Uni Presentation

[mikester2]

Hi everyone,

I've been told that i've got to give a presentation for my uni course and that it has to be something about computers. I've decided to do one about securing a single pc for use on the internet.

So far the areas i plan to cover are : -

1. OS vulnerabilities (and patching them)
2. Program vulnerabilities (and patching them)
3. AntiVirus Software
4. Firewall Software (small look at hardware firewall options)
5. Quick look at IDS's

Can anyone see anything i'm missing, or that may be useful to include, or anything that i should maybe take out. Any input would be most useful

Thanks in advance
Latez

[ric-o]

Kind of broad since there are two major PCs - corporate and home - so I'll submit some broad thoughts here...

* OS Hardening: turning off/disabling unneeded services, tightening permissions (files, Registry, other), setting other options such as last login (Win only of course), etc.
* Hardening Internet Browser: zone settings (IE), anti-popup and anti-hijacking software
* Password Selection: characteristics of a _strong_ password
* Hardware Hardening: BIOS passwords, etc

I'm sure this isn't comprehensive but only things I can think of at this time. Hope it helps.
(There's a lot of smart people here at AO that will contribute I'm sure)

Edit: by the way dont know what you mean by _uni_ but assume your missing an _X_...further your subject might not invite much feedback since it doesn't mention anything about question about securing a PC - good luck.

[phishphreek]

All good topics. ric-o added quite a few other good topics.

You may also want to add a bit of:

privacy (cookies, spyware, ads, popups, spam),

misc. malware/trojans/rogue software (along with AV),

importance of permissions and using limited accounts when not in need of "super user"

those are just a few off the top of my mind...

That is going to be a very tough paper/presentation, considering all that goes with it.

You may want to narrow your focus a bit.

Best of luck to ya! You know we'll be around if you need test subjects/critics.

[mikester2]

Thanks for the feedback so far !

Uni = University