DOCSLIB.ORG

A Home User's Security Checklist for Windows

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Home User's Security Checklist for Windows A Home User’s Security Checklist for Windows Andreas Lindqvist Stefan Pettersson Linköpings universitet, Sweden Email: {andli299, stepe955}@student.liu.se Checklists like this are quite powerful because of the Abstract ability to decide which items to include, the level of The user and her desktop are widely held to be one of knowledge required and which knowledge is provided the weaker links in the security chain. By letting the user via the text and links, all depending on the audience. secure their own workstation by following a set of steps The updated version of the checklist [2] was then used put forth in a checklist it could be possible to cover both to evaluate the security settings of at least ten Internet problems at the same time. An already existing checklist users (family and friends). This can be found in was revised to become more concise. Twelve users took Appendix B. this checklist concerning the security posture of them and 2.1 The revised checklist their workstations. It turned out that the majority of users largely used the default settings provided by the operating One impression we got from reading the old checklist system. This is also an obvious trend at Microsoft, to make was that it was too big and hence the first goal became to the default settings secure. It is reasonable to believe that shrink it without losing relevance. With the vision of a this will be even truer in Windows Vista. Checklists are more user-friendly list the number of items was especially good as inspiration for interested users seeking decreased from the original checklist’s 40 items and to increase their knowledge on the subject. eleven headings to the new checklist’s 36 items and only eight headings. 1. Introduction 2.1.1 Removed items When talking about security, professionals usually refer to the weakest link in the security chain. This link changes over An example of an item that was removed is the item of time, but right now it seems to be the user and her virus hoaxes because it is nowadays not common workstation. This trend is apparent given that the number of according to the authors’ view. The password text inputs vulnerabilities reported in client side software increases. were immediately wiped from the checklist. The authors’ At a company, the user’s desktops are monitored and viewpoint is that if passwords are to be noted they should managed by administrative staff. This type of support is be written down on a paper that is kept private in the obviously not available for home users. Even a very light- wallet instead of writing them down on the checklist weight understanding of basic security configurations and which is bound to be lost. Not only were some items concepts would probably go a long way. removed such as the ones above but several items were Section 2 gives a background on the assignment and how also merged. An example of this is that the number of it was solved. Results are presented in section 3 followed by items and text fields under the anti-virus and anti- user comments in section 4. Section 5 and 6 treat work done spyware sections was successfully decreased. on similar topics and conclusions, respectively. Some items were outdated; not only because of links not functioning but also because new security 2. The checklist vulnerabilities are discovered. For example, the item concerning the wireless networking standard scheme By giving users a checklist that contains items Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) was removed because concerning both configurations and behaviour it should of the its broken design. be possible to improve the security of the desktop and the When it comes to headings the latter impression of user’s security awareness. having a too big checklist grew to also fix illogical order. The assignment that was given was to critically review Eleven headings became eight. The “miscellaneous” and revise the already existing “Home User’s Security headline was removed because of the authors’ view that Checklist for Windows” [1]. the item was ridiculous. The “Windows update” heading The items in the list consist of a statement and a became “Keeping up to date” because of a broader focus checkbox along with one or more links to pages that in the new checklist. Anti-virus, Anti-spyware and explain the topic in depth. Personal firewalls were grouped, because of the add-on software similarity. Last, the Windows headline became “Windows configuration” and was placed at the bottom The results are presented with the notations of the checklist. The motive for this was that “everyone”, “almost everyone”, “almost no one”, “no administrator privileges are needed to do the proposed one” and “half”. changes in the checklist, and to unburden the user to get A table displaying the results can be found in back the rights every time a change is done. appendix A. 2.1.2 Changed items 3.1 Keeping up to date. A lot of effort was given to search for good links for Almost no one has switched to Microsoft update the new checklist. With good the meaning is that they instead of Windows update, but almost everyone has should be relevant and not to difficult to the hypothetical automatic updates enabled. target group which is neither power users nor aware of Almost everyone is aware of the importance of the subject. Easy “how to” guides were linked if they keeping other software up to date, and everyone is aware could be found. One item under the Anti-virus heading that companies will not send software updates via email. was changed to not only include instant messaging, but also email, file sharing and the web. The item “I’ve 3.2 E-mail configured my Web browser securely.” was split up into Almost everyone has configured to not run scripts many items, because the need to explain the meaning of embedded in emails, but no one has disabled the preview “securely”. pane. 2.1.3 Added items Half of the users view emails in plain text format. Everyone understands that emails can be forged. Many important items were added to the checklist. No one runs attached executable files. First, the need to have an item concerning the importance Everyone is aware of why not to respond to spam, or of also keeping non windows software up to date was give up sensitive information upon request. added. Almost everyone uses secure connections when Second, the email headline now includes an item communicating with their mail server. about encrypted mail server connections. Third, an “additional reading” link was added under a 3.3 Web few headlines, giving the possibility to grip and cover Almost no one has turned off scripting by default. more than one item in one link. Almost everyone respects warning messages concerning 2.1.4 OS independence signed certificates. Everyone is aware of the dangers of ActiveX controls, fake warning dialogs telling you that One key idea was to change the checklist to be your “computer can be hacked” and advertisements of Desktop OS independent because of the authors’ free smileys, screensavers etc. relationships with people running for example BSD or Everyone makes sure that they have a secure GNU/Linux. This was not implemented because of the connection when doing online shopping. problems this adds to the task. One example is the need to have different items, text and links depending on 3.4 Anti-virus and anti-spyware which OS the user run. Also the GNU/Linux operating Almost everyone has an anti-virus program running system comes in so many flavours that it is harder to do a with automatic updates of virus definitions. Everyone is security checklist than on Windows, which much more aware of the major virus infection vectors. Half of the comes in the “one size fits all” concept. We leave this users have anti-spyware programs installed. task to other eager checklist constructors. 3.5 Personal firewall and router 3. Results Almost everyone understands why it is important to The majority of the twelve users taking the survey have a personal firewall and run one. were “casual computer users”. They use the computer for Almost everyone understands when to allow software work and entertainment, not because they enjoy working to access the Internet and when to be suspicious. with computers. Only two or three could be considered Half of the users have an external router or firewall “power users”. Only one of the tested was not studying at and have their default passwords changed and remote the university, the rest were attending a variety of access disabled. different programs, everything from computer science to health care. 3.6 Windows configuration Given the choice of dancing pigs and security, users will choose dancing pigs every single time. Given the choice Half of the users have picked a good password for between pictures of naked people frolicking on the beach Windows log on. Almost everyone has configured and security, roughly half the population will choose Windows to show file extensions. naked people frolicking on the beach. […] If a dialog Almost no one makes regular backups of important asking the user to make a security decision is the only data. thing standing between the user and the naked people Almost no one has the Data Execution Prevention frolicking the beach, security does not stand a chance. (DEP) feature enabled for all applications and almost no one runs Windows as an unprivilegied user. The idea of an malicious applet with dancing pigs was originally put forth by Ed Felten in Securing Java [6].
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The CLASP Application Security Process
    The CLASP Application Security Process Secure Software, Inc. Copyright (c) 2005, Secure Software, Inc. The CLASP Application Security Process The CLASP Application Security Process TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 CLASP Status 4 An Activity-Centric Approach 4 The CLASP Implementation Guide 5 The Root-Cause Database 6 Supporting Material 7 CHAPTER 2 Implementation Guide 9 The CLASP Activities 11 Institute security awareness program 11 Monitor security metrics 12 Specify operational environment 13 Identify global security policy 14 Identify resources and trust boundaries 15 Identify user roles and resource capabilities 16 Document security-relevant requirements 17 Detail misuse cases 18 Identify attack surface 19 Apply security principles to design 20 Research and assess security posture of technology solutions 21 Annotate class designs with security properties 22 Specify database security configuration 23 Perform security analysis of system requirements and design (threat modeling) 24 Integrate security analysis into source management process 25 Implement interface contracts 26 Implement and elaborate resource policies and security technologies 27 Address reported security issues 28 Perform source-level security review 29 Identify, implement and perform security tests 30 The CLASP Application Security Process i Verify security attributes of resources 31 Perform code signing 32 Build operational security guide 33 Manage security issue disclosure process 34 Developing a Process Engineering Plan 35 Business objectives 35 Process
    [Show full text]
  • Cybersecurity Guide: Hackers and Defenders Harness Design and Machine Learning
    Cybersecurity Guide: HACKERS AND DEFENDERS HARNESS DESIGN AND MACHINE LEARNING CYBERSECURITY GUIDE: HACKERS AND DEFENDERS HARNESS DESIGN AND MACHINE LEARNING TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 INTRODUCTION 4 SECTION 1 THE SITUATION REPORT 9 SECTION 2 THINK LIKE DA VINCI: MORE ART IS NEEDED IN THE SCIENCE OF CYBERSECURITY 16 SECTION 3 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: MACHINE LEARNING AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 21 ENDNOTES PAGE 2 CYBERSECURITY GUIDE: HACKERS AND DEFENDERS HARNESS DESIGN AND MACHINE LEARNING Across the globe, lives and livelihoods are increasingly For information-security professionals, successfully moving online, physical and digital worlds are beginning to defending against the fire hose of now-nonstop online overlap, and digital currencies with no real-world equivalent attacks are both the stuff of nightmares and the reason to can buy real-world goods and services. Artificial intelligence get out of bed in the morning. Who’s winning — the is powering autonomous vehicle decision-making,1 finding attackers or the defenders? new drug candidates2 daily and personalizing lessons3 to help students learn. At the same time, doctors are Given the daily drumbeat of successful intrusions that often performing life-saving surgeries on the other side of the cripple companies’ operations and erase millions of dollars in globe via the internet4 and robot proxies while networked stock value,5 it’s hard to tell. sensors shake up industries from power generation to public transit. Every year, the list of industries being disrupted by To bring the current and future landscape of cybersecurity sensors, smart machines, and microprocessors expand. into focus, HP conferred with leading experts in the field to create this comprehensive, up-to-date guide.
    [Show full text]
  • Secure by Design, Secure by Default: Requirements and Guidance
    Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Secure by Design, Secure by Default Video Surveillance Products Introduction This guidance is for any organisation manufacturing Video Surveillance Systems (VSS), or manufacturing or assembling components intended to be utilised as part of a VSS. It is intended to layout the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioners (BSCC) minimum requirements to ensure such systems are designed and manufactured in a manner that assures they are Secure by Design. It also contains certain component requirements that will ensure a configuration that is Secure by Default when the component is shipped, thereby making it more likely that the system will be installed and left in a secure state. This guidance forms part of a wider suite of documentation being developed as part of the SCC Strategy, in support of the SCC Code of Practice. Background and Context The nature of the Internet means that connected devices can be subjected to a cyber attack from anywhere in the world. Widespread attacks on connected products is a current and real threat, and a number of highly publicised attacks have already occurred. The Mirai malware targeted devices such as internet-enabled cameras (IP cameras). Mirai was successful because it exploited the use of common default credentials (such as a username and password being set by the manufacturer as ‘admin’) and poor security configuration of devices. Ultimately, this facilitated attacks on a range of commercial and social media services and included an outage of streaming services such as Netflix. An evolution of Mirai, called Reaper, has also been discovered. Reaper used publicly and easily available exploits that remained unfixed (patched) and highlighted the problem around non patching of known security vulnerabilities, allowing attackers to utilise them to cause harm.
    [Show full text]
  • Prevent the Ultimate Nightmare
    PROTECT MICROSOFT ACTIVE DIRECTORY PREVENT THE ULTIMATE www.skyportsystems.com NIGHTMARE Overview Who Has Access to Privileged Credentials? Your organization probably uses Microsoft Microsoft has recently published detailed Active Directory — 90% of enterprises do so. guidelines for securing privileged access and mitigating credential theft. SkySecure makes it Unfortunately, Active Directory has known Assigned domain issues related to credential hijacking. In 2015, feasible for enterprises of any size to implement admins over 75% of all records that were compromised Microsoft’s advanced recommendations, such were the result of data breaches involving the as building a dedicated management domain, enforcing separation between authoritative loss or theft of a privileged credential. Attackers Anyone with access to use stolen administrative access for weeks and untrusted systems, and ensuring the VCenter Server without detection resulting in breach costs in applications run on trustworthy infrastructure. the millions. SkySecure Safeguards Active Anyone with access to Administrative credentials can be stolen by Directory server hardware any compromised system accessed by an Organizations have C administrator. Administrative workstations o S expertise managing e m e n c h m u t o i r that cache credentials and are vulnerable e t u e r a n their user policies c t u i ic h Anyone with access to the c l a e e p t S to phishing and website malware. Services p io in Active Directory, A n management network involved in domain controller management, but often encounter patching and backup are themselves subject challenges securing Secure the to vulnerabilities that can become attacks Platform Active Directory Anyone with access to against domain controllers.
    [Show full text]
  • Secure Enclaves for Dummies®, Anjuna Security Special Edition
    Secure Enclaves These materials are © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Secure Enclaves Anjuna Security Special Edition by Ayal Yogev and Yan Michalevsky These materials are © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Any dissemination, distribution, or unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Secure Enclaves For Dummies®, Anjuna Security Special Edition Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley. com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Anjuna and the Anjuna logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Anjuna Security, Inc. Intel SGX is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
    [Show full text]
  • Charney-Scott-Slides.Pdf
    Scott Charney Corporate Vice President, Trustworthy Computing Microsoft Corporation Social: Enabling a global village Economic: Easier, faster, cheaper commerce Political: Freer exchange of ideas Loss of data subject control over information Rise in identity theft Targeted attacks against businesses & governments Increases in other types of online and tech-facilitated crimes Users must be empowered to make informed trust decisions (including accepting the risks of anonymity) Strong identity claims and reputation must be available to enhance security, privacy, and trust Better accountability must be created to deter crime and facilitate responses © 2008 Microsoft Corporation Exponential Growth of IDs Increasingly Sophisticated Malware Identity and access management challenging Anti-malware alone is not sufficient B2C Number of variants from over B2E B2B 7,000 malware families (1H07) mobility Internet Number of DigitalIDs Number Number of DigitalIDs Number client/server mainframe Pre-1980s 1980s 1990s 2000s Source: Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (January – June 2007) Crime On The Rise Attacks Getting More Sophisticated Traditional defenses are inadequate Largest segment by $ spent on defense National Interest Spy Largest area by User $ lost Examples Fastest GUI Personal Gain Thief • Spyware growing Applications Spyware segment • Rootkits Drivers Trespasser • Application attacks Personal Fame Application attacks Personal Fame O/S • Phishing/Social Largest engineering Vandal Author Hardware area by Curiosity volume Physical Script-Kiddy
    [Show full text]
  • Download Cyber Security
    Why cybersecurity is crucial for today’s physical access control www.nedapsecurity.com Your protector needs protecting Many modern physical access control systems are IP-based, powered by smart software and able to process large quantities of data. This provides more functionality, flexibility, scalability and opportunities for integration. But it also means they’re part of your IT network, so it’s essential they’re protected and upgraded – just like your other IT systems. How could your physical access control system be compromised by cybercrime? Cybercrime is becoming more sophisticated every day and comes in various guises. It could, for example, involve retrieving or manipulating data sent between devices to reveal who has access where and when. Or it might involve access card data being collected and then copied or cloned. Taking a step further, cybercriminals may steal someone’s credentials to enable them to log into your access control system’s software. Once they’re logged in, they can enable unwanted access to all kinds of doors and locations. And, by gaining access to your database, they can manipulate or even remove events that show what they or others did, for example. What can you do to protect your physical access control system? Nobody can say that something is 100% cybersecure, but prevention is definitely better than cure. Key measures are to cybersecure your access control hardware and software. And also your data storage and the way data is accessed and transferred – not just within one building, but nationally and internationally. Many different components tend to be connected to IP-based physical access control systems, so it’s important every one of them is protected against cyberattacks – from cards to cameras, readers, databases, controllers and more.
    [Show full text]
  • Internet Safety: Keeping Your Computer Safe on the Internet
    Copyright © 2003-2010 Puget Sound Software, LLC and Leo A. Notenboom 1 Internet Safety Keeping your Computer Safe on the Internet 3rd Edition by Leo A. Notenboom http://ask-leo.com Copyright © 2011 Puget Sound Software, LLC & Leo A. Notenboom All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-937018-03-0 Copyright © 2003-2010 Puget Sound Software, LLC and Leo A. Notenboom 1 Copyright and Disclaimer This book is protected by US and International copyright law, and is Copyright © 2011 by Leo A. Notenboom and Puget Sound Software, LLC, all rights are reserved. Having said that, the PDF electronic version (only) of this book is FREE. In fact, I encourage you to share this book with others as long as you share it: In its entirety (the book, the whole book and nothing but the book) In its original form (no changes made and no markups added) You may not charge for this book when you share it. Furthermore, you may not incorporate this book into any product or collection that is not free. (Drop me a line for pricing if you want to do something along those lines.) This book is based on my experience and anecdotal evidence. I've tried to ensure that everything written here is as accurate as possible at the time of publication, but I cannot assume any responsibility for mistakes or omissions. On top of that, I know nothing about your specific computer, your specific experience and your specific abilities to understand and act appropriately on the information herein. The bottom line is that you, and only you, are responsible for using this information appropriately, safely and as you see fit, and for any of the consequences of having done so.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rocky Relationship Between Safety and Security
    The rocky relationship between safety and security Best practices for avoiding common cause failure and preventing cyber security attacks in Safety Systems Abstract: An industry practice reflected in the international safety standards (i.e. IEC 61508) is the need for independence among the multiple protection layers on an industrial site “…the EUC control system shall be independent from the E/E/PE safety-related systems and other risk reduction measures…” however even the 1st generation of digital Safety Systems (Electronic/Programmable Electronic Systems) had communication ports with support for open protocols (i.e. Modbus RTU) in order to provide diagnostics and other information relevant for the operation of process (EUC). Users have connected (interfaced) safety systems to BPCS since mid 1980s and aimed to develop tighter connectivity at least since 1995. These efforts were based on proprietary protocols until the adoption of open network protocols and Windows on industrial control systems increased the connectivity to business systems and at the same (at least in theory) exposed them to the same issues (virus, cyber attacks, etc). This paper will discuss the methods used to ensure that the integration between the safety system and the BPCS DO NOT compromise Functional Independence and define best practices to secure an industrial system and in particular safety systems in this integrated environment. 1 1 Why do we care about safety (and security)? A report published by Aberdeen Research in November 2011 (Ismail, 2011) indicates that despite the difference in motivations, Best-in-Class companies must establish a formalized risk management strategy and ingrain safety as part of the culture through executive leadership.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Secure and Reliable Systems
    Building Secure & Reliable Systems Best Practices for Designing, Implementing and Maintaining Systems Compliments of Heather Adkins, Betsy Beyer, Paul Blankinship, Piotr Lewandowski, Ana Oprea & Adam Stubblefi eld Praise for Building Secure and Reliable Systems It is very hard to get practical advice on how to build and operate trustworthy infrastructure at the scale of billions of users. This book is the first to really capture the knowledge of some of the best security and reliability teams in the world, and while very few companies will need to operate at Google’s scale many engineers and operators can benefit from some of the hard-earned lessons on securing wide-flung distributed systems. This book is full of useful insights from cover to cover, and each example and anecdote is heavy with authenticity and the wisdom that comes from experimenting, failing and measuring real outcomes at scale. It is a must for anybody looking to build their systems the correct way from day one. —Alex Stamos, Director of the Stanford Internet Observatory and former CISO of Facebook and Yahoo This book is a rare treat for industry veterans and novices alike: instead of teaching information security as a discipline of its own, the authors offer hard-wrought and richly illustrated advice for building software and operations that actually stood the test of time. In doing so, they make a compelling case for reliability, usability, and security going hand-in-hand as the entirely inseparable underpinnings of good system design. —Michał Zalewski, VP of Security Engineering at Snap, Inc. and author of The Tangled Web and Silence on the Wire This is the “real world” that researchers talk about in their papers.
    [Show full text]
  • Improving the Cyber Security of Consumer Internet of Things Report
    Secure by Design Report Secure by Design: Improving the cyber security of consumer Internet of Things Report Secure by Design Report Contents Foreword by the Minister for Digital and Creative Industries Executive Summary 1. The Internet of Things (IoT) - new opportunities and risks for consumers 2. Context of the Review 3. Promoting a Secure by Design Approach to Consumer IoT Security 4. Code of Practice for Industry on Consumer IoT 5. Supporting Actions by the Government and Industry 6. Building an International Consensus 7. Conclusion 8. Annex A: Glossary of Terms 9. Annex B: Options Analysis Summary 1 Secure by Design Report Foreword As we deliver our vision for the UK to be the safest place to live and do business online, it is critical that we make sure the internet works for everyone. That means, as Government and industry work together to ensure we protect the UK from cyber attacks, we must also reduce the burden on end users by embedding effective cyber security Margot James practices at every stage of a Minister for Digital and Creative Industries connected product’s life cycle. Increased connectivity via the internet of things (“IoT”) provides fantastic opportunities for the UK. A key part of this Government’s ambition is to expand on the aspirations set out in our Digital Strategy through enhancing our status as an international leader in the development and uptake of IoT. However, we must ensure that individuals are able to access and benefit from connected technologies safely, confident that adequate security and privacy measures are in place to protect their online activity.
    [Show full text]
  • Fed Paper.Indd
    Cloak Critical Infrastructure Helping Government Agencies Become Secure by Default Faced with aggressive state-sponsored cyber threat actors, the expanding Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and increasing budget scrutiny, government agencies need a new approach to improve security, ef ciency, and resiliency for critical infrastructure. Escalating Threat Levels The intensity of cyber attacks and the growth of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, driven by the emergence of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), has radically changed the security environment from what it was just ve years ago. IP networks have become the global backbone of commerce and communications. This introduces many new challenges for any organization using IP networks for business operations, but it is particularly important for many federal government agencies that help protect the nation’s most valuable infrastructure and information. In this new era of state-sponsored hacking and pro t-driven cyber crime, agencies are also facing a much tougher budgetary environment than ever before. Signi cant federal government breaches of critical infrastructure have already proven that existing cyber security efforts are not adequate. The ability to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure will depend on deploying a more effective and cost-ef cient solution. Tempered Networks provides a solution that addresses the fundamental vulnerabilities of IP-based communications with a completely different approach to cyber security. By cloaking critical infrastructure from attackers’ visibility, the solution stops attacks before they start, which provides federal agencies with a cost-effective and incredibly secure defense-in-depth model for protecting critical assets. Understanding the Challenges Today, government agencies are trying to balance the need for security with increased appropriations scrutiny.
    [Show full text]