1. Stick With Microsoft Security Essentials

Gone are the days you have to shell out money for computer security just to get rid of a couple of viruses every year. For its customers, Microsoft already offers an application called “Microsoft Security Essentials“. It doesn’t come as part of your Windows installation, but it’s been around, and it’s been free for a very long time. You can download it if you run Windows Vista (32 or 64 bit) or later.

Microsoft’s Security Essentials software keeps you updated with its own virus definitions and helps you combat even the most complex infections. An additional bonus to install MSE is that it doesn’t take a whole lot of resources from your computer, like other “bloatware” anti-virus solutions do.

Go ahead and download MSE from here.

2. Windows Firewall Is as Competent as Any Other Firewall

It’s become a new fad lately to criticize every product Microsoft comes up with. While some of the complaints are well-merited, people often avoid using Windows Firewall because they hear it won’t really protect them. In reality, you can configure the firewall to do practically anything any other firewall can do. Contrary to many beliefs, Windows Firewall has the possibility to block outbound connections coming from a malicious application and monitor your network for anything else:

It’s all about searching. You can get to this window by clicking “Advanced settings” when you reach Windows Firewall settings in the control panel. There’s no reason anyone shouldn’t be able to have a secure system running solely with Windows Firewall. Honestly, though, configuring outbound blocks doesn’t really help you stop anything. If malware is making outbound connections through your computer, you should really consider getting rid of the malware. Blocking the malware’s access to the Internet doesn’t really stop it from hogging your computer’s resources.

On the other hand, you should really keep an eye on inbound connections, which often try to hook onto your Internet line and exploit your computer’s vulnerabilities. We can speculate as much as we want, but having Windows Firewall running on your computer is no different than using iptables on Linux. Both are very secure and difficult to exploit.

3. Download Windows Updates

Don’t listen to the conspiracy theorists saying that Microsoft Windows Update is an evil service that attempts to control your computer. While they might be right about the “control” part, it’s not like you’re going to suddenly see that you can’t go to a website because Microsoft is trying to “protect” you. The only thing that can happen is that they’ll pull an application from your system if it violates their policies, and that’s not going to happen until Windows 8 comes out. Still, they don’t need Windows Update to do that.

Downloading your updates is as important as running a firewall and keeping an up-to-date virus database. In fact, some malware has been rendered useless (like the “Conficker” virus) within a short while, when Microsoft patched up a vulnerability in Windows that it released as an update. People who refuse to use Windows Update might scoff at this, but it’s no laughing matter when you consider that many people also said that smoking isn’t bad for you.

It’s true that sometimes Windows Update might accidentally detect your Windows installation as counterfeit, but you can always ring up Microsoft on this. They’re always glad to assist you should anything go wrong on their end.

Are you annoyed by Windows Update forcing your computer to restart all the time? This isn’t an issue, as you can always configure it not to auto-restart after the update.

4. Disable UAC & Stop Downloading Suspicious Files

There’s a certain something that Microsoft should have never included in Windows: User Account Control. This intervention isn’t necessary in most systems, and certainly shouldn’t appear in home PCs. UAC basically is the pop-up that comes up whenever your computer wants to make sure you’re running an application on your own accord.  It looks something like this:

To disable it, read this article, which teaches you how to disable it under the “Disabling UAC” section.

Aside from disabling UAC, you can keep your computer secure using prevention. Download only from familiar sources and don’t download suspicious files. It only requires common sense. If someone links to a “.exe” file and says it’s a picture, don’t approach it. Someone links you to a page where you must log in to a website you’re already logged into? Don’t go to that page! These are simple and common tactics of fooling people, but as you grow more aware of what’s going on, you might prevent a major system catastrophe.

If you have a file you want to download and don’t know whether to trust it or not, upload it to VirusTotal and let its results tell you about it. The website runs the file you just downloaded through a ton of different anti-virus solutions and lets you know what each of them picks up. A few false positives might appear, but if many of the anti-virus solutions say that it’s an infected file, you’d best steer clear from it.

Following all this advice will help you thwart most common attacks, and even some rare ones, without ever having to pay for third-party software. If you have more ideas, throw them at us in the comments section below! We’d love to hear from you!

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The traditional program for a firewall in Linux is the command-based IPTables. Directly derived from the ideal of Unix, it is very powerful, and yet extremely complicated for a beginner. IPTables does not launch itself at the boot, so it is the user’s duty to configure the firewall in a script and run it right after the login. An easier option is to use UFW (Uncomplicated FireWall). UFW is a command-based firewall, but with a much simpler syntax. It launches itself at boot, and comes with the same security level as IPTables. An even easier way to bypass the command line altogether is to use gUFW – a graphical interface for UFW.

Installation

In Ubuntu, all you have to do is to use the command (you can also install via the Ubuntu Software Center):

sudo apt-get install gufw

Configuration

Run the gUFW application. You should be prompted with a nice gray window.

To operate properly, gUFW needs the super-user’s rights, which means that in a terminal, you will be using the command:

sudo gufw

If you launched it from the Application Menu, you can click the gold lock at the bottom right of the gUFW window and type your password to elevate the user permission.

The window should come to life and you can now begin the configuration.

First, you want to activate the firewall by clicking on the bar next to “Status” so that “On” is displayed. You can then choose what you want to do with the incoming and the outgoing traffic. By default, the incoming is denied and the outgoing is authorized. This is a good basis, but in general with Linux, you want to use your full control to go further than the default. The configuration as it is now will prevent something from coming into your computer but will not stop your computer from communicating. Imagine that your computer is already infected or that a malware succeeds in going through the firewall. In this case, UFW will not stop him from communicating with the Internet and maybe from transmitting your data to an evil cracker.

I therefore advise you to apply drastic measures: deny everything – incoming and outgoing!

At this moment, you will find that you have cut yourself off from the Internet. By denying everything, you also deny any web traffic from coming in/out to your system. Worry not, we are going to set rules to only allow the applications you need and trust to access the web. Adding a rule is simple. You just have to click the “+” button at the bottom left of the window. Equally, the “-” button is to delete rule.

Now, click the “+” button. You should now be in front of a new dialog box with three tabs.

The “Preconfigured” tab is for creating some rules for defined and specific tasks, like for Skype or Transmission. It is the easy way to set rules quickly: decide what program or service you want to use from the list, if you allow incoming or outgoing, and the rules will add themselves.

For example, if you decide to allow in Skype connections, gUFW will allow incoming connections to port 443 using the TCP protocol.

As easy to use as this tab is, it is however incomplete. There is still a bunch of stuff that you cannot do without going into the “Simple” tab. I promise, we won’t go any further, no “Advanced” tab for today.

This tab is not very complex to use. All you have to do for adding rules is to choose between incoming or outgoing connections, the protocol used, and the port number. I am not going to teach you the difference between UDP protocol or TCP, but instead, I will provide you a non-exhaustive list of ports that you may want to keep opened, and the reasons why.

Non-exhaustive List Of Ports

Outgoing connections:

• 80/tcp for HTTP
• 53/udp for DNS
• 443/tcp for HTTPS (secured HTTP)
• 21/tcp for FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• 465/tcp for SMTP (send emails)
• 25/tcp for Insecure SMTP
• 22/tcp for SSH (secure connection from computer to computer)
• 993/tcp&udp for IMAP (receive emails)
• 143/tcp&udp for Insecure IMAP
• 9418/tcp for GIT (version control system)

Incoming connections:

• 993/tcp&udp for IMAP (receive emails)
• 143/tcp&udp for Insecure IMAP
• 110/tcp for POP3 (old way to receive emails)
• 22/tcp for SSH (secure connection from computer to computer)
• 9418/tcp for GIT (version control system)

Again, this list is incomplete, but it is a good start. Don’t hesitate to search if you have other needs, and check the “Preconfigured” tab first.

Some services, like IMAP, require an incoming and an outgoing connection to work properly. And in some cases, encrypted connections ask for a different port.

Conclusion

Now you are ready to perfectly control your own firewall and assure yourself your security. Lastly, UFW needs to be added to your daemons at boot. Use the command:

sudo update-rc.d ufw defaults

And in other distributions like Archlinux, edit your /etc/rc.conf file. It is of course better to add the UFW daemon before the daemon that establishes an Internet connection (like wicd or network-manager for example).

Do you use another firewall? Or do you have some other rules that you recommend? Please let us know in the comment.

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In this tutorial, you will learn how to protect your system from an untrusted software.

1. Use your Antivirus

This may sound pretty obvious, but it is surprising that many people are not fully utilizing it. Some malware are known to prevent antivirus from running properly, so before you install anything, it is best to scan the file before running it.

This check is not going to take more than 1 minute and it is definitely worth your effort. If you don’t have any antivirus suite yet, Microsoft Security Essential is a good choice.

2. Check Digital Signatures

Some files include a signature to provide information about the developers who created the file. Virus and malware programs don’t usually include this information. We can easily check a file for its signature and discard those suspicious software that don’t come with one.

Right click on any file. Select “Properties”:

If the program include signatures information, you will see a new tab:

In this case we see that is signed by “RealVnc Limited“.

Note: Not all valid programs are signed, but at least you can eliminate the probability of a virus if the program include digital signature information.

3. Create A Restore Point

Every time you are going to make something risky with your computer, make sure you create a restore point. This applies to installing of a new antivirus suite or a new driver as well. Having a restore point allows you to restore the system back to an earlier time before the changes are made. Here is the way to create a restore point:

Using the search function in windows 7 type “create restore point” and select the program:

Go to the “Create” button:

Now the system will ask for a name for that restore point and create it. Select a descriptive name so you can find it easily.

4. Create A Standard User

Windows 7 creates its first user with administration rights. This user has the permission to do almost everything in your computer. It is a really good practice to never use your admin account for normal use of the computer. The best way is to create a standard user for your everyday use.

Go the search function type “user accounts” and press Enter:

Select “Create a new account“:

Type a name for the user, remember to check “Standard user” and click over “Create account“:

5. Restrict Access To Internet

Many viruses use Internet to look for updates. Other kind of malware, such as keyloggers, send every key you type to Internet. So if you don’t trust a program, you should block its access to the web.

Search for “windows firewall advanced“.

Goto “Outbound Rules” and select “New Rule…“:

In this case we are going to block a normal program, so select this option and press next:

Select “Block the connection” and press next:

Now you are done.

Note: If you are testing out a software, you can also use Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 or a virtual machine using Virtual Box to prevent any changes to your system.

Do you use any other security tips in your computer?

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Note: The following tricks will modify your registry. It is best to backup your registry before you proceed. This hack only works in Windows 7 or Vista. It will not work under Windows XP.

The Registry Hack

We are going to change some entries, so when you use the context menu, you will see this menu:

Download the Firewall registry file here

The text in this file is:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Add To Firewall]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Add To Firewall\command]
@="netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name=\"%1\" dir=out action=block program=\"%1\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Delete From Firewall]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Delete From Firewall\command]
@="netsh advfirewall firewall delete rule name=\"%1\""

Double click the file.

Click Yes to the User Account Control message:

Next, go to the search tool in the Start menu and type “uac” (without quotes)

Drag the slider now to “Never notify” and click Ok.

Restart your computer.

Note: You only need to set the UAC to “Never notify” when you want to add or delete a program from the firewall. Once you have blocked the programs, restore the UAC settings to the defaults.

An Example

To illustrate, we are going to add the Internet Explorer to the Firewall and prevent it from accessing the Internet.

1. Use the Find utility in the Start menu, type “Internet Explorer”.

2. Right click on the “Internet Explorer” entry and select “Add To Firewall“.

If you go to the Firewall settings, you will see that Internet Explorer has been added to the Outbound Rules.

Selecting the “Delete From Firewall” will remove the app from the list.

Uninstalling

In case you don’t want this feature, download the file UninstallFirewall.reg

The text of this file is:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Add To Firewall]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Delete From Firewall]

First, unblock all the applications that you have previously blocked.

Secondly, double click the uninstall file. When prompted, press OK. The Firewall options will disappear from the context menu.

Note: Always remember to restore the User Account Control to the default settings.

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Of course, times have changed now. I use Linux almost exclusively and rarely see the Windows login prompt. Most Linux distributions are far more secure than Windows, out of the box, but the threat is still there and having a good firewall protecting your computer is still a good idea.

Almost all Linux distributions comes bundled with a firewall software known as iptables, which is a command line based software for configuring Firewall rules for all network traffic to and from the Linux kernel.

Being a command line tool, the syntax tends to be a bit cryptic and even, intimidating for the first time user. This is where Firestarter comes into the picture.

Firestarter is a graphical interface for the iptables firewall. To install Firestarter on Debian, which is the Linux distribution that I use, give the following command.

sudo apt-get install firestarter

And then launch firestarter using the Applications -> Internet menu entry.

Instead of an intimidating interface, Firestarter uses a simple wizard to take new users through the steps necessary for configuring the firewall.

The first step is to identify which network interface will the firewall listen to. This is usually the primary network interface of the machine which is connected to the Internet.

Next comes the part where the user is asked to chose wether the particular machine is used for sharing the Internet connection. Select the secondary network interface of the machine which is connected to the rest of the internel network, if this machine is also being used for sharing the internet connection.

That’s it. The firewall is ready to be deployed.

Click on the Save button and you will see the Firewall status window. This is where you can see current statistics about your newly created firewall and also tweak the rules even more if you so desire.

By default, this firewall is fairly restrictive but if, for example, you want to create a rule that only your friend should be able to remotely access this machine, then you can add a policy to whitelist your friend’s IP address.

Firestarter is, in my opinion, a very simple and easy to use utility to configure and manage the iptables firewall, both for the novice and the experienced user.

Do you use any other firewall software on Linux ? Let us know in the comments?

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