[ale] [OT] Need to lock down a Windows laptop

[JD]

On 04/11/2011 06:16 PM, Trey Sizemore wrote:
> Hi all-
> 
> Off-topic for the list, but I know there's tremendous knowledge and experience here when it comes to tightening a Windows machine.
> 
> I've got my daughter's laptop dual-booting Windows 7 and Ubuntu.  I've encouraged her to use Ubuntu as much as possible, but realize there are some programs that are not able to run on Linux at this point (tried Wine and others).
> 
> So for the times she does log in to Windows, I want to have up-to-date anti-virus installed and am looking for some advice on what to use.  Also, any other software that would be good to install to help keep the nasties off.

This is about risk management.

Don't let her Windows PC on your main subnet.

Split your network into "teen" and "everything else" subnets.  I doubt
you can secure her systemm since she will be using facebook and other
social media. You could block facebook, so the games there can't attack
her machine. She would hate you. There will always be zero-day flash
exploits
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/03/adobe-attacks-on-flash-player-flaw/
and other exploits. Disabling flash is probably not an option.  The same
for PDF.  Flash and PDF are the main attack vectors for viruses,
spyware, malware.

She needs to learn how to secure her PC, and sadly, she needs to get
hacked in order to learn it. I speak from experience having a teen girl
crying over her broken PC and forcing her to reload it herself.  These
days, knowing how to do that is like knowing how to change a flat tire,
IMHO.

If you block facebook - which I have - lots of other things stop
working. Seems that lots of large media companies are using facebook as
a proxy to gain access to their content.

A few articles about desktop security that may be helpful
http://blog.jdpfu.com/pages/security
http://blog.jdpfu.com/pages/secure-browser-settings
The specifics may be out of date, but the general ideas are fine. Google
will help you find more.

Setup an automatic backup for her.  Antivirus programs are only 80%
effective. Having one doesn't mean the computer is safe, regardless of
which program it is.