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Suggestions Recommendations for all around virus/email/malware/ransomware etc. protection?

fuzzy_cam

fuzzy_cam

The Granbury Wrap & Sign Guy
I have not run any antivirus solution in my home environment for the past 15 years. I currently managed anywhere from 3-7 customer infrastructures at a time with 5-10 users each, and a few years ago headed up an IT team with over 75 end-users - no antivirus software there either. Set password strength and reset policies, educate yourself and staff on suspicious links/software/emails, etc. Get yourself a good firewall(router) such as a newer SonicWall and have your data backed up in "threes"- our data is constantly synced to another identical NAS offsite, daily cloud backups, and weekly cold storage updates. If you are concerned at all about this, hire a good IT/security firm to get you set up.
 
binki

binki

New Member
If you are running Windows then you have virus protection. A few other things you can do.
Cloud backup. We use IDrive but have used Carbonite in the past. Also having a local backup will help.
Password Manager. Something like LastPass. You will need to remember or somehow know a very long password for LastPass itself but otherwise it manages the rest. This will allow you to have LastPass create complex passwords for all of your accounts and it is transferrable across multiple machines. Also, never reuse a password and that includes across multiple accounts. Make sure passwords are 10 or more characters. The more the better.
Encrypt your data. I haven't done this except on my cell phone.
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
fuzzy_cam said:
Get yourself a good firewall(router) such as a newer SonicWall
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I would also mention to have a specific firewall device that is separate from the router. Not an all in one. I didn't look at the SonicWall, so I'm not specifically talking about that product. Just make sure that there are separate devices.



I do find it strange that so many people use the Windows built in solution (like I said, I had heard good things about it, don't know how true it is, but that is what I have heard). Given that Windows hasn't had that great of track record with security (remember the 9X generation (although it was a helluva lot easier to remove bad stuff back in the day, but boy the normie user wouldn't be able to handle that now)?) and of course, the legacy bloat that everyone loves because it allows them to continue to use their older software longer, but comes at a security risk. Windows 10 still had some elements that dated back to Win 95 (I would imagine that there is some still in there in Win 11). That's a little long in the tooth in my mind. And plus, they no longer have an internal QA team and haven't for a looooonnnnnngggg time.

Encrypt your data. Good point. How many also encrypt their OS drives? Now, the last time I installed Win 10, I don't recall that option on install, for those that bought pre-built computers from a box store, I doubt it was done there, even if there was/is an option.

User accounts. How many just have one (assuming local account, if having to deal with the new policy of needing an MS account to first get your computer setup and haven't setup a local one after that, that's a whole other can of worms in my mind) and that is the admin account. Password, or no password? I know a lot of people that don't have a password on their admin accounts that run Windows back in the day of local accounts only (now they just do the MS Account thing and that is far worse in my mind). Those that have a su password on that single account, how many have it set to login on boot?


Over the years, MS/Windows has sacrificed security for convenience (they had made steps in one area, only to go back in others) and like some other OSs that I can name, abstracted a lot away from the user, so the normie user is obligated to those conveniences.
 
binki

binki

New Member
Here is a really good resource that has some free stuff as well as a way to check your passwords for crackability and how much information is being shared from your computer. Under Services select Password Haystack and Shields Up!

Home of Gibson Research Corporation

Steve Gibson's and Gibson Research Corporation's Web homepage.
www.grc.com www.grc.com
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
binki said:
Our mesh network from Plume does that for us. It is pretty good and they continue to improve it over time.

Plume.com
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I'm reading that as a software based firewall (cloud delivered if I'm understanding correctly). I personally prefer a hardware based one. Each one has their pros and cons, so it really depends on the situation. But as long as it's separate from the router, that's the important thing with me.
 
CSOCSO

CSOCSO

I don't hate paint, I just overlay it.
First of all store your files on a NAS. i don't think the windows ransomware can hit that. About the software.... to be honest with you i don't use anything on my work pc. At home I use eset nod32 for like 2 decades now.
 
binki

binki

New Member
WildWestDesigns said:
I'm reading that as a software based firewall (cloud delivered if I'm understanding correctly). I personally prefer a hardware based one. Each one has their pros and cons, so it really depends on the situation. But as long as it's separate from the router, that's the important thing with me.
Click to expand...
I don't know the mechanics of it. The pods are separate from the router and they manage the soft bits from their side. When I check Shields Up, we are invisible to the internet.
 
binki

binki

New Member
One more thing I will add is to not use a discount web server. We used one of those for years but our website, on their server which they managed, was hacked and the hackers sent out millions of emails from our email accounts on the host server for months. It generated so much traffic the host shut our website down even though they caused the problem. Not to mention the 1000's of angry emails we got in response to the spam attacks. We now have a reliable, USA based host. Even though it costs a little more to have it is worth it.
 
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