Browser settings of a Security expert - No use of A/V

Windchild

Hi, i did read it when she first posted it, but i didn't refer back to it when replying in here. My oops, so sorry for that !

" online banking and purchases. Who doesn't? " Quite a few people actually, and with the number of data thefts that have occurred over the last few years, i'm not surprised, and i'm positive there will be even more to come.

You're quite correct, if she only uses the green machine for accessing her bank account, then that pretty much locks that vector down.

I've always thought it's an excellent idea to have seperate PC's for different things. One locked down as much as possible in whatever way suits, for surfing etc, and another completely free of security updates/AV etc etc, for all other tasks/work etc.

If i needed to transfer stuff across from the Unsurfer PC i'd use a USB stick etc, and scan files from the Surfer PC before transfering to the Unsurfer PC. A slight inconvenience maybe, but this would completely isolate one from the other. I think i'm going to finally get round to doing it before too long.

 

Doesn't a VM achieve the same thing

 

I'm thinking of Rollback RX. With a virtualized Windows, antivirus would be completely unnecessary. Malware can't take down the entire system because Windows resides in different user profiles. So an infected profile could be deleted without compromising the entire system. That is also the principle behind Defense Wall, GES and Sandboxie. If the malware is present in the virtual window, its "contained" and can't escape. And when the virtual application is turned off, the malware vanishes along with it. So that's a form of proactive defense. Antivirus does the job only after something bad happens. So its better to keep something bad from happening in the first place.

 

Remember though that malware could transmit sensitive documents, keystrokes, screenshots, etc., and could also modify or delete your documents.

 

I think she meant if you're not connected or connected to a secure network, you don't need an AV. But if you do connect to unsecured or public networks, AV is definitely a must.