Firewall and Hardening Systems

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by sweater, Aug 28, 2005.

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  1. dja2k

    dja2k Registered Member

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    Well confirmed, those errors mentioned were caused by harden-it. So I use Firefox and still wanted to secure IE 6.0 using secure-it, but anyways, not going to mess with IE settings anymore.

    dja2k
     
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2005
  2. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Good thread! I'm glad I found this subject because I was curious myself. I have used Safe XP and was okay, as far as Secure It and Harden It I stayed away.

    Has anyone used Samurai 2.6? It has some real nice features, but I haven't used it yet. It has four different levels of configuration. Here is the link if anyone is interested http://turbotramp.fre3.com/ . There is something for a Rootkit in this one. If anyone has any luck with this one, let us know. :D
     
  3. Arup

    Arup Guest

    I am using Samurai 2.6 with Harden IT, works nice, won't let anything install any system driver unless allowed, best thing is all the protections in Samurai can also be done if you follow the manual posted there.
     
  4. Notok

    Notok Registered Member

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    Things to keep in mind:

    • Windows ships with the most compatible settings for every situation, this is what creates the need for hardening. By changing those settings you are reducing the liklihood that everything will be compatible. For the most part the average user that only has one computer and just does normal stuff on his/her computer, recommended settings in hardening tools will be just fine, but sometimes you might have a piece of software that uses one of those components in the background, and so something will 'break'.
    • You're changing the way your system works, so it's inevitable that something won't work exactly the same as it did before.
    • You run the risk of incompatibilities, corruption, etc., when you install any software. It's always possible that the installer, program, and/or uninstaller won't work the way they're designed to. That's just the reality of software.. any kind of software.
    • Freeware is usually made in the developer's spare time, making freeware doesn't pay the bills. Commercial software gives you the advantage of a developer (or team of developers) that dedicate themselves full-time to making sure it works for you as well as possible. You're always running a bit more of a risk using freeware over shareware.
    • It's best to use hardening tools one at a time, so that if there's any problems it's obvious which one is causing the problems. It's possible that it could take some trial and error to get everything working smoothly, especially with the free tools. It is much easier to narrow down the posibilities when you've only used one tool since a problem began.
    • Internet Explorer is tied in with the system, so it's a good idea to harden it even if you don't use it, but also realize that this can affect the way your system works as well.

    All that said, I've never had any problems with the dozen, or so, systems I've installed SecureIt or HardenIt on, but your mileage may vary. I don't use IE so all the changes are made to things in the background that I normally don't see. All-in-all, however, I've seen more sucess stories with hardening tools than problems.. they're bound to happen, though. If you can give it a little patience, you should be fine, and the security is worth it IMO.
     
  5. meneer

    meneer Registered Member

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    The easiest and cheapest way of hardening a system is by hardening the user.
    Using a regular user account, so not using an account with all permissions (like admin, root or sa), is very effective.
     
  6. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    @Arup

    How are you notified if a driver tries to install?

    @Notok

    I fully agree with everything you said. I have to reformat, so I was going to pick just one to try (backing up registry first with ERUNT) and see how it reacts, and go from there. I do a lot of reading at Wilders and I learn so much from all you guys. Wilders is an awesome place to be! ;)
     
  7. Arup

    Arup Guest

    Rilla927,

    Samurai warns you in form of a pop up window, it blocks the installation till you approve it.
     
  8. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Oh, okay, I had no idea.

    Is this program easily uninstallable at any given time you choose? Do you install the whole program or parts of your choice?

    No interference with any other of your programs?
     
  9. Arup

    Arup Guest

    All the settings can be easily undone from the Samurai interface, as is, this program runs from its folder and does not install anything.
     
  10. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Thanks Arup.

    If you have any more tips or tricks about Samurai or Harden-It, please do tell. :)
     
  11. Arup

    Arup Guest

    No tricks, but I would suggest that you start with setting Samurai to the medium security and for Harden IT, use their recommended settings.
     
  12. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Thanks Arup, I will follow your recommended settings for both and let you know the out come. The worst that can happen is I restore the registry with ERUNT if it don't work.
     
  13. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    i use Secureit and Harden-it with just about defaults with no problems and safeXP and XPantispy. in my admin account i use drop.exe as part of the shortcut to launch my browsers. a dos box flashes up and the rights of the browser must be reduced, i don't notice anything though- i can download things etc. i have it with IE, Firefox, Opera and K-Meleon.

    drop.exe's default location is C:\Program Files\Secure-It\drop.exe
    so my short cut for Opera is -
    "C:\Program Files\Secure-It\drop.exe" "C:\Program Files\Opera\Opera.exe"
     
  14. SimonCC

    SimonCC Registered Member

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    Just thought I should add that harden-IT breaks itunes; it stops it from detecting the ipod. Well, that was my experience annyway.

    S.
     
  15. iceni60

    iceni60 ( ^o^)

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    from what i remember, they tell you exactly what each step does - Harden-It and Secure-It that is. and they have an undo feature as well.
     
  16. SimonCC

    SimonCC Registered Member

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    yes but they undo to what exactly? To generic windows settings? Or to the settings you had before installation? If its the former, it may mess up some of the changes made by other hardening tools etc.

    S.
     
  17. Arup

    Arup Guest

    It reverts back to basic MS settings which comes out of the box when you install the OS.
     
  18. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Hi fellas,

    great question SimonCC! Arup to the rescue!

    @Arup

    Since you said these programs run from their folders, when ever you want to make a change/undo; you will do it from folder? ;)

    Thanks
     
  19. Arup

    Arup Guest

  20. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    @Arup

    are you familiar with Look'nStop?
     
  21. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    @Arup

    I am going to follow your advice on using Samurai and Harden-It. Won't delete folders.

    When I do my reformat, I will be installing a new AV & FW as well. I hope Samurai and Harden-It get a long with KAV Pro and LNS.

    Since LNS has a standard, enhanced, Phantom's ruleset; if Samurai & Harden-It work, I wonder if I would even need the heavier ruleset?
     
  22. Arup

    Arup Guest

    Just use the standard rule, when you apply Harden IT and Samurai, your TCP and OS layer is already hardened against attacks.
     
  23. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Arup you did mention I should use medium settings for Samurai and recommended settings for Harden-It which I will do.

    But since Look'nStop has different sets of predefined rules like standard, enhanced, and Phamtom's Rules the strictess.

    If Samurai & Harden-It work for me, would I then still need such strict ruleset for Look'nStop?

    Thanks
     
  24. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    you should use the enhanced ruleset, it wouldnt cause any harm. A layered security always helps.
     
  25. Rilla927

    Rilla927 Registered Member

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    Thanks WSFuser!:)
     
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