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A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

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Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#21

Post by eropple »

qrbLPHiKpiux wrote: post #4

But nobody really wants to understand anything. They want a turn key solution. An intro to threat modeling is good. But it’s lost on deaf ears. The weakest link in compsec will always be the person using the device.

I have been programming computers for twenty-two years right now, using them for twenty-five, and I don't understand much of anything. I probably understand more than, what, 95% of the population? More? And I still do things that I am sure are stupid and clueless.

Whether people "want to" or not is not relevant or meaningful. People have stuff to do. Wringing one's hands about "oh, but they don't want to understand" is the toxic kind of elitism.

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#22

Post by theossuary »

davidscolgan wrote: post #18

I've lately only been using Linux on my laptop and desktop, but my grandparents recently asked me about advice on a new computer. Is the current best practice to avoid all antivirus software and assume Windows 10 is secure with whatever is built in? Grandpa thinks Avast makes his computer secure and is using their custom browser for his banking. Is my great distrust in all antivirus systems as worse than the viruses…

I think so. Antivirus systems are a huge attack surface. Maybe have windless defender installed; make sure Windows automated patching is on; use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox with an ad blocker installed, and don't give them access to the admin account.

And if you're paranoid like me get a managed switch and setup Snort to monitor your network. That'll protect you more than an antivirus will.

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#23

Post by davidscolgan »

theossuary wrote: post #22
davidscolgan wrote: post #18

I've lately only been using Linux on my laptop and desktop, but my grandparents recently asked me about advice on a new computer. Is the current best practice to avoid all antivirus software and assume Windows 10 is secure with whatever is built in? Grandpa thinks Avast makes his computer secure and is using their custom browser for his banking. Is my great distrust in all antivirus systems as worse than the viruses…

I think so. Antivirus systems are a huge attack surface. Maybe have windless defender installed; make sure Windows automated patching is on; use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox with an ad blocker installed, and don't give them access to the admin account. And if you're paranoid like me get a managed switch and setup Snort to monitor your network. That'll protect you more than an antivirus will.

Makes sense. For some adblocking on steroids, put all of this in your hosts file: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

12,000 domains of ads and tracking blocked at the OS level!

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#25

Post by ajb »

qrbLPHiKpiux wrote: post #4

But nobody really wants to understand anything. They want a turn key solution. An intro to threat modeling is good. But it’s lost on deaf ears. The weakest link in compsec will always be the person using the device.

"It is a profoundly erroneous truism, repeated by all copy-books and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking of what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in a battle — they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments." - Alfred North Whitehead

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#26

Post by FreakLegion »

theossuary wrote: post #22
davidscolgan wrote: post #18

I've lately only been using Linux on my laptop and desktop, but my grandparents recently asked me about advice on a new computer. Is the current best practice to avoid all antivirus software and assume Windows 10 is secure with whatever is built in? Grandpa thinks Avast makes his computer secure and is using their custom browser for his banking. Is my great distrust in all antivirus systems as worse than the viruses…

I think so. Antivirus systems are a huge attack surface. Maybe have windless defender installed; make sure Windows automated patching is on; use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox with an ad blocker installed, and don't give them access to the admin account. And if you're paranoid like me get a managed switch and setup Snort to monitor your network. That'll protect you more than an antivirus will.

I'll second the recommendation for Windows Defender, based on how well it blocks the bad stuff. But to be clear, 1) Windows Defender isn't any more secure than other AVs, e.g. [1], and 2) the risk from AVs is negligible and far outweighed by the benefit, for the average user.

1. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/05/windo...

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#27

Post by megaman22 »

FreakLegion wrote: post #26
theossuary wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think so. Antivirus systems are a huge attack surface. Maybe have windless defender installed; make sure Windows automated patching is on; use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox with an ad blocker installed, and don't give them access to the admin account. And if you're paranoid like me get a managed switch and setup Snort to monitor your network. That'll protect you more than an antivirus will.

I'll second the recommendation for Windows Defender, based on how well it blocks the bad stuff. But to be clear, 1) Windows Defender isn't any more secure than other AVs, e.g. [1], and 2) the risk from AVs is negligible and far outweighed by the benefit, for the average user. 1. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/05/windo...

Windows Defender is at least unobtrusive. Got hit with a cryptolocker last year, and then mandated usage of some garbage WebRoot product that brings a quad-core i7, 32gb RAM and SSD workstation to its knees. Not sure which was worse...

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#28

Post by folknor »

davidscolgan wrote: post #23
theossuary wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think so. Antivirus systems are a huge attack surface. Maybe have windless defender installed; make sure Windows automated patching is on; use the latest version of Chrome or Firefox with an ad blocker installed, and don't give them access to the admin account. And if you're paranoid like me get a managed switch and setup Snort to monitor your network. That'll protect you more than an antivirus will.

Makes sense. For some adblocking on steroids, put all of this in your hosts file: http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ 12,000 domains of ads and tracking blocked at the OS level!

I've used https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts for years now, and any close- and extended-family laptop or computer I touch gets it either silently or with some explanation if they ask me what I'm doing. Noone has ever complained. My only gripe is that I haven't written a cron-type update script for my extended family members who use Windows.

Which means I only update it for them periodically. It's still better than not doing it.

It aggregates someonewhocares.org and many other sources into a combined hosts file, to the point where it actually slows down DNS lookups noticably on most computers.

I even use it on my phones, and all other devices where I can access the filesystem.

Almost all devices in the world support a hosts file, becase most of the network stacks in use today spring from the same code.

EDIT: It has 40-55 thousand host entries, depending on which version you use. In my scripts I just curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/h...

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#29

Post by [deleted] »

ryanlol wrote: post #17
paulryanrogers wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why else is it terrible?

It also recommends running an antivirus on desktop, using a VPN, using tor browser, pidgin and goes as far as discussing android as a viable option. The “lock up your SIM” part is simply ridiculous too, this has never ever stopped anyone. This article is terrible because it has clearly been written by non-experts who should not be writing any security guides.

[deleted]

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#30

Post by folknor »

foodstances wrote: post #13
stoolpigeon wrote: post #6

I don't understand why their first point for mobile was "Get an iPhone" but they didn't do something similar for desktop. Why didn't they say "Run OpenBSD"?

Because an iPhone is easy to use for the vast majority of people and OpenBSD is not.

I've installed Xfce/Gnome/Mate on new computers for senior family members and they don't even notice half the time. They just think it's a new version of Windows or Mac.

In age ranges from 40-72+.

The "vast majority" you speak of probably mostly use a web browser and a mail client, so their interactions with the actual OS are minimal.

Sometimes I get calls about digital cameras (or phones nowadays), so then I either go there and set it up, or have them open external access in some manner (usually Teamviewer, because it's easier for them). But this is rare, and of course I don't mind talking to them and helping them anyway.

And it would also happen when they used Windows.

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