securing a PC for children, old folks, or your average computer noob.

How would you approach securing a computer for someone who is new to computing?

Children and older folks are usually the ones who fall into this category. I suppose the security would be different depending on the persons age. For example, a child may not understand some of the prompts that pop-up from security software. An older person may be patient enough to learn, but may feel overwhelmed if there is too much to learn.

I guess when it comes to noobs, you want them to have an easy/good experience but still maintain some level of security. Otherwise the PC would break down after a month.

What are your opinions/recommendations?

 

AV and LUA would be a good start for noobs.

 

If XP: Limited account + Sandboxie or Shadow Defender or Defensewall + router, win firewall. Also SRP if using Pro

Vista/Win 7: same as above. if you have Win 7 Ultimate then AppLocker (Autogenerate rules)

Of course if using x64, forget Sanboxie or Defensewall.

 

Enable WOT and then put on child safety and set to block. Also remove the WOT icon so they can't disable it.

 

Add OpenDNS, setup an OpenDNS account and filter unwanted categories.

 

Panda Cloud, Bitdefender, or Avast! 5 (Once Released) would be good for virus protection. All of them take care of the malware without the need of the user clicking an alert.

If they are willing to learn I would recommend DefenseWall, its a very simple to use application.

It would also be a good idea to teach them how to run a weekly Malwarebytes scan, and also make sure they know the importance of Windows Update.

 

All great suggestions. Thanks guys.

I will pick out what sounds best to me and then test it on my sisters kids

 

try open dns http://www.opendns.com/solutions/k12/filtering/
or fortinet security free with web shield http://www.forticlient.com/standard.html very strong filtering on sites.....

 

If its noobs, kids and elderly then you won't go far wrong with a Linux Distro.

Linux Mint, Ubuntu for example, come pre-loaded with all software they would need from games, torrent loaders to office suite, flash plugins, Firefox browser and no need for any AV suite, HIPS or Behaviour Blockers.

Oh and its all free too!

My kids PC uses Linux Mint and my wife's runs Ubuntu.
My laptop is dualbooted between Windows 7/Linux Mint.

 

Id recommend purchasing a router and ensuring windows firewall is enabled. Then setup an opendns account which will allow you to filter most content that you feel is unsuitable. Finally add an antivirus of your choice..id recommend avira antivir personal.

Simple, free (apart from the cost of a router) and effective

 

There are specialist software and linux distros.
For kids (eg): Peanut Butter (Win) and Qimo Linux.
For senior citizen/noobs: Eldy Linux

 

Vijayind

 

Firefox (w/ WOT, Adblock Plus and Keyscrambler)

+

a-squared Anti-Malware (ALL Surf Protection settings set to "Block silently")

+

Returnil 2010 (ENABLED with additional protection option "Trust programs from real disk only")





100% bulletproof protection

 

I forgot to add:

Password-protect a-squared AM and Returnil...

This way, there would be no means for your average computer noob to tamper with the security settings.