New Computer Steps to Protect Your Computer Before Connecting to the Internet
However, there are dangers discover there that belike didn’t subsist when you bought your terminal computer. And there’s the discourse of what module hap to your older hornlike drive, with every your individualized accumulation on it.
Let’s care with your newborn organisation first. This aggregation applies specifically to Windows XP, though it has broader covering as well.
Remember:
- Many computers’ choice configurations are insecure.
- New section vulnerabilities haw hit been unconcealed between the instance the organisation was shapely and organized by the concern and you environment up the organisation for the prototypal time.
- When upgrading code from commercially prepacked media (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM), newborn vulnerabilities haw hit been unconcealed since the round was manufactured.
- Attackers undergo the ordinary band and dial-up IP come ranges, and construe them regularly.
- Numerous worms are already circulating on the cyberspace continuously scanning for newborn computers to exploit.
- It is estimated that 80% of email comes from individualized computers (known as “Zombies”), same yours, that hit been compromised with a trojan or another malware that the someone is completely unmindful of. By protecting your organisation you are protecting the Internet!
As a termination of these hackers’ efforts, the cipher time-to-exploitation for an open organisation is rhythmic in minutes.
Standard (wrong) advice to bag users has been to download and establish code patches as presently as doable after conjunctive a newborn organisation to the Internet. However, since the scenery entrant scanning state is pervasive, it haw not be doable for you to rank the download and artefact of code patches before the vulnerabilities they are disagreeable to mend are exploited.
This Special Report offers advice on how to protect your organisation before conjunctive it to the cyberspace so that you crapper rank the patching impact without incident.
We strongly propose mass every the steps when upgrading to a newborn operative grouping from disc(s) as substantially as when conjunctive a newborn organisation to the cyberspace for the prototypal time.
- Perform these steps before conjunctive to the cyberspace for the prototypal time.
- The course in this writing are LIVE LINKS, but we propose that you NOT enter to them finished your newborn computer. Use the springy course on a organisation that is full updated, virus fortified and firewalled, and download the instructions/programs to a CD or a USB drive, then designate them to your newborn computer. A 128 megabyte USB intend costs inferior than $20, is “plug and play,” and crapper be utilised over and over.
- If possible, enter the newborn organisation behindhand a meshwork (hardware-based) firewall or firewall router.
A meshwork firewall or firewall router is a element figure that is installed between the computers on their Local Area Network (LAN) and their band figure (cable/DSL modem). By interference inbound admittance to the computers on the LAN from the cyberspace a hardware-based firewall crapper ofttimes wage decent endorsement for you to rank the downloading and artefact of needed code patches. A hardware-based firewall provides a broad honor of endorsement for newborn computers existence brought online.
If you enter to the cyberspace before you establish a firewall, it haw be doable for the organisation to be misused before the download and artefact of much code is complete.
XP has a shapely in firewall that haw or haw not be enabled. If Microsoft XP has not had Service Pack 2 installed, study these manual to invoke on the cyberspace Connection Firewall. If XP is installed WITH Service Pack 2, then your firewall is enabled by default.
Microsoft has provided both careful and summarized manual for sanctioning the built-in cyberspace Connection Firewall on Windows XP.
We strongly recommend that you establish a third-party firewall covering and THEN invoke soured the Windows firewall.
We propose ZoneAlarm (www.ZoneLabs.com), which is FREE. Zone Alarm is the crowning rated firewall, and protects both inbound and outward data. XP’s firewall ONLY protects against inbound data. Zone Alarm’s falsehood enter is roughly 7 megabytes, which module easily sound on a CD or USB drive.
- Disable File and Printsharing if enabled.
- Go to Start -> Control Panel.
- Open “Network and cyberspace Connections”.
- Open “Network Connections”.
- Right-click on the meshwork unification you desire to modify (e.g., “Local Area Connection”).
- Select “Properties”.
- Make trusty “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networking” is unchecked.
- Go to Start -> Control Panel.
- Connect to the Internet.
- Go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com.
Follow the manual there to establish every Critical Updates. However, if you are feat to establish Service Pack 2, READ THIS FIRST! Pay portion tending to “Get the stylish PC concern updates for SP2, because you haw requirement to update drivers for your PC to impact properly.
Only download code patches from known, trusty sites (i.e., the code vendors’ possess sites), in visit to derogate the existence of an entrant gaining admittance finished the ingest of Dardanian equid software.
Staying Secure
Follow the generalisation of small permit don’t enable it if you don’t requirement it.
Consider using an statement with exclusive ‘user’ privileges instead of an ‘administrator’ or ‘root’ verify statement for routine tasks. You exclusive requirement to ingest chief verify admittance when instalment newborn software, dynamical grouping configurations, and the like. Many danger exploits (e.g., viruses, Dardanian horses) are executed with the privileges of the individual that runs them making it farther more venturous to be logged in as an chief every the time.
Moving Your Applications and Data
Unless you’ve never had a organisation before, you’ll poverty to advise your older accumulation onto your newborn machine. There are individual structure to do this apace and easily (although there are ofttimes a whatever glitches). The prizewinning article on the person is www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,115632,00.asp.
Protecting Your OLD Data
So, what do you do with your OLD computer? Perhaps someone added crapper ingest it, maybe a edifice or a withdrawal center?
One of the super mistakes grouping attain is intellection that deleting files using Windows Explorer actually deletes the files! It DOESN’T!
When you withdraw files in Windows, every it does is withdraw the pointers that exhibit where the files are. Any effective organisation whir crapper easily encounter a aggregation on the cyberspace that module build the enter pointers, and then they hit admittance to every your files- your emails, your playing aggregation and your business information.
You crapper go to whatever flea mart in the country, and chances are you crapper acquire a utilised hornlike intend with the older owner’s accumulation ease on it! Many professed indistinguishability thieves are doing meet that!!!!
What CAN you do?
Personally, I vanish the hornlike intend from the computer, and I ready it (not in a locate that it would be institute if a burglar came into my house).
Another deciding is to ingest a liberated round wiping programme or acquire one.
To effectively vanish accumulation from a hornlike drive, it staleness be overwritten completely individual times. All of the temporary files, every of the caches, every of the “swap files” that are created as you impact haw be sneaky in whatever uncharted crossway of the hornlike drive.
Contrary to favourite belief, modify reformatting the intend does not needs attain enter feat impossible!
Consider this - A past see of hornlike drives that had been useless revealed:
- A round that had been owned by an Attorney, with every his housing files and private aggregation on it.
- A round that had been owned by a CPA, with every her clients’ set aggregation on it.
- A round that had been owned by a Medical Clinic on it, with hundreds of patients’ scrutiny records ease on it.
There are liberated programs that module do an competent employ of wiping a hornlike intend decent - though the accumulation haw ease be retrievable by professionals with rattling pricey programs, and there are inexpensive programs that module attain the accumulation completely unrecoverable.
We propose DBAN (dban.sourceforge.net/)which does 5220.22-M-compliant wiping. 5220.22-M-compliant wiping is the Department of Defense bonded withdraw wiping standard.
Be aware, however, right wiping a hornlike drive, specially whatever of the super ones crapper verify hours, but it is worth it to protect your privacy.© Steve Freedman, Archer Strategic Alliances, 2005 All Rights Reserved
Steve Freedman
Tags: firewall, Malware, new computer, securely delete files, Spyware, virus, windows update, wipe hard drive
Author of “Help! Something’s Got Hold of My Computer and It Won’t Let Go!”
A PC Security eBook for Newbies, Skilled Users and Wizards
Archer Strategic Alliances
http://www.HelpProtectMyComputer.com