Do you take any safety measures for your computer even if they verge on obsessive compulsive? Even little things that don't matter.
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Anonymous2005-09-04 12:28
I always lock my screen when I leave the computer, even though the only other person in the house is my wife and she doesn't know where I keep my porn. Does that count?
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Anonymous2005-09-04 14:31
Passwords don't even begin to hinge on what people do. For a healthy serving of the truth check out the dslreports Security forums. Those people are SICK.
But I feel for them. I do secure overwrites, I have 2 AV installed, I encrypted all my data files in an archive. It's not even that effective, it just FEELS effective. True effective security requires a hardware firewall and a well-built OS. Of course, I imagine my paranoia is nothing in comparison to the people who've dedicated their lives to encryption, security, and privacy.
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Anonymous2005-09-04 14:59
I imagine my paranoia is nothing in comparison to the people who've dedicated their lives to encryption, security, and privacy.
Needs more Theo de Raadt.
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Anonymous2005-09-04 15:41
Encrypted /home and swap partitions, passwords for the BIOS (both to change the configuration and to boot), GRUB, and, of course, all user accounts, firewalls, etc.
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Anonymous2005-09-04 17:58
BIOS passwords are about as secure as an open door with the word "locked" written on it. Unless you're on a laptop, of course - then it's usually much harder.
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Anonymous2005-09-04 18:21
>>6
If you're referring to hard drive removal, that's why I have encrypted partitions. The case is locked, too, so if you want to even get in, you're going to have to leave a mark. And BIOS passwords are a little more secure than that—they keep someone from booting to a floppy or livecd.
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ComputerKid2005-09-04 19:37
U R all n00bs. I use ZoneAlarm and my mom says I'm going to be a computer expert later.
I use to be fairly paranoid for a Windows user, PGP keys, different alphanumeric-symbol-mixed case passwords for everything, encrypted drives, software firewalls, CRC checks on programs, etc. Then one day my harddrive died and all the crap I put up worked against me. Now, I focus all my efforts on mirror RAIDs and automated, rotating backups instead.
>>9
Ditto. Once you get hit with any data loss, security turns out to be not such a practical idea for a home user after all. A secure data write I just did a few days ago wiped out my MFT, so right now I'm running from Knoppix waiting for a new HDD to arrive so I can recover my files. A lesson learned, eitherway.
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Anonymous2005-09-05 15:10
>>7
>BIOS passwords are a little more secure than that
The hell they are. It's a matter of thirty seconds' work to pop open the case and move/remove the CMOS reset jumper, et voilá - no more boot/setup password. You'd have to padlock the case to prevent that. Laptops are much more secure in that respect because they rarely have a reset jumper or similar (because they are much more attractive targets for thieves, and often the only way to clear passwords on a laptop is to send it back to the factory).
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Anonymous2005-09-06 3:05
>>13
Can't read, I guess. I do have the case locked. And by a "little more secure," I meant they're not exactly the equivalent of an open door, as in his analogy; they do provide some sort of barrier.
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Anonymous2005-09-06 4:25
My computer is in for repairs right now, but as soon as I get it back, I'm going to have to change all my passwords. Thousands of them. Millions.
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Anonymous2005-09-06 6:59
Billions?
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Anonymous2005-09-06 12:15
Trillions.
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Anonymous2005-09-06 12:20
Trillian
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Anonymous2005-09-06 14:11
Tricia Macmillan?
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Anonymous2005-09-06 14:29
Dash Billions!
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Anonymous2005-09-06 17:52
i have nonthing of value, so i only use 1 av and windows firewall, am i going to be haxxord?
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Anonymous2005-09-06 19:31
>>21
I just stole all your credit card numbers! Actually, as long as you keep your AV up to date, and don't use IE, you should be pretty safe.
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Anonymous2005-09-06 22:10
>Actually, as long as you don't install crap from porn websites, and don't use IE, you should be pretty safe.
Fixed
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Anonymous2005-09-07 16:09
Just...don't use computers. Or credit cards or banks.
Hide your money in your mattress and never go near a security camera. Don't talk to people, don't let them see your face.
Never, ever, EVER touch objects outside your home without wearing gloves.
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Anonymous2005-09-07 16:32
I live in a copper cage so the government satellites can't spy on me.
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Anonymous2005-09-07 20:55
I have several questions that I wish would be answered.
What are secure overwrites?
What are CRC checks on programs?
What is this about BIOS master passwords, let me guess, a way for the government to access any computer just by contacting the motherboard manufacturer? Hmm, is there any way around this master bios password?
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Anonymous2005-09-08 1:44
>>26
Normally, when you "delete" something from a disk, you just delete the file system's record of the data. The actual data remains until it's overwritten. A secure overwrite would overwrite the file data with patterns so the data can't be retrieved later.
CRC stands for Cyclic Redundancy Check. It's an algorithm for producing checksums. I assume what the poster meant was he generated checksums for executables loaded in memory and compared them against the on-disk files to detect modification, but I could be wrong.
BIOSes allow you to set a password that is used to prevent unauthorized access to the BIOS settings. They also let you set a boot password.
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Anonymous2005-09-08 12:35
>>26
BIOS master passwords are passwords that unlock the BIOS boot/setup regardless of what the actual password is (without having to clear the CMOS). Quite often they're hilariously obvious, like AWARD_SW, PASSWORD, CMOS, BIOSPASS, sometimes less so, but lists of common master passwords for many manufacturers are just a short Google away.