STAROCK Diversity
Takeaway
A Microsoft Windows PC
that has not been updated for security vulnerabilities will be compromised by
some from of malware within minutes of connecting to
the Internet. Take steps to protect yourself before you start Web surfing.
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Table of Contents
10 THINGS...................................................................................................................................1
1. MAKE A STARTER CDROM..................................................................................................1
2. REMOVE THE PROMOTIONALAPPS...................................................................................2
3. INSTALL ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE.......................................................................................2
4. TURN ON A SOFTWARE FIREWALL...................................................................................2
5. INSTALL PRINTERS AND OTHER PERIPHERALS.............................................................2
6. ESTABLISH A PASSWORD FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR
ACCOUNT.............................2
7. CREATE A NEW USER ACCOUNT WITH
PASSWORD......................................................2
8. TURN OFF UNNECESSARY WINDOWS
SERVICES...........................................................2
9. ESTABLISH A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT...........................................................................3
10. INSTALL AND CONFIGURE A
ROUTER...........................................................................3
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10 THINGS
It is only natural, when you get a brand new PC, especially
one with broadband capabilities built-in, you want to connect to the Internet
and see it action. For many, the browser and the World Wide Web are the
"killer-apps" of the modern PC—the Internet is what you
have a PC for, everything else is just extra fluff.
However, connecting to the Internet with a new unprotected
and un-patched PC is practically inviting the nefarious and malicious to infect
your PC. According to research published by Sophos in
July 2005, there is about a 50 percent chance that an un-patched PC will be
infected with malicious software within 12 minutes of connecting to the
Internet! Once infected, it is almost impossible to get a PC clean again
without completely re-installing the operating system. (We are restricting this
conversation to Windows PCs for the moment.)
To prevent the frustration that comes with re-installing
Windows, you should take the necessary steps to update, configure, and patch
your new PC. Keep in mind that no matter how new your PC is, it will most
likely need patching and it will definitely need to be properly configured.
Here are 10 basic things you should do before attaching the Internet to a new
PC.
10 things you should do to a new PC before connecting
it to the Internet
1. Make a starter
CD-ROM
Before you disconnect your old computer, take a few minutes
to burn a starter CD-ROM that contains the latest version of your favorite
anti-virus software. I prefer to keep this simple and inexpensive by using AVG,
but if you like Norton or McAfee those will work, just not as well.
To save time later, you should put other security
applications on this disk like SpyBot
Destroy Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware
2008 and SpywareBlaster.
Excellent Anti-Spyware Software can be found on our Home Page. It would also be a good
idea to include any updated drivers you might need—drivers for your video card
for example. Just like Windows, your video card drivers are likely to be a
little old also. You should also put drivers on this disk for peripherals that
you will be connecting to your new PC, like cameras, scanners, printers, and
game interface devices. Having all of these device
drivers residing on a single CD-ROM means you will not have to go to the Internet
to retrieve them as you set up your new PC.
2. Remove the
promotional apps
After going through the initial setup process where Windows
identifies devices you may be asked to register and/or activate you copy of the
Windows operating system—hold off on that for now, you can always do that
later. This first thing to do is to clean up the mess that shipped in your PC.
You should remove all of the promotional and trial software that
you do not intend to use from your new PC! This is usually the first thing I
do, because invariably one of those apps will ask if I want to activate it or
register it—a process that usually involves accessing the Internet. (Some times
they don't ask—they just assume I want them on my pristine PC). At this point
you should have no connection to the Internet at all, wireless or not!
The applications to be deleted are usually ISPs
advertisements like AOL and EarthLink, an antivirus app from a competitor of
your current application (something you should already have ready on your
CD-ROM), trial versions of Money or QuickBooks, etc. If you are not going to
use these, go to the Add/Remove Programs
applet in the Control Panel and
remove them completely.
3. Install antivirus
software
Install the antivirus software that you burned onto a CD-ROM
in step 1. The assumption is that any PC purchased after this document is
published will have Windows XP SP2 installed, but if SP2 is not installed, you
could have that update ready on your disk too. In fact, if you know how, you could
have some of the more important Windows patches and updates on your disk also
including Windows
IE7. Install IE7
before SP3! Also, now take the time to install the new Windows SP3
for XP! This would be a good time to install your anti-spyware software as
suggested above.
4. Turn on a software
firewall
Windows XP SP2 comes with a modest but still useful software
firewall. Before you start surfing the Internet you should turn it on—or you
can install an alternative third-party software firewall like Zone Alarm. Any
alternative firewalls should have been included on the startup CD-ROM you made
in Step 1.
5. Install printers
and other peripherals
Before you connect to the Internet it is a good idea to
install your other peripherals to your new PC. Performing this step means that
when you do connect to the Windows update page, it will see your devices and make
suggestions for new Microsoft-tested (WHQL) drivers if they are available.
6. Establish a
password for the administrator account
One of the most glaring security vulnerabilities in any new
Windows-based PC is that it ships with a wide open Administrator access to the
root directory! You never want
anyone but you to have unfettered access to the admin settings on your
PC! And while a password could easily be bypassed by a skilled cracker, it will
deter the less determined intruder.
7. Create a new user
account with password
This is almost as equally important as password protecting
your Administrator account. For general day-to-day activities, you do not want
to be using your admin account. Instead, you should be using a user account that
is also password protected (a password that is different than the one you are
using for the admin account, please). This adds another layer of protection for
your new PC because a user account does not have the same all-access permissions
as an admin account. In some cases, malicious software will be
thwarted by this level of permissions restriction alone.
8. Turn off
unnecessary Windows services
Microsoft has been doing a better job of this with the
release of
SP3, but there are still numerous unnecessary Windows services and
processes running by default on most PCs. If you'd like to see how many there
are just perform the three finger salute (CTRL-ALT-Delete) click Task Manager and then the Processes tab. All of those applications,
services, processes, etc. are operating in the background on your PC. The
problem is that many can actually open access to your PC to the outside world
without your knowledge or active consent. That access is usually justified for
what the process is supposed to be doing, it is just that many times your PC
doesn't need that process at all—Web servers, network messengers, debuggers—are
all processes you probably don't need on your personal PC.
9. Establish a System
Restore Point
Now that you have performed the first eight steps you should
take a moment to establish a System Restore
Point. To manually create a Restore
Point, you launch the System Restore
utility by clicking
10. Install and
configure a router
This last step may seem like an unnecessary added expense to
some, but in this age of viruses, worms, and other nasty Internet infections, a
router standing between you and the outside world coming at you at broadband speeds
offers another significant layer of protection. Connecting a PC directly to the
Internet means that PC gets its own IP address, which means it can be seen by
every sleazebag with malicious intent. By adding a router to your broadband
setup, the router gets the visible IP address and gives your new PC an internal
address. In addition, routers have hardware firewalls and other features that
help block the bad guys before they get to your new PC.
This is especially helpful because the first thing you should do when you do actually connect to the Internet is head directly for Windows Update. This is the most important tip in this guide—the only place you should be heading on the Web when you first connect you PC to the Internet is the Windows Update page. You will not have time to check movie times or football scores!
The 12 minute countdown to possible infection starts as
soon as you connect.