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Best Practice
Law 0 Secure each workstation. You cannot trust a "Firewall" device or software to protect your LAN.
Law 1 Use the most primitive operating system you can get away with. Windows 98 is inherently secure compared to the lossy Windows XP.
Law 2 Stay away from downloads. Especially free ones. Screensavers, chat software, search bars, etc. Most business use can be done within Eudora and Firefox web browser.
Law 3 NON-HTML Rendering email client software is inherently secure because it cannot execute code hidden within an HTML page. Bye-Bye stylized email.
Law 4 DISCONTINUE USE OF SHARED LAN. Your TCP/IP LAN should not have any other operating system's networking components attached to it. If your office has a Printer and Internet on the same LAN - these should be separeted.
Law 5 DON'T ENCOURAGE USE OR UPDATE OF IE. Mozilla Firefox is inherently secure in it's default settings and is becoming the new standard.
Computer Security Categories: (a work in progress)
Workstation Counter Measures
Hosts, Services, Ports, Internet Options, Spyware Program.
User Good Practice
Networking Icon, Search Bars, chat software, screensavers, free download, bogus patches, email attachments, surfing habits.
LAN Practice and Countermeasures
Allowed Protocols, Windows File/Printer sharing Networks, Port Hiding, NAT (Network Address Translation), Tarpitting and RBL (Real time blackhole list)
What else should I know?
Today's viruses are more sophisticated, they won't cause your computer to crash and try to hide themselves from detection. Their mission is to plauge us all with SPAM messages, very carefully done to avoid notice.
Beware bogus Microsoft Patch notices. Some very professional looking messages regarding Microsoft patches are out there. See IAC standard support for more details.
What can I watch for?
Each Windows PC computer has a networking panel that can be made to run minimized an icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This should otherwise remain dark. If it blinks on and off all by iteself (ie. you are not downloading any page or your email program isn't periodically checking) then something else is using the computer for some purpose. Make sure this ICON is there when your computer starts so you can easily see if there is unwarranted network activity, a sure sign that something wrong is going on.
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