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I'm glad that you are taking advice readily available to you.
You 'might' be able to get a friend to download a LiveCD or Installation disk for you?
If not, go buy it. These are VERY cheap OS's even if you PAY for them. Also, they are some of the most technologically advanced ones. pretty good combination if you ask me.
Great info by all,
As listed above, if you learn your OS inside and out you can or will learn how to secure them. I prefer Linux, in particular SuSE 8.2 Pro and Slackware and both are pretty secure because I know how to make them fairly secure. And just because I was able to do that, doesn't mean that status will be maintained without further effort. Constant updating, visiting reputable security sites to find out the newest exploits and vulnerabilities etc., is required to keep them that way.
I also like the ole win98se, It's not the only windows I have, just prefer it for my own use at home. Some ask me why on earth do you still use 98se it doesn't have any bells and whistles? I use it at home because it's simplistic and through that there are fewer vulnerabilities and hopefully people will forget it still lives. Shut down any sharing and netbios, have a good firewall, use spyware/adware irradicators, AV, keep it updated, and I feel confident that the cracker would have a hard time getting in.
So you can get a linux distro free to real cheap and you might be able to talk someone out of their old windows 98se.
cheers
edit: Great thread linked below by pooh sun tzu
A solid windows OS is 100% possible.
http://www.antionline.com/showthread...hreadid=254589
I created a tutorial not too long ago on OS security, and how it isn't the distro, but the admin that makes it all come together and be secure. I suggest checking it out and see if it offers a new light to "which os is more secure?"
To secure Windows to a decent level check out the various hardening standards out there, of which the NSA one is the first I can think of. Also I like Tripwire and similar tools, great way to lock down the OS. Of course no OS is ever going to be fully secure, but yes Windows can be locked down to a high degree. For secure ioperating systems look ar B-level operating systems such as pitbull and trusted Soalris which take secure operating systems to a whole new level (and are usually a pain in the butt to administer because of this).
For trusted Solaris see http://wwws.sun.com/software/solaris/trustedsolaris/
Pitbull http://www.argus-systems.com/product/faq/2.shtml
and look here http://www.sei.cmu.edu/str/descripti...sted_body.html for a nice desciption of trusted OS's.
oh, and routers can indeed enforce some security (in response to an earlier post) via access control lists and are often a good first line of defence on a network.
Wow thanks everyone this has been a great help.
Just to finish : will linux work with an eTEC USB ADSL, and does anyone have a link to a thread/site that gives good info on what a router does?
I'll be spending a lot of time coming back to the links/info in this thread, again, thanks for the help.
Hey Hey,
I found most of what you said to be very accurate, however I have a few, not really problems, more of disagreements with what you said. I'll work backwards, that way I'm going shortest to longest and also smallest disagreement to biggest.
5) The Cleaner is good but it costs money, only good for a 30-day trial without it. I prefer SwatIt. It was recommended to me for use in the office, and it's served it's purpose well. There's a version you can pay for, but there's also a free version that isn't a trial version. It's available from http://swatit.org/download.htmlQuote:
#5. For a trojan scanner, which you should also get, try Moosoft's The Cleaner. This works VERY well.
4) When going with a free AV.. AVG from www.grisoft.com is the way to go, especially with all the virii that have been floating around lately. Even though AVG is completely free, it's been beating Norton on releasing updates for quite a few of the virii, which in my books makes it rather impressive free software.Quote:
#4. For a virus scanner, I would go with Norton AV '04. But seeing as you are nearly broke, you could try Avast, which isn't all that bad.
2) If you think that is all a router does, you have a lot to learn about routers. Routers support ACLs (Access Control Lists) and firewalling (Check out the 800-series cisco routers for a good home example). If you want to stick to home routers (there's a huge difference between something made by dlink or linksys and something made by cisco or nortel), then you still can't say they don't provide security. If I have a router in front of my system and I'm using NAT with no port forwarding and no DMZ setup, you are going to have a hell of a time getting access to my system. A port scan isn't going to reveal anything of interest to you, if you attempt to telnet in the router is going to drop the connection because it doesn't know which computer you are destined for. To take a very old example because I'm tired... I could put a Windows 95 machine vulnerable to WinNuke or a Windows 98 Machine vulnerable to IGMP Nukes on the net and if they are behind the router, your attacks won't be successful. A router is definately not the holy grail of security, but it does provide it's benefits.Quote:
#2. A router simply takes one internet connection, and shares it with other computers located nearby, thus creating a network. Using a router is not a way of making your system, 'more secure' though it certainly can be. I.E. It is not a security tool or anything like that. Google 'linksys' or 'dlink'.
As far as your original question Eonfire, it's not a matter of being a good enough hacker and securing a system. It's a matter of knowing that system, that's the only way you are going to be able to successfully secure it. I know many people here have already said that, and there advice is good and sound, but it sounds to me like you have a slightly distorted view of hacking/cracking and computer security. Don't waste your time reading up on computer hacking sites, start learning how your computer works, learn what you can do with it and then push it to do more. Experiment with it. Most of those sites are going to give you a bunch of canned answers and they won't teach you anything. Get a few books, grab a hardware book, any of the books from the Bibles series, the Hacking exposed books. Read those and then explore your computer some more. Ignore the drivel on most of the websites out there and stick to well known, reputible sources. Read AO, read /., read security-forums.com, read packetstorm, read phrack and it's back issues. Then explore your computer some more. Take a network course, and grab an intro to TCP/IP. Read the tutorials on this website, as many as you can. It's all about knowing the right places to look. It's good that you asked this question, now ask more, learn more, thirst for more. Don't stop, just keep going.....
Anyways, it's late and I've probably ranted a bit,
Peace
HT
www.Linuxant.com has drivers for your modem and linux acoording to google (you should search and confirm this). A handy trick with linux is to put what ever hardware you have into google with linux ie etec usb linux and for sure you will find out either way. If you search this site for nat or router or dig through the tutorials section you should find out about routers. If you are interested in learning and have some patience and time linux is for you and can be very rewarding, if not save your pennies and buy winxp. Possibly there is a brit here with an extra linux iso they might want to donate ???? , any fine fellows out there want to help this chap with an iso or two? (i would send you one but you can probably get it faster and easier from your side of the atlantic)
Cheers HTR i'll check out some of those books you listed, i have read several tutorials already but there's so much information that it can get crazy at times trying to put any of it to memory, i'm going through them again though and it's slowly sinking in. I found the Templer tutorail really helpful and that's the one that i remember most of.
Lporridge i'm going to have a look for a modem and already have the files that i need to burn onto a CD, MsMittens has already helped me out with that but thanks anyway.
I will certainly have to check out grisoft's software.
And, (I was aiming for more of a quick explanation of what a router can physically do. He was almost using the term as if it was something you could download.
and as for me saying they have nothing to do with security.Quote:
routers/sandboxes and my own programs written in C/C++
But yes, you are correct, I was tired at that point and should have been a little bit more descriptive. For god sakes, just go to http://www.whatis.com and type in router and ur done. No need to start a war.Quote:
though it certainly can be
Woops.
Stop all warmogering now!
I'm clicking on the thread above..........