, use "immunise" and set the interactive "teatimer" to run.
In particular, RegistryProt. This alerts you to attempts to alter the Registry.
OK, you need patience or to remember to deactivate then reactivate when loading new software. Personally I don't mind the warnings, as I find it interesting to see what software is doing when it is installed.
October 31st, 2007, 10:28 PM
ArPaNET
When I connect wireless it is over an unsecure network in my neighborhood. I cant crack secure ones because my wireless card is intel based, and no tools either *nix or windows support it... Is there any way to secure my packets on an unsecure network? I know I can go into the ap and put a wep encryption, but that would throw a red flag for sure lol. How bad is it to connect over an unsecure network? what vulnerabilities are there and how can I still use an unsecure ap without being attacked?
I will install anti-spyware/adware today, and take a look at those tools.
is there anything else?
