How important is Security on your home computer and would you pay somebody to evaluate it?

1. Caitlan Acacia says:

   September 11, 2011 at 7:48 pm

   yes I would. whatever it takes…especially at the moment. because my computer is telling me there is a potential hacker :S ya. I need a computer geek SO BAD right now. I dont know what to do. Id pay whatever for it

2. ItachisXeyes says:

   September 11, 2011 at 8:19 pm

   nope. considering i’m majoring in Information Security…i’d do the Penetration test myself. XD but i already monitor security, and taught my mom how to use Linux Mint…i wrote a few scripts and she doesn’t have to do much maintenance at all with it.

   right now i’d charge 15-20 dollars an hour just because i haven’t graduated yet but after i get my degree you can expect to pay me 35 dollars an hour XP

   oh yeah…and security is pretty important. i get pretty anal about it sometimes.

3. Pyros says:

   September 11, 2011 at 8:38 pm

   Security is quite important but no, I wouldn’t pay anyone to enhance my security. I’d just do what i did and go on the internet and do research as to how to improve my network security.

   Here are a few things you can do:
   1. Make sure you’re operating system is the newest one and is fully patched (keep it current)
   2. Make sure you web browser and any other software that communicates with the internet (flash, java, chat, etc) are in the latest versions (fully patched) and current.
   3. Make sure you have a good virus/spyware scanner that is fully patched with up-to-date definitions. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (this covers both spyware and viruses).
   4. If you use internet explorer 8 adjust your security settings to that your internet zone is more protected and put the sites you visit often and trust in your trusted zone. put your trusted zones security level to the default internet zone security level.
   5. If you’re paranoid download and run zone alarm firewall software, otherwise stick with the windows firewall.
   6. DON’T turn off UAC on windows 7 unless you really have to.
   7. Schedule regular full scans of the computer through your virus scanner (once a week should do it)
   8. If you have a router, in its firmware tell it not to respond to ping.
   9. If your router supports wireless internet and you have it enabled (do not enable wireless unless you actually use it) then enable wireless security to the highest level that your devices support (try to get it to wpa2 if you can)
   10. If your router supports wireless and mac filtering then enable mac filtering, it’s a little annoying to maintain but it adds another layer of security.
   11. Make sure any passwords you use are unique; have numbers or special characters in them to make the harder to crack by brute force
   12. Turn off or disable any internet based feature you aren’t using. If you aren’t using it then it’s a pointless security risk.
   13. SSID in your router (your wireless network name) make sure this is not set to broadcast and if you must broadcast it for whatever reason then use a network name you can easily identify but one that is not personally revealing (not your name or address)
   15. Exercise good browsing habits. Don’t go to sites you know will give you viruses. Don’t use programs like limewire.

   that’s it, it’s pretty comprehensive i think but i’m sure there’s something i missed. a lot of it is really common sense but the thing is that everyone has a different idea of good security. a lot of people will tell you not to use IE and switch to firefox or something…. this doesn’t matter to me as much, i like ie better because of group policy.

   Anyway, here’s a site with some other security ideas on it. Don’t pay someone, that’s rediculious and they probably won’t help you much anyway.

   http://www.theitlibrary.com/security/general_computer_security.html

   Hope this helps

   ~Pyros~

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