Computer Security School Project

For a project I have to do a presentation on computer security. I do not know much about computer security. Antionline is a great resource that i found when I was looking for information but it is very specific in that it talks about specific security practices.

I was wondering is some of the people that frequent here could give me some ideas for what would be useful in a presentation to computer students that are not security experts.

So far I have the basics covered:

What is a virus, worm, spyware

I have a section of AVG anti virus, and ad aware (these were recommended by the professor)

I also have some simple steps for virus prevention.

This gives me about 8 minutes of material and I must say it isnt anything that great. Would you all be able to give me some ideas on other material i could further research that is relevant in todays security world?

Thanks,
Derrick

You could also cover firewalls. What they do, and how they are set up. A very good artical on firewalls can be found at: http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1750

ids's (Intrusion detection systems) email forgery.sql interjection ,trojans ect im sure somone will come up with a better list than this .
tell them not to open attachments
and their probably running windows impress the importants of windows update

Here are a few more topics for you to search on google.

Social engineering
Password policy (How to make and protect a good password)
Physical protection (keeping unauthorized people away from the computer or servers)
packet sniffers
Encryption
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
Group and Users policies (setting the permissions on different folders for groups and users)

Those are just a few. I could go into a lot more. Is this going to be about a lone computer at home or a computer that is part of a network?

Hi,

There is a big thread on useful tools..............have a look through that.

I am thinking in terms of secondary defences such as:

1. Prevent changes to the registry (over 90% of malware tries to do that)
2. Prevent executables running from where they should not (IE, Mail, Zip files etc.)
3. Prevent mail being sent without confirmation (mass mailing malware)
4. Checksumming software that detects changes to programs & files
5. Software that notifies of changes to the startup list
6. Software that notifies of new processes that start and run in the background

And so on................

Cheers

Thanks guys, setting off with the search feature here and some googling :)

I appreciate it.

Derrick

Maybe starting with the goals of security: CIA; Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability....

Ammo

I can use info on a lone home computer or about one that is part of a network.

Thanks again for all of the great info, it really has helped and if anyone wants to list some more ideas I wont complain. I plan on sticking around on Antionline this is a great place to learn.

Derrick

Quote:

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Originally posted here by One Who Watches
I could go into a lot more. Is this going to be about a lone computer at home or a computer that is part of a network?

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i think this tut in the link can help you
http://www.tgs-security.com/tutorial...xSecurity.html

There was a thread on this about a month ago here on AO. You can check it out here its a pretty good list...you should check it out....


slick

I would just like to take the time to thank everyone who has helped me out with topics and ideas. My project is coming along well and I am sure I will have a few more questions for you all if you dont mind. Thanks again.

Derrick