Secure-It and Harden-It

[rdsu]

Hi,

I'm trying these programs, and until now everything seems to work fine...

These programs seems to be a very good programs that change some system settings, and didn't use resources...

For those who use these programs, do you are satified with them? They are really useful to prevent possible problems?

Regards

[WSFuser]

i use them but i never know when they are protecting me. theyre system harding/securing tools, theyre just another part of ur security setup like a good AV FW AT etc.

[rdsu]

It seems to be a nice tools for our security...

I just have to disable two recomend things on Secure-It, and everything seems to work fine :)

[Trooper]

It's good stuff. Notok always recommends them. :)

[Notok]

Yup :) They're very nice freebies. The only downside that I've seen with them is that it's IE settings may be a bit aggressive for everyday use. If you use Firefox, however, there shouldn't be any problems.

Hardening it a pretty important thing to do, in my book. It removes a lot of the doorways that worms use to get into your system without you doing anything. If there's any real 0-day protection, that's pretty much it. HardenIt is especially good if you use p2p, although it's a very good idea to run it anyway, as it does more than just harden the TCP/IP stack, it hardens your network settings on the whole.

[tom772]

{QUOTE-> It seems to be a nice tools for our security...

I just have to disable two recomend things on Secure-It, and everything seems to work fine :) <-QUOTE} What setting do you not use?

[rdsu]

{QUOTE-> What setting do you not use? <-QUOTE}
they had been 4 :)

In the Complete Setup, I use the default settings instead of the recommeded, of the first 4 definitions...

The first 2 is because I wnat to use some plugins of Maxthon and IE...
The other 2 I don't need them...

[chaos16]

just want to know coz in there site it doesn't exp[lain that well for me can anyone pls explain to me wat secure-it does pls and if it would give any extra protection to wat i got and any conflict.


the security programs i have are in my signature below.


pls help.

and recommend me pls thnx alot. ;D

[rdsu]

{QUOTE-> just want to know coz in there site it doesn't exp[lain that well for me can anyone pls explain to me wat secure-it does pls and if it would give any extra protection to wat i got and any conflict.


the security programs i have are in my signature below.


pls help.

and recommend me pls thnx alot. ;D <-QUOTE}
In the site you have all the information that you need to know what Secure-It does:
{QUOTE-> What is Secure-It™ ?
Secure-It™ is a local Windows security hardening tool developed by Thierry Zoller, it proactively secures your PC by either disabling the intrusion and propagation vectors proactively or reduce the attack surface by disabling underlying functionality malware uses to execure itself.

It secures Windows desktop PCs against new dangers by blocking the root cause of the vulnerabilities exploited by malware, worms and spy ware . In some cases Secure-it is even able to protect your PC against threats prior to a patch release of the vendor. <-QUOTE}
This program will disable some functions on your system that it's know to be dangerous, and then they are disabled if you don't need them...

While your using the program to choose what you want to disable, you have the information of every item, so if you don't know what you are doing, you can left the default option and that option remains the same...

This program also have an Beginner mode with the safer options for users without knowledge ;)

[WSFuser]

{QUOTE->
What is Harden-It™ ?
Harden-It™ is a Network and System hardening tool for Windows, by hardening the IP stack your Network can sustain or completely thwart various sophisticated network attacks. Harden-It is intended for advanced or professional user.

Network Hardening Feature Set (Only NT,2000,XP,2003) :
· Harden your server's TCP and IP stack (Netbios, ICMP, SYN, SYN-ACK..)
· Protect your servers from Denial of Service and other network based attacks
· Enable SYN flood protection when an attack is detected
· Set the threshold values that are used to determine what constitutes an attack
· Various other protections.
<-QUOTE}
basically, harden-it just changes network settings in windows for tighter security.

{QUOTE->
What is Secure-It™ ?
Secure-It™ is a local Windows security hardening tool developed by Thierry Zoller, it proactively secures your PC by either disabling the intrusion and propagation vectors proactively or reduce the attack surface by disabling underlying functionality malware uses to execure itself.

It secures Windows desktop PCs against new dangers by blocking the root cause of the vulnerabilities exploited by malware, worms and spy ware . In some cases Secure-it is even able to protect your PC against threats prior to a patch release of the vendor.


System Hardening Feature Set :

· Harden your Local Zone Security (My Computer) settings.
· Proactively disable scripting or Active-X controls which proved potential propagation vectors in the past.
· Reduce potential intrusion vectors by disabling non used services.
· Various other protections
<-QUOTE}
likewise, secure-it alters ur IE setting for better security.

[chaos16]

and its safe to use and there are no conflicts??

[Tom772]

{QUOTE->
basically, harden-it just changes network settings in windows for tighter security.


likewise, secure-it alters ur IE setting for better security.

<-QUOTE}So if ive got this right Harden It would be best usewd if your computer is on a network? Secure It, sounds alot like it does the same things as Safe XP?

[rdsu]

{QUOTE-> So if ive got this right Harden It would be best usewd if your computer is on a network? Secure It, sounds alot like it does the same things as Safe XP? <-QUOTE}
Correct.

The Secure-It have some settings that SafeXP doesn't have and vice-versa... ;)

[Mrkvonic]

Hi,
I tried both programs. They offer a lot of good stuff, BUT...
If you have a conflict, you have to run them again, going on over and over through the options. And you cannot know which one causes the conflict. And when you run it again and again, there's a chance of choosing something differently from what you selected last time. What also bothers me a lot is the revert to default option. What is default? Mine? Original Windows settings? For instance, disabling messenger. I have it disabled via Steve Gibson's shootthemessenger. So, I don't need to click again. My options are disable or revert to default. And I say again, what is default?
Likewise, I do not like the existing GUIs. I think on off toggle for each option shown on a full screen a la SafeXP would be much more preferable. I also noticed that on one machine, upon uninstall of SecureIt, that ms-its and its protocol remained disabled, which means a not 100% successful uninstall.
The tools are powerful and an experienced user can benefit a lot. But they are too much of a hustle for an average user.
My suggestions for improvement, which I mailed to Zoller, are:
- toggle on off GUI with all options shown simultaneously.
- adding side effects to each option, a la BugOff, warning the user what functionality will be lost if certain options are selected.
- adding the ability to save the set of options (keys) into a .reg file, which can be executed any time, for instance, windowsupd.reg is used when user wants to run windows update, tightsecrty.reg when user wants to try some hostile sites, lightsecruty.reg when user is only running on a local network, for instance, and of course, default.reg, which turns everything back to the moment of installation.
- a picture of Adam Ant as Prince Charming as logo.

That's it, cheers,
Mrk

[rdsu]

I agree with you that these programs aren't easy to use...
Every default item have the text (default)

I maybe will use only the SafeXP and the Harden-It...

[WSFuser]

i use secure-it and harden-it with no problems and it can be used on any internet config. i know i said it modifies network settigs but i didnt know how else to describe it. safexp is something i dont like. i know i should just try the recommended setting but there is a setting that causes a problem with safe mode and it seems gamexp also causes this problem or maybe its just gamexp but either case i avoid both.

[rdsu]

{QUOTE-> i use secure-it and harden-it with no problems and it can be used on any internet config. i know i said it modifies network settigs but i didnt know how else to describe it. safexp is something i dont like. i know i should just try the recommended setting but there is a setting that causes a problem with safe mode and it seems gamexp also causes this problem or maybe its just gamexp but either case i avoid both. <-QUOTE}
The pros of Safe XP and Game XP are that they are very easy to use and all the info needed...
Safe XP also have more settings that can be very useful...

[chew]

VaMPiRiC_CRoW Could you direct me to step by step instruction on how to install Secure-It and Harden-It? The instruction on their website is not very clear. My system is running fine now and I don't want to mess with it unless I know what to do ... I am using Limited User a/c and on virtual private network behind institution firewall. I have WinXP Home SP2, McAfee AV, Ewido, Adaware SE Home, Microsoft AntiSpyware, SpywareGuard, SpywareBlaster, Firefox, Opera. cheers Chew

[hollywoodpc]

Hi Chew .
Do not let people scare you . if you wish to harden your system , I suggest secure it and leave it at that . No need to use both . Understand that this forum is overrun by the paranoid . Better to be safe than sorry so , use 1 . Not both . There is really no need .
Good luck

[Arup]

I would recommend Harden IT as it strengthens your TCP layer which is the most important, Secure IT would be for public multi user PC. When you apply Harden IT, all the settings are explained in detail and you can always revert back to original settings.

[rdsu]

Hi chew,

like Arup said, use only Harden-It with all the recommended settings and you will be fine...
Secure-It have some settings for IE, but you don't use it, so isn't so necessary for you... But if you want to use it, on my case, when I use it, I use this: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=526736&postcount=7

Now I just use Harden-It, since some months ago... ;)

Regards

[chew]

VaMPiRiC_CRoW, hollywoodpc & Arup, Thanks for the reply. But if I use Harden-it what will it change? I am at the Uni. on Virtual Private Network and I am not sure if it will affect my connection and use Net Messenger too. I am also log-in as Limited User all the time. I only use IE 6 for WindowsUpdate only. So could you provide me Step-by-Step instruction please. I know there are plenty of info but as a novice user I am still learning and I cannot affort to be away from the net for too long. I just don't want to mess up my system now. However, I do want to beef up my defence. So possibility of screen shots? I just wish the author of Harden-it gives a proper step by step guide instruction. Cheers Chew