Big thread over at Wilders Security...

[Soulburner]

Here's an interesting thread called:

What is your security setup these days?

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...111264&page=74

I won't bother reading back past Jan 2008 since software changes so often it would be irrelevant. One could gather some good information there.

Personally I think some people are too paranoid and go overkill with their setup...others go for a lean and efficient setup.

[hstuehmeyer2000]

Personally I think some people are too paranoid and go overkill with their setup...others go for a lean and efficient setup.

Yes people are paranoid. I use a hardware firewall(router) and windows firewall and no av. I have yet to have a problem and I have been doing his for months. Usually once a month I do download a AV and scan just to be sure though.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I dont run anything but widows stuff on my main rig.... for over a year now

[masterofpuppets]

I don't use any real security software at all on Windows, just stuff like ProcessMonitor, and manual filesystem checks from BartPE or another OS. I did that for 4 years without any dodgy stuff getting in, and only stopped counting because I'm back on GNU/Linux full time again. Alot of people on Wilders Security are either idiots, or just paranoid. They either seem to think that using every security tool they can find will actually protect them from new, unknown rootkits, or they think that they're constantly being targeted. Unless you're actually being directly targeted, in which case all the security software in the world will make no difference if you're still running Windows with it's myriad of unpatched vulnerabilities dating years back, commonsense will usually keep you safe.

Using a real browser (and obscure to the point that people hardly bother trying to find/exploit vulnerabilities) like Opera with JS/Plug-ins disabled and adservers known to have dodgy stuff in their rotation blocked, installing updates for your system AND applications straight away, using limited priveleges except where neccessary, running unknown binaries in a VM or sandbox and generally not being an absolute moron is far more effective than relying on silly kids security tools. The majority of stuff they detect/remove is easily found/removed manually and anyone who is security conscious should notice when something is amiss. All of the really nasty/new/well-coded stuff isn't even detected by most antivirus software rendering it pretty much useless, anyway.

The alternative is to just use *nix or GNU/Linux, it's not bulletproof like the majority of stupid, uneducated fanboys who think Ubuntu is as good as it gets will have you believe but there's very little malware written for it targeting desktop users, and if you're directly targeted by someone who knows what they're doing, they're going to find a way into your box regardless of OS. Of course a system is only as secure as the software being used on it, so if you use outdated stuff you're in trouble anyway.

[SoulsCollective]

*snip*

Very well said.

You must admit though, for the class of user you're talking about, Ubuntu probably is as good as it gets - not meaning this in a disparaging sense, but rather from a round-peg-round-hole view.

[tool_462]

Unprotected just feels that much better in my opinion.

[SoulsCollective]

Unprotected just feels that much better in my opinion.

[HeXploiT]

I thought I was the only person in the world who didn't use antivirus software anymore.
I do use a software firewall though(sygate). They're so much more versatile than hardware.

[Logos]

I always run too much security software, I know it. I've already run in the past OS's with nothing except Windows Firewall during months and unsurprisingly nothing happened. So why do I run that stuff now? because I like the way some security software work, more a hobby than a necessity I admit ; As to people complaining about multiple recurrent infections on their systems, the first thing to ask is not what security they got on their OS, but where they surf

Agree on Linux (I dual boot with it). Linux is not safe because it's Linux, it's safe because it's not being targeted, that's all. It doesn't represent enough rigs to contaminate etc..