Comments on: The 6 Best Ways to Secure Windows

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:57:56 +0000

Will the steps you outlined above protect one from harmful email attachments? I’m thinking specifically about friends or family (otherwise trustworthy folks) who may have inadvertently sent something nasty to me.

Being the prudent sort (or so I thought before reading the above), I save and scan attachments with AVG.

Am I putting tissue on top of my kevlar?

Thanks for the great advice above.

By: John

John — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:57:11 +0000

I have been doing these steps for years and luckily my computers have never been infected. I do two additional steps as precautions: I point my DNS settings to OpenDNS (after creating a free account)and I also modify my host file (Windows and Ubuntu)with regular updates from http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm I think these two extra safeguards are really important because I feel if a computer can’t reach (if redirected) an infected or infested destination there is less chance of malware installations. This will also help as it blocks a lot of advertising which is now a source of malware.

By: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:48:32 +0000

Damnit, i keep falling for social engineering -.-

By: Paulo

Paulo — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:02:42 +0000

In Italy we say for people like you “bad master or teacher”. Psycho are you and not he cats!
Maybe it is true or not what you say I like your advise about reading social engineering theory, I will do!
Thanks
Paolo

By: Mon

Mon — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 07:03:50 +0000

The suggestion against using an AV is fine for single-user system with a smart and diligent user/owner; and it should be stated as such in this particular posting.

Aside from this point, I generally agree with the suggestions laid down here.

I have an AV running on my Ubuntu desktop because there is no way I can trust our employees and our students to obey these suggested rules all the time whenever they are alone with their desktops or laptops at home. Thus, their thumb drives always have to pass by me for AV scanning. Fool proof? No. But to me, a bit wiser than not having an AV at all.

By: ubuntucat

ubuntucat — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:01:12 +0000

However, it could be VERY hard to convince ALL users to leave an antivirus behind and just surf the web following common sense.

I didn’t say common sense alone will protect you. You also have to have a limited user account, install system updates regularly, and use Firefox with NoScript. If you do all that there is no way so-called “antivirus” will offer you any additional protection.

By: xaccell

xaccell — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:52:54 +0000

saying that people don’t need antivirus is really not a good advice for the masses and for people looking for a way to secure Windows as this article suggests. It is true that you can be pretty safe if you follow good practices and surfing habits. However, it could be VERY hard to convince ALL users to leave an antivirus behind and just surf the web following common sense.
From a business perspective, I would NEVER tell my customers not to run any antivirus software on their pc’s and just browse ‘safe’ websites. That would NEVER work. They would be back to my shop in no time full of rogues, trojans and spyware in general.
And as for AV making your PC’s slower…Perhaps if you run Norton… There are dozens of good free AV altnernatives that doesn’t really slow down your pc at all. Unless you have a system from 1998.
I agree with all your other points, but #6 is plainly WRONG.

By: sparkler

sparkler — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:18:43 +0000

this article is stupid saying you don’t need antivirus/firewall software the steps above will make your pc safer it defiantly doesn’t make it completely secure. user’s using a standard account no problem just find an exploit to escalate privileges there plenty to choose from. users using noscript then place malware on a popular website that users need to use javascript to use correctly or use other means like email/msn for example.
also UAC = annoying pop up (microsoft like popups)an annoying sound a greyed out screen root = just entering a password in the console no popup or annoying sounds so uac is more annoying than root

By: Paul

Paul — Sun, 23 May 2010 21:45:08 +0000

Well I agree with everything except I don’t think UAC is annoying at least not annoying as having to put your password in every time you need root permission. Honestly whats the difference at least in terms of annoying.

By: bikodog

bikodog — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:53:58 +0000

I would propose that step #6 is a subset of step # 4. Anti-virus has become an attractive revenue stream for many, so therefore the culture of “fear” is necessary in order to continue its growth.

By understanding that even “reputable” commercial software firms are motivated to make consumers think that there is a threat, it is reasonable to be suspicious of the real need for their AV applications.