I should like to point out that I have had issues with stuff that was so secure it blocked itself. I was running a program called spy sweep off a local mag cd. The program was not working but it seemed to have blocked ole access on every system it was loaded on, uninstalling did not work. I had to reformat every system and I was not happy. Another less problematic but still a major issue was when I first started using a system toolbar called surfghost. It blocked cookies, popups, etc. Except when I was doing something in my java class new windows would be wrongly detected. I then found it wouldn't uninstall right. Guess what, another reformat. And a particular spam program was shipped with a corrupt uninstall, and the same thing, I had to reformat. In all those situations listed above I encountered things that either were sloppy, or were not checked properly or were so secure they detected false positaves or something. In all cases, I had to actually kill everything to have everything back to normal. My setup is now this. Spybot sd with no protection on, just manual scanning. Avg with no protection on except email scanning. Spywareblaster with protection on, windows firewall and a router. Before that I tried norton and other firewalls and I needed to keep up with loads of config work. If anything broke and it sometimes really broke, at worst case which happened more often or not, I had to reformat the machine or machines effected. And at best I had to navigate heaps of config dialogs to fix it. How secure is my setup? Probably its got loads of holes, probably It means I have to keep a watch on things which I do, and sometimes I may and do get got into. However I have far fewer problems with the systems, I update them every time updates come out, I scan them once every year to every 6 months or so. It all depends on how much guff you are prepaired to put up with. I am reasonably advanced so I risk it a little, not much but a little. With others I have automatic everyting. Although I have heard a scary story where one of my friends was doing 2 automatic updates for security, windows, and antivirus, and ran outlook or something. The system locked up, and on restart wouldn't start. A reformat fixed that issue. But after that I have gone off the idea of anything automatic. At 03:35 a.m. 4/07/2007, you wrote:
>Hi Andy, >Start Quote > If you dont believe that any server, any server even paypal is >at risk. >End quote > >Andy, I have been in the development and network admin field for quite a >while. In my years I know enough to know nothing is 100% secure. That is >impossible. However, there is pretty secure, and there is almost >garenteed to get cracked secure. Allot of this is subject to the >applications, quality of admin, etc involved. For example, Windows >network servers are known to have more security holes than one running >the latest FreeBSD that is properly configured. It goes without saying >many companies choose a low cost GNU-based server running Linux or >FreeBSD over MS Windows server just because of known security issues >such as you speak of. Is it totally secure? No, but that company just >upped the security quite allot if the GNU server is properly setup by >the network admin. > >Start Quote > If you have a firewall >antivirus, nope; no good on web pages. >End quote > >No good? As a matter of fact a firewall and antivirus is only as good as >the end user updates them and configures them properly. However, having >them in place is much much better than none at all.So it does some good >even if it doesn't make everything 100% secure. >I'd like to point out that no two firewall pieces of software are equal. >Black Ice Defender is certainly much better than the free one ttossed in >with Windows XP. >If I am really security paranoid I would use Linux with IPTables or >FreeBSD with IPFilter which are good firewalls, and don't cost much. >IPFilter is one of the best in the network admin business, and comes >with FreeBSD outof the box. However, like everything Black Ice, >IPTables, IPFilter, etc is only as good as the guy keeping them updated, >and sets them up properly to start with. >As a matter of fact FreeBSD and Linux are amuned to most viruses >natively. There are a few nasty ones for Linux that can do some damage, >but none compared to the thousands and thousands of those for Windows. >My Linux desktop has never been infected with a Virus and my Windows >machines have been virus infected at least a dozen times over the last >10 years, but I removed them 9 out of 10 times with an updated patch for >the AV software. FYI, I have been using Linux since 1998 so almost as >long, as Windows and no viruses. > > > >Start Quote > Think your secure if you've got >the latest windows patches? Nooooo. Microsoft has failed to release >patches to hundreds of things. >End quote > >True, but again applying those security patches is better than not >applying them. Part of this again depends on how advanced a user we have >running the Windows machine. Does he have a good Antivirus program, is >it updated, a good properly configurd firewall, does he or shee run as a >limited user rather than admin all the time, and a hundred other things. >Part of security falls on the os manufacturer, and the other half falls >squarely on the end user. > > > >_______________________________________________ >Gamers mailing list .. [email protected] >To unsubscribe send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can visit >http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org to make >any subscription changes via the web. > > > >-- >No virus found in this incoming message. >Checked by AVG Free Edition. >Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/884 - Release Date: >2/07/2007 3:35 p.m. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.9.14/884 - Release Date: 2/07/2007 3:35 p.m. _______________________________________________ Gamers mailing list .. [email protected] To unsubscribe send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can visit http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org to make any subscription changes via the web.
