Stepping up from Paranoid to Super-Paranoid

Well guys, I ain't sleeping much lately. It seems like I am only running one real application program nowadays - Mozilla, and a zillion security/protection programs. Tell me I'm not losing my mind.

Anyways, here is where I am at. I have BOClean, TrojanGuard, SpywareGuard, ZoneAlarm, and NAV running resident. TDS-2, TrojanHunter, SpyBot, Ad-aware, SpyBlaster on the side. I don't think even a Cruise Missle can get through. But remember, I am getting to be Super-Paranoid.

I have tried ProcessGuard, but the trial version appears to be a little quirky. It keeps Mozilla's download program from executing as well as HijackThis (at least on my computer). So I have to continuously Enable/Disable whenever I want to download. Of course it is a great program, but will the full version get rid of these problems.

I tried out the trial version of Spysweeper, but it didn't find anything new. Does anyone use BOCLEAN, TrojanHunger _AND_ SpySweeper? If so, have they found SpySweeper useful?

Now I ran PestScan and it seems to find lots of little adware type stuff lying around that the other scanners, including TDS-3, did not find. Is PestScan oversenstive, extra-clean, or just a reasonably good program that finds additional stuff that others do not.

Finally, I tried out SpyCop. It didn't find anything new so I was wondering if this is a program that does anything special that the others do not.

Thank for your comments. I think my Homeland Security budget is going through the roof and I am only getting more Paranoid.

 

Hi richrf

Since u are discussing a wide array of apps. here, i will move your thread to other security issues.



snowbound

 

See this thread:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=43117

as well here is a link that is a good read:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/security

Hope this helps...

Cheers

 

richrf ... errrrmmm ... Super-paranoid?

I don't think you're Super-paranoid. If you're really super paranoid you would have moved to other OS.

I think I am getting super paranoid ... but not there yet. I still get some sleep. But in order not to become Super paranoid ... I have decided to learn to use other OS.

I guess you just have to invest some of your time and some money in learning new OS such as Linux or Mac ... at least they are less vulnerable to any form of attacks.

If you start learning Linux or Mac now ... I bet you will be very happy in the long run and get less stress in using different OS. Basically, you can switch whenever you want hence lessening the worry you have relying on one specific OS only ...

The problem is how to un-learn Microsoft and re-learn something new ... hmmm ...

 

"Start learning Linux or Mac"?

I wasn't aware that Mac took much learning.

Then again, I used MacOS for a while...

 

LOL @ Pigman ... for me it is ... I have never used any other OS in my life before apart from Micro$oft ...

Believe me ... errmm ... I only saw Linux Red Hat ... errmmm ... 2 days ago. I only managed to navigate around Red Hat for 1 hr.

Now that i have read a few of the Linux stuff ... I think I might give Linux SuSE 9.1 Pro a go ...

I think that is something very new for me ... LOL!

 

You won't qualify as a super-paranoid until the only OS you run is a Knoppix CD. My live protection is PG, BOClean, Regrun, a good hosts file, Opera, Proxomitron, and Outpost Pro behind a router. I've dual-booted Linux for over a year, but I still prefer XP (properly secured).

Nick

 

The second I went from super paranoid to just paranoid my system was compromised. See if you can get a tax write off in regards to your Homeland Security budget. If your paranoia gets too extreme seek "professional help."

 

To my mind, if the primary thing you do with your computer is to play with security-related items, then security has become an unreasonable trade-off. I suppose there is something to be said for having security as a hobby, but I think one needs to delineate between the two--"hobby" and "necessity".

 

Well, the problem here seems to be too many apps. Lessee... I'm not anything close to an expert, but it would seem to me that some things ain't necessary.

Example: Trojanhunter. You already have BOClean for resident protection against trojans, and TDS for on-access scanning. (BTW, I think you might want to consider upgrading to TDS-3.)

The biggest problem there, though, is probably NAV, which is perhaps the most resource-hungry antivirus in existence, and definitely not the best either. It's total bloatware.

 

If Mozilla is the only program you use for Internet access (and your firewall is configured to block everything else), then it is the only infection vector for malware. If you disable all active content (Java, Javascript, etc either using Mozilla's own settings, ZoneAlarm's content filter or a specialised filter like Proxomitron) then no web page is going to be able to do much mischief (of course, many won't work completely either, but hey that's the tradeoff!) so the only other things to worry about are file downloads and email enclosures - both of which can be dealt with by AV scanners. If anything, you could probably cut down on the software you run since there is a lot of duplication (c'mon, four anti-trojans?!).

One area that has appeared to escape your attention though is that of online privacy. Some people do worry about web sites (and those that run them) knowing their IP address (necessary to send a web page back). More noteworthy is that your ISP can observe and record your online activity (and may have a legal obligation to do so). This recording is likely to be restricted to URLs and IP addresses - but many search engines include the terms you enter in the URL (e.g. http://www.google.com/search?q=kinky security software). To avoid this, you need to use an anonymising proxy which encrypts the traffic between your PC and a proxy server - this server then decrypts it, sends it to the intended website and receives the reply which it encrypts and sends back to you. Unless someone is observing both your connection and the proxy (and is able to distinguish your requests from everyone else's), this should provide a good level of online anonymity and privacy.

There are various anonymising services available but I would suggest using JAP (Java Anonymizing Proxy) - it's a Java applet, it's open source (so any attempts to compromise it can be detected, as has happened in the past) and it's free. The connection can be pretty slow at times but there is normally a choice of 2 or 3 "mixes" so you can switch to a less congested one. I have posted on JAP a number of times in the past, so do run a forum search if you have more queries about it.

 

This isn't necessarily true, if you consider the great many third-party applications that use the MSIE rendering engine. This includes everything from media-player applications to weather-checking applications to PIMs to just about everything else you can think of.

The obvious point is to be aware of the software you have installed (particularly if it uses MSIE in any way), and to install all Windows and MSIE patches, even if "I don't use it".

 

Well, I did say "the only program". Yes, there is software that uses IE that can act as a hidden backdoor (and for Mozilla you do have the IE View Extension) which is well worth noting - this risk can be reduced also by heavily restricting their access. For example I sometimes use Stardock Central (a program to check for and download Object Desktop components) - this uses IE but can be (and is) restricted to 2 domains only.