Masonry Magazine December 2006 Page. 34
TECHNOLOGY
tect you from Trojan applications that have accessed your computer by other means. But if you are running Windows XP, the advantage is that you already have it integrated into your system.
The newest firewall, interestingly, comes from Russia - which has long been the home of some of the most creative and damaging malware authors. Mikhail Penkovsky, director of sales for Agnitum Ltd., St. Petersburg, Russia (www.agnitum.com) explained, "Russians are known as some of the most talented hackers and cyber criminals. So who better than Russian security experts to stop them from breaking into your PC?"
Smart Strategies
ALL OF THESE security layers will help to protect you against threats, and together they can be very effective. Panda's Sherstobitoff pointed to some other aspects of security that often get overlooked, saying, "Data security is obviously a concern and is dependent on how secure the operating system is." Some of the obvious concerns are:
Passwords that do not meet complexity requirements (i.e., using upper and lower case letters, and utilizing both letters and numbers).
Insufficient permissions on critical components that allow privilege elevation attacks to occur.
Unnecessary services running that could allow for remote access, such as Telnet.
Unnecessary ports open that can lead to exploits and eventual access from a hacker.
Administrator accounts with a null or weak password.
"But there are ways to 'harden' your systems," Sherstobitoff added, such as:
Modifying the local security policy and the password complexity requirements to ensure passwords are not easily guessed. Windows provides a tool "Local Security Policy" that allows the administrator to configure system policies and export them.
Disable any ports or services that do not directly apply to the intended usage of the system.
Set appropriate file permissions on directories and shared drives on the system to avoid exploitation.
Ensure that any system account with administrative rights has a complex password.
"With these configurations taken into account and a good anti-malware solution, the user can ensure that his or her data is not at risk for theft," Sherstobitoff said.
The Grademan
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POB 90964 Henderson, Nevada 89009
CIRCLE 247 ON READER SERVICE CARD
32 Masonry
December 2006
www.masoncontractors.org