| http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19404.html
| If all this strikes you as too technical, then you must be running Win9x, and
that means you'd better play it as safe as possible. This, we're sorry to say,
means re-formatting on a regular basis, like once a month. Annoying and
troublesome, we'll allow; but it's the only way for the technically challenged
to prevail against D.I.R.T.
| In order to do this successfully, you should ditch every file you don't need
during each re-format. Files you do need must first be saved to removable media
in plain text with a non-formatting text editor (e.g., Windows Notepad); and
you'll need to change your PGP pass phrase (not your key) each time as well.
| Now set up your '9x box lean and mean, as if you were a gamer. Go to
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSCONFIG.EXE and make a desktop icon for the progie. Activate
it, click on the 'STARTUP' tab, kill everything you don't need and re-boot (do
NOT kill EXPLORER or SYSTEM TRAY). This will make it easier to keep track of
what you have running, and what you should have running, which you can
occasionally check with ALT-CTRL-DEL.
| Immediately after you re-format, run MSCONFIG.EXE and kill all the rot. Next
re-boot, connect to the Internet, and then go ALT-CTRL-DEL and make a note of
everything you have running. This list should remain constant. If it ever
changes unexpectedly, it's time to re-format again.
| This exercise can be helpful, but it's not an authoritative inventory of
running processes; so if you're technically challenged, and have reason to fear
being infected with D.I.R.T. or some other scumbag Fed Trojan, stick to
re-formatting once a month as a precaution.
If I were to advise the 'technically challenged', I would certainly not
recommend following this article. All it will gain you is a false sense of
security - there's so many false assumptions in this I don't even know where to
start. And that's ignoring the fact that reformatting every month doesn't sound
very practical to me.
Perhaps the author is making a joke on the back of Windows users here!
I'd sooner recommend people download ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com/) -
free for personal use. Besides being a great firewall, it won't let any program
make an outside connection unless you authorize it. This should stop a few
nasties, and it's easy to set up.
--Luc
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