swsamurai
Premium
join:2002-04-17
Bakersfield, CA
clubs:
 ·Bright House
| reply to mustang03282
Re: Teach People
I just do the OVERLY causious thing...
I tell anyone who wants to email me to put a certain phrase in the email, and any email that comes in without that phrase is sent to a holding area. I will occasionally look through it to see if there is anything worth saving, but most of the time it just gets deleted.
Add to that the fact that I only use Firefox, and I am running a pretty safe machine
No one is perfect, though, and I am certain that I will get hit again (Last time was about two years ago.) |
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radarman
join:2005-06-01
Odenton, MD
| reply to mustang03282
True, but there are two ways to approach the problem. I run my Windows PC as safely as I can, but I don't run any A/V or firewall software. I depend on an external gateway router/firewall and keep all my files on a file server. I'm also good at filtering my email the old way - if it looks like crap, it probably is.
This way, should something go terribly wrong - I just blow away the machine and start from a fresh install. I have a custom WinXP w/ SP2 slipstream install CD with the most heavily used utilities on it - so it usually takes about two hours to get back to where I was.
It's cheaper in the long run - and I'm guaranteed that the machine will be free of problems when I get back online. I've operated this way for over 8 years, and I've still only experienced one virus - a boot sector virus from a floppy disk I loaned a guy in 1995. (the floppy, and the virus, are long since gone) |
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mustang03282
join:2003-01-10
Bridgeton, NJ
clubs: | reply to wilburyan
i agree anyone that thinks there pc is 100% secure and uses it on the net is a fool at best |
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wilburyan
join:2002-08-01
| reply to pandora
If someone has the skills and knowledge to specificly target and infect me... a home user... let em. Because if that's the case, no matter what you do they'll eventually find a way to get you... either that or they'll DoS you into the stone age.
I'v participated in some computer security classes, and the first thing talked about is that there is no such thing as 100% secure. If you want 100% security you have to pull the network and put the PC behind a locked door... and even then your security is only as strong as the door frame.
When I build custom computers for regular users I do install anti-virus software. I install the a/v scanner to reduce my workload if / when they infect the pc. In an extreme case I once gave the user a limited user account and myself an administrator account so I could remotely administer the workstation. The reason? I was getting tired of weakly visits. |
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland
 ·ooma
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Comcast
| reply to wilburyan
Sadly my computer was infected, apparently from a DRM issue. To assume you are bullet proof, or that you don't need something to be running, I'd disagree. The tools to invade are getting better, and my belief is we should not assume ourselves smarter than those who wish to take advantage of our systems.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." |
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