Securing Windows XP, Section 4

·       Turn off Simple File Sharing (This applies to Windows XP Professional only):  Windows XP has 2 modes for sharing. The first is called "Simple File Sharing" and the other is referred to as the "Classic security model". Simple File Sharing allows (actually forces) that users access those shares under the Guest account. As you can surmise this isn't the most secure solution even though the Guest account has limited privileges. The Classic security model forces users to have an account on your computer and to authenticate by using the password associated with that account.

·       How to Turn off Simple File Sharing:

Go to Start > Control Panel > Folder Options. In the resulting window, click on the View tab > Under Advanced Settings: scroll all the way to the bottom and uncheck Use simple file sharing (Recommended), click Apply and OK and close out all the open windows.

·       Add Users

Now that we forced users to authenticate themselves, we need to add accounts for them.

·       Go to Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > and choose Create a new account > in the resulting screen enter a name for this account and click Next > in the resulting choose Limited account > now click Create Account.

·       This takes you back to the User Accounts screen. Click on the account you just created > in the resulting screen choose Create a password > fill in the blanks with the appropriate information.

·       VERY IMPORTANT

The user name and password should be EXACTLY the same as the account on the other machines for them to access your shares!

Get rid of Spyware

   Spyware is a generic term used for programs that gather and report information about you or your computer. Methods to deliver spyware include email, websites, and some spyware is actually embedded in programs. While some spyware can be considered a virus or Trojan horse, most are not. This means your anti-virus will not pick it up. Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy are 2 excellent and FREE programs to rid you of spyware. We recommend you download and use both of these programs. While much of the work they do overlap, often one finds things the other doesn't. They are both easy to use. Be sure to check for updates as you periodically use them.  Two additional programs you should install along with either AdAware or Spybot Search & Destroy are SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard, both are free and available for download from Javacool Software.

Stop using Internet Explorer

   Microsoft's Internet Explorer is quite possibly the most insecure major web browser (for a variety of reasons). While no web browser is 100% secure, there are some alternative browsers out there that can be a more secure option. We use and recommend Firefox. Firefox is the latest and greatest browser from Mozilla.  One of the advantages of Firefox is that when security issues are discovered, they are fixed very quickly.

File and folder encryption

Encryption encodes files/folders/drives with one of several mathematical algorithms to make them impossible to read or decipher without access to the same encryption technology and encryption keys. There are two major ways to encrypt files, one-time encryptions and real-time. One time requires that the files be unencrypted before use because software cannot understand an encrypted file. Real-time permits files to be encrypted and unencrypted on an as needed basis by a resident service which intercepts the request for a file and decrypts it "on the fly". The major advantage of real-time encryption is that the hard drive image of the file is never resident on the hard drive in an unencrypted form. Thus, if a scanner is able to bypass all of your network precautions, all they can actually see is the encrypted file. And, it is more convenient.

Files can be encrypted at 5 levels:

·       as individual files,

·       as folders and sub-folders of files,

·       as a virtual hard drive or "container",

·       as an entire hard drive, or

·       hidden inside of another file, an innocent looking mp3, wav or video file for example, using a technique called steganography.

There are freeware encryption packages like PGP ("Pretty Good Protection"), and shareware/commercial ones offering more encryption algorithms, higher levels of encryption and real-time alternatives. While Windows XP does offer encryption at the OS level, just as it offers file compression, the algorithms used are, while better than nothing, relatively "weak" mathematically in terms of their encryption techniques, as compared to other free-standing packages.