Security for Win7 home

[Terarus]

Hi guys,

I've just got myself the new dell xps16 laptop that comes with win7 home 64bit. I wanted to ask for opinions on what to get in terms of security since home doesnt come with SPR. I would also like to avoid hacking the registry to obtain a SPR effect.

[kendall.a]

What is SPR?

I am running Windows 7 Professional (64-bit). I absolutely love it and would never want to go back.

I use MSE, WinPatrol (paid), Windows 7 Firewall, and Sandboxie. (I do have on-demand scanners like SAS and MWB and HitManPro.) But, in my opinion, you can get along perfectly fine with minimal security programs.

I also believe that many of the built-in programs within Windows 7 are much improved over XP. For example, I don't add a Firewall, I use Windows 7 defragmenter, and even Windows 7 built-in backup tool.

[J_L]

Do you mean SRP (Software Restriction Policy)?

[The_Blode]

Well, you came to the right place. You can find lots of articles regarding computer security, in fact, a whole category has been dedicated to it.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/pc/security-tools.html

Some of the essential subcategories are:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...s-software.htm

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-firewall.htm

As for protecting the registry:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...an-remover.htm

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best...er-remover.htm

Hope this helps.

Blode.

[Terarus]

Originally Posted by J.L.

Do you mean SRP (Software Restriction Policy)?

Yeh sorry SRP.
I've went for the following build:

MSE
Win7 firewall
Sandboxie paid
Panda usb
SAS + MBAM (on demand)
Keyscrambler pro
LUA
WOT + Lastpass

With sandboxie, I've created 3 sandboxes
1) Daily usage + high risk activities (internet + start restricted to chrome, ie, and media players)
2) Banking and financial activities (restricted to IE only, IE is also set to maximum security with my banking sites set as trusted)
3) Software tester (No restrictions, only drop rights)

Thething that concerns me are possible screen loggers or clipboard loggers which I dont think I'm covered in the case of infection. However, i dont think the chances of infection are that high given sandboxie and LUA so I've decided to not add any more. Is this build ok? My main concern is really on banking and ecommerce.

[eyeb]

hm, the quickest/easiest way for me to tell if I have a keylogger is using process hacker (or your preferred process monitor tool). I've just learned what all the processes are and I have it set to alert me when a new service/process is created/started so I can tell what is being done. If it's something I know/expect then I don't hunt it down and end it.

Using sandboxie to restrict the exe allowed to start/run will prevent anything new from launching. To prevent actual site content/phishing I just use safe browsing habits and firefox addons to prevent things from running on its own.

The screen/key loggers can be "dealt" with by using a good firewall that you know how to use. Since any/all loggers will try to connect to the web to send info back. This can be hidden/masked but for me using firewall and rules for applications and ports is enough that I feel safe.

If you really don't feel too secure you could always launch a variant of linux to do online banking since you'd know nothing is on there from the start. But this is a hassel for me and I don't feel any more secure.

Another way to stay "safer" is to look into using vpn when banking but I also don't feel like doing this. I just don't do online banking when I'm not at home. If I'm away from home and need some info from bank or make a transaction I simply call up my bank and have one of the tellers do it for me.

[J_L]

You're fine, SRP shouldn't add any more security if you sandboxie has run restrictions. You may want to add NoScript for further security.

[Terarus]

Originally Posted by eyeb

The screen/key loggers can be "dealt" with by using a good firewall that you know how to use. Since any/all loggers will try to connect to the web to send info back. This can be hidden/masked but for me using firewall and rules for applications and ports is enough that I feel safe.

Firewalls with hips are quite nice in terms of security. And while i do relatively know how to handle one, the increased trade off in terms of protection and convenience (not to mention increased resource use) does not play well in my mind given my restrictions already. But yes, its a nice advice and if i didnt have sandboxie, HIPS is definitely the way to go.

[Terarus]

Originally Posted by J.L.

You're fine, SRP shouldn't add any more security if you sandboxie has run restrictions. You may want to add NoScript for further security.

Thanks JL but i dont use firefox anymore. But speaking of noscript, chrome beta now has in built javascript block which lets you to click to play. Quite a neat feature and it also lets you to whitelist sites.