Critique my Security...

Vadikan said:

Hi, your setup looks good to me in general. You haven't specified the OS architecture, but I imagine it's 64-bit, since your PC is brand new.

But one concern is that you use your PC for business. That carries more risk (financial, reputational), especially if you deal with customers' data.

You are probably aware that no antivirus software provides 100% protection. If you want to fully control what runs on your system and what not, you need SRP or AppLocker (available in Pro and Enterprise edition respectively). That doesn't mean I really recommend these solutions, because they are designed for the enterprise and kind of awkward to manage on a client PC.

What you may want to take a look at is EMET. Version 4 is in beta, but ok to use, and RTM is coming soon. Google emet guide to get an idea on how you can use it to mitigate threats.

Good luck!

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BUZ said:

First off I am new here so I would like to say hello. I just purchased a new dell desktop (i5 3rd Gen 8gb ram 64-bit) and was wondering if some of you could possibly critique my security setup. I have pretty boring browsing habits however I do use the PC for my business and would like to know if this setup is adequate for protecting my PC.

Netgear router with NAT / SPI (secured with wpa2-psk AES), 63 charter passphrase used, UPNP / WPS disabled.


Windows 8 firewall (default settings).

Microsoft Security Essentials + Malwarebytes Pro (exception rules added so they don't conflict) as
shown here: FAQ - Common Issues, Questions, and their Solutions - Malwarebytes Forum

Use Hitman pro & Emsisoft emergency scanner as secondary scanners.

Norton DNS set to the highest level.

Firefox w/ (addons) noscript, ghostery, adblock-(ultimate list), betterprivacy, WOT, HTTPS everywhere.
Third party cookies disabled and is set to clear everything on exit (history-downloads-cache) etc.

Windows set to automatically check for updates and also use secunia PSI.

CCleaner and bleachbit used.

Create regular images of the entire system on external HD.

Also whenever I download something I always run it through:
https://www.virustotal.com/en/ & Jotti's malware scan
to make sure they're safe.

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robinb9 said:

BUZ said:

First off I am new here so I would like to say hello. I just purchased a new dell desktop (i5 3rd Gen 8gb ram 64-bit) and was wondering if some of you could possibly critique my security setup. I have pretty boring browsing habits however I do use the PC for my business and would like to know if this setup is adequate for protecting my PC.

Netgear router with NAT / SPI (secured with wpa2-psk AES), 63 charter passphrase used, UPNP / WPS disabled.


Windows 8 firewall (default settings).

Microsoft Security Essentials + Malwarebytes Pro (exception rules added so they don't conflict) as
shown here: FAQ - Common Issues, Questions, and their Solutions - Malwarebytes Forum

Use Hitman pro & Emsisoft emergency scanner as secondary scanners.

Norton DNS set to the highest level.

Firefox w/ (addons) noscript, ghostery, adblock-(ultimate list), betterprivacy, WOT, HTTPS everywhere.
Third party cookies disabled and is set to clear everything on exit (history-downloads-cache) etc.

Windows set to automatically check for updates and also use secunia PSI.

CCleaner and bleachbit used.

Create regular images of the entire system on external HD.

Also whenever I download something I always run it through:
https://www.virustotal.com/en/ & Jotti's malware scan
to make sure they're safe.

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you stated Microsoft Security Essentials, since you have windows 8 I am assuming you meant Windows Defender? because MSE does not run on Windows 8 and if you got it to work somehow i suggest you uninstall it and use Windows Defender because you will find you will run into problems with MSE crashing
Your programs for security look very good.
Besides regular images you should have a seperate external HD for all Your Files in My Documents, My Pictures, My Favorites (if you are using IE and or backup Firefox's Bookmarks
The reason for this is just in case you cannot get the image reloaded, at least you have all your files which CANNOT be replaced
I use a great easy program called Secondcopy Backup Program. Automatic backup software - secure data with Second Copy
What it does it makes a simple copy of all your files through profiles that you create.
You point your folders to it and then to the external HD
The program is not expensive and you can put it on 2 of your businesses if you need to
You can trial it for 30 days and see if you like it
I have it on all my home and business clients computers because once it is set up it is real easy to do
If you decide to purchase it I will email you for free a step by step manual on setup and how to use it
there is a tuturial on there website also
the nice thing about it is, when you do your next incremintal backup it looks for all the changes and adds it to the external hd without you hunting for them
Also on the external HD it sets it up in the exact folders you have on your HD so you can actually put it on any computer without even installing the program or not.
I do not like the backup programs (not system images that is different) that make one huge file and the only way to restore is put the program back on and then load up this file- if this file is corrupted you are basicly screwed!

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pparks1 said:

Wow, that's quite a lot of security measures in place. Probably more than the vast majority of people here, myself included.

I use a router with NAT, SPI firewall, with MAC address filtering
I use Windows Defender/MSE.
I run Malwarebytes around once per month
If I am going to search for anything questionable, I fire up Sandboxie
I use Google Chrome.

that's it.

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medab1 said:

I use the paid versions of BillP Studios

AVAST 2013 | Download Free Antivirus Software for Virus Protection

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus and Antispyware by Lavasoft | Protection from Virus, Spyware & Malware | Top Internet Security for Windows

They have no conflicts with each other.

I have no virus problems.

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