What Should I Do To Secure My Home Computer.docx

What Should I Do To Secure My Home Computer.docx

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WhatShouldIDoToSecureMyHomeComputer

WhatShouldIDoToSecureMyHomeComputer?

Asyourbabyprogressesfromonemilestonetothenext,rememberthathedoesn’treallyleaveanyofthembehind.Inordertogrowanddeveloptohisfullpotentialhemustcontinuallybuildonandstrengthenallofthestepsthathavegonebefore.

      —StanleyI.Greenspan（20thcentury）

Securingyourhomecomputerisnotatrivialtask.Therearemanytopicstoconsiderandmanystepstofollow.Theytaketimetolearnanddo.Ifyoucan,readthisentiredocumentbeforeyoubegintosecureyourcomputer.You’llhaveabetterunderstandingoftheeffortandallitsfacets.Thisoughttohelpyouwhenyoubegintotacklethetasksdescribedhere.

Inthenextpartofthisdocument,wedescribetwotypesofactivities.Someyoucandousingtheprogramsthatcamewithyourcomputer:

workingwithpasswordsandemailattachments,runningprograms,andbackingupyourwork.Forotheractivities,youmightneedtoobtainsomespecializedprograms:

applyingpatches,andrunninganti-virus,firewall,andfileencryptionprograms.Thoughsomevendors’productsprovidethesefeatures,we’llassumeyourcomputerdoesn’thaveanyofthemsoyou’llneedtoaddallofthem.

Herethenisthelistoftasksyouneedtodotosecureyourhomecomputer.Theirorderisbasedonhowintrudersattackcomputers,beginningwiththemost-oftenusedattackmethods.Bystartingwiththelowernumberedtasks,youaddressthebiggestproblemsyoufaceinsecuringyourhomecomputer.RememberthatmostsectionsendwithareferencetoawebsitethatyoucanusetofindanexampleofhowtodothetaskonaMicrosoftWindows2000computer.

Task1-InstallandUseAnti-VirusPrograms

Ifsomeonerangyourdoorbellandwantedtocomeintoyourlivingspacetosellyousomethingortouseyourtelephone,you’dneedtomakeadecisionwhetherornottoletthemin.Iftheywereaneighbororsomeoneyouknew,you’dprobablyletthemin.Ifyoudidn’tknowthembutbelievedtheirstoryandfoundthemtobeotherwiseacceptable,saytheywereneatandcleanandnotthreatening,you’dprobablyalsoletthemin,butyou’dwatchthemcloselywhiletheywereinyourspace.

Whatareyoudoinghere?

Youareprofilingthispersonandthendecidingwhattodobasedonthatprofile.It’syourresponsibilitytobeconcernedaboutwhoentersyourlivingspace.Further,ifyouhavechildren,you’veprobablyalsotaughtthemhowtodealwithstrangerswhocometoyourdoor.

Anti-virusprogramsworkmuchthesameway.Theseprogramslookatthecontentsofeachfile,searchingforspecificpatternsthatmatchaprofile–calledavirussignature–ofsomethingknowntobeharmful.Foreachfilethatmatchesasignature,theanti-virusprogramtypicallyprovidesseveraloptionsonhowtorespond,suchasremovingtheoffendingpatternsordestroyingthefile.

Tounderstandhowanti-virusprogramswork,thinkaboutscamartists–peoplewhovisityourhometotrytogetyoutobuyaphonyproductorservice,ortoletthemin.Onceinside,theymaytrytostealyourvaluablesortrytoharmyouinsomeway.

Thereareavarietyofwaysyoumightfindoutaboutaspecificscamartistlurkinginyourneighborhood.Perhapsyouseeatelevisionreportorreadanewspaperarticleaboutthem.Theymightincludepicturesandexcerptsofthestorythescamartistusestoscamtheirvictims.Thenewsreportgivesyouaprofileofsomeoneyouneedtobeonthelookoutfor.Youwatchforthatpersonuntileitherthestoryfadesawayoryouhearthatthey’vebeencaught.

Anti-virusprogramsworkmuchthesameway.Whentheanti-virusprogramvendorslearnaboutanewvirus,theyprovideanupdatedsetofvirussignaturesthatincludethatnewone.Throughfeaturesprovidedbytheupdatedanti-virusprogram,yourhomecomputeralsoautomaticallylearnsofthisnewvirusandbeginscheckingeachfileforit,alongwithcheckingforalltheolderviruses.However,unlikescamartists,virusesnevercompletelyfadeaway.Theirsignaturesremainpartofthemasterversionofallvirussignatures.

Supposeascamartistwasatyourfrontdoor.Whatwouldyoudo?

Perhapsyou’dnotencouragethemtocomeinnorbuytheirproductbut,atthesametime,you’dtrynottoupsetthem.You’dpolitelylistentotheirstoryandthensendthemontheirway.Afteryouclosedthedoor,youmaycallthepoliceorthetelephonenumbergiveninthereportthatinitiallybroughtthemtoyourattention.

Withviruses,youoftenhavethechancetoreacttothemwhenthey’vebeendiscoveredonyourhomecomputer.Dependinguponthespecificcharacteristicsofthevirus,youmightbeabletocleantheinfectedfile.Oryoumightbeforcedtodestroythefileandloadanewcopyfromyourbackupsororiginaldistributionmedia.Youroptionsdependuponyourchoiceofanti-virusprogramandthevirusthat’sbeendetected.

Inyourlivingspace,youlookatthosewhocometoyourdoorandyoulookatwhatyoureceiveinthemail.Thesearetwoofthewaysthatitemscangetintoyourlivingspace,soyouexaminethem,sometimesclosely,sometimesnot.

Virusescanreachyourcomputerinmanyways,throughfloppydisks,CD-ROMs,email,websites,anddownloadedfiles.Allneedtobecheckedforviruseseachtimeyouusethem.Inotherwords,whenyouinsertafloppydiskintothedrive,checkitforviruses.Whenyoureceiveemail,checkitforviruses（remembertousetheKRESVtestsdescribedinTask3-UseCareWhenReadingEmailwithAttachments）.WhenyoudownloadafilefromtheInternet,checkitforvirusesbeforeusingit.Youranti-virusprogrammayletyouspecifyalloftheseasplacestocheckforviruseseachtimeyouoperateonthem.Youranti-virusprogrammayalsodothisautomatically.Allyouneedtodoistoopenorrunthefiletocauseittobechecked.

JustasyouwalkaroundyourlivingspacetoseeifeverythingisOK,youalsoneedto“walk”aroundyourhomecomputertoseeifthereareanyviruseslurkingabout.Mostanti-virusprogramsletyouscheduleperiodicexamsofallfilesonyourhomecomputeronaregularbasis,dailyforexample.Ifyouleaveyourcomputerturnedonovernight,thinkaboutschedulingafull-systemreviewduringthattime.

Someanti-virusprogramshavemoreadvancedfeaturesthatextendtheirrecognitioncapabilitiesbeyondvirussignatures.Sometimesafilewon’tmatchanyoftheknownsignatures,butitmayhavesomeofthecharacteristicsofavirus.Thisiscomparabletogettingthat“there’ssomethingnotquiterighthere,soI’mnotgoingtoletthemin”feelingasyougreetsomeoneatyourdoor.Theseheuristictests,asthey’recalled,helpyoutokeepupwithnewvirusesthataren’tyetdefinedinyourlistofvirussignatures.

Ananti-virusprogramisfrequentlyanadd-ontoyourhomecomputer,thoughyournewlypurchasedcomputermightincludeatrialversion.Atsomepoint,sayafter60days,youmustpurchaseittocontinueusingit.Todecidewhethertomakethatpurchaseortolookelsewhere,usethesestepsforevaluatinganti-virusprograms:

1.TheDemandtest:

Canyoucheckafileondemand,forexample,whenyouwanttosendanattachmentaspartoftheKRESVtests?

2.TheUpdatetest:

Canyouupdatethevirussignaturesautomatically?

Dailyisbest.

3.TheRespondtest:

Whatareallthewaysthatyoucanrespondtoaninfectedfile?

Cantheviruscheckercleanafile?

4.TheChecktest:

Canyoucheckeveryfilethatgetstoyourhomecomputer,nomatterhowitgetsthere,andcanthosechecksbeautomated?

5.TheHeuristicstest:

Doestheviruscheckerdoheuristicstests?

Howarethesedefined?

Thesetests–theDURCHtests–helpyoucompareanti-virusprograms.Onceyou’vemadeyourselection,installitanduseallofitscapabilitiesallofthetime.

Intrudersarethemostsuccessfulinattackingallcomputers–notjusthomecomputers–whentheyusevirusesandworms.Installingananti-virusprogramandkeepingituptodateisamongthebestdefensesforyourhomecomputer.Ifyourfinancialresourcesarelimited,theyarebetterspentpurchasingacommercialanti-virusprogramthananythingelse.

∙UseaChecklisttohelpyouthinkanti-virusissues.

∙Example:

OperatinganAnti-VirusProgram.

 Task2-KeepYourSystemPatched

Ifoneofyourappliancesbroke,you’dprobablytrytohaveitrepaired.You’dcallarepairpersonwhomyouhopecoulddothejob.You’dgetanestimateandthenyou’deithergetitfixedorreplaceit.Yourgoalistosomehowrestorethefunctionsthattheapplianceprovides.

Whatdoyoudowhenasoftware“appliance”–aprogram–ortheoperatingsystemitselfbreaks?

Howdoyourestorethefunctionsthattheyprovide?

Doyouknowwhomtocallorevenwheretolooktodeterminewhattodonext?

Mostvendorsprovidepatchesthataresupposedtofixbugsintheirproducts.Frequentlythesepatchesdowhatthey’resupposedtodo.However,sometimesapatchfixesoneproblembutcausesanother.Forexample,didyoueverhavearepairpersonfixanappliancebutintheprocess,theyscratchedthefloorordamagedacountertopduringtheirvisit?

Foracomputer,therepaircyclemighthavetoberepeateduntilapatchcompletelyfixesaproblem.

Vendorsoftenprovidefreepatchesontheirwebsites.Whenyoupurchaseprograms,it’sagoodideatoseeifandhowthevendorsuppliespatches,andifandhowtheyprovideawaytoaskquestionsabouttheirproducts.Justasappliancevendorsoftensellextendedwarrantiesfortheirproducts,somesoftwarevendorsmayalsosellsupportfortheirs.

Haveyoueverreceivedarecallnoticeforyourcaroranotherproductyou’vepurchased?

Vendorssendthesenoticestoproductownerswhenasafety-r