[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Computer Security For Dummies (WAS NetNanny and Firewall)

Wed Sep 3 19:31:15 UTC 2003

On 2003-09-03 17:43, Cindy C. wrote:

>Przemysaw saved my bacon and wrote a fabulous post!  Unfortunately, 
>I'm kinda tech illiterate and didn't follow everything.  A few 
>follow-up questions . . . 
>
> 
>  
>
>>1. Smut-blocking software just isn't working.  It is blocking not 
>>all porn, and wrongly blocks many legit sites -- usually related to 
>>breast cancer, Sussex (SusSex)... Forget it. If you want to protect 
>>children from bad material only REAL solution is to observe what 
>>they do -- by putting PC into day-room.
>>    
>>
>
>
>Oh, I do!  The computers are in public rooms and the kids aren't 
>allowed to close the door.  The problem seems to be that they will 
>search for something (or wind up with smutty pics installed on their 
>desktops) and get a porn reply.  So I just want to reduce the 
>chances that they'll stumble across something I'd rather they 
>didn't.  If it blocks breast cancer sites, I can live with that 
>restriction.
>
>Are any of the smut blockers better than others?
>  
>
Well I'm not much into specific applications but I made some research:
1. Most known is NetNanny (39.90$) and aparently it has much less flaws 
than others,
2. Some users recomend We-blocker http://www.we-blocker.com/ (ad-free if 
you pay 19.95$) -- which seems to use quite interesting technology based 
on web scoring. So these two seems to be best bet (in that order).
Comparison chart: http://safety.ngfl.gov.uk/schools/matrix_small.php

BTW: http://www.peacefire.org/ -- how to circumvent blockers.

Also Google offers blocking "web pages containing explicit sexual 
content from appearing in search results" ( 
http://www.google.com/preferences?hl=en )

>>3. Don't use Internet Explorer. Use Mozilla: 
>>http://www.mozilla.org or Opera http://www.opera.com (both are 
>>free). Both supports tabbed browsing, and popup blocking -- and 
>>don't have IE flaws. Opera is easier to install and use while 
>>Mozilla is more advanced-user oriented.
>>    
>>
>
>Um . . . You mean I don't have to use IE?  Cool!
>
>What's the reason to use one of the alternatives?  And, erm, what 
>is "tabbed browsing?"  And what are IE's flaws?
>  
>
Tabbed browsing it's just something which permits opening more than 
webpage in one application window: like on this picture: 
http://42.pl/url/9b, or this picture: http://42.pl/url/9c

Well, IE has a very long history of known flaws: basically because IE 
uses the same libraries as main system security flaw in IE usually cause 
security flaw in whole system. If you have got system with all 
up-to-date updates just see Help-->About in IE. All those Q818529's 
means one bug in IE has been patched. Also, most malware, installs 
itself in IE. Not to mention crashing IE by entering: <input type=crash> 
into web source ;-).

There are of course some problems. Some pages written by stupid 
webmasters are not rendered correctly in Opera/Mozilla -- these however 
are in a minority (about 5% of all pages -- and those are usually not 
worth looking at in the first place).
BTW. Mozilla 1.4 is the browser sometimes known as Netscape 7.1.

I mentioned Opera/Mozilla popup blocking and cookie control.

>>7. Never, never, never install something from Internet if you are 
>>not sure what it does -- typical bad programs are: magic cursors, 
>>download accelerators, download managers, peer2peer: kazaa, 
>>bearshare and the like. If don't know, ask. If nobody knows, don't 
>>install. 
>>    
>>
>
>
>*Now* you tell me!  :-D
>
>Seriously, if you installed something (oh, I dunno, maybe a free 30-
>trial version of McAfee's spam blocker) and the 30 days elapsed and 
>you opted not to purchase it because it seemed worthless, how do 
>you, erm, get the "limited time offer" from popping up on your 
>screen every time you boot up?
>  
>
The solution is to uninstall offending application. Control Panel --> 
Add/Remove Programs. If it doesn't appear there there is an excellent 
Windows hidden aplication called msconfig Menu Start --> Run --> 
msconfig, which lists all applications Windows run during starting up 
and permits to disable unwanted ones.

>>8. Open Source is your friend. Almost all useful programs are 
>>free: pics and movie viewers, editors etc.  These are often better 
>>than it's commercial counterparts.
>>    
>>
>
>But . . . but . . . 
>
>if I'm not supposed to download anything from the Internet, how am I 
>to take advantage of Open Source stuff (which I assume 
>is "shareware")?  And how do I know if something is "Open Source?"
>
>  
>
Open Source are programs based on the same principia as GNU/Linux. Such 
software is free, ad-less, and sources to them are avalaible. Because of 
that, they tend to be more secure, easier to uninstall and generally better.

There is also freeware, which is also free, but sometimes not free for 
commercial users.
Examples: http://www.slowview.at/ Slow View -- freeware pics viewer 
(similar to ACDSEE)
http://www.httrack.com/  Httrack -- best web copying software (Open Source)
It is usually said, on program Home Page what type of licence is it.
Also good idea is to browse program's Home Page before installing. View 
screenshots, read everything etc.

Also:
www.tucows.com provides one of the biggest collection of various 
software (both free and commercial) with clearly stated licence: GPL, 
freeware, adware, demo etc. (where GPL and freeware are best type of 
licence).

Regards,
Pshemekan