Questions and answers concerning security
How to protect my operating system?
When installing a new or cleaning a compromised Windows operating system, you need to take the following measures to protect Windows. An unprotected Windows system will normally be infected within a few minutes!- Please install the latest Service Pack for your version of Windows as well as all available Windows Updates! For offline installation, there are so-called Update Packs (e. g. by WinFuture) which can be downloaded with a protected system. Alternatively, you can create your own Update-CD with c’t Offline Update.
- Activate a firewall before you access the Internet for the first time! When using Windows Vista, XP from SP2 on and Windows 2003, the firewall included in Windows is sufficient (check properties under Network Connections). When using Windows 2000, you have to use a firewall by a third party developer.
- Install or rather activate an antivirus program that is permanently running in the background (setting “Scan on access” / “Scan bei Zugriff”)
- Activate Automatic Updates in Windows and the Automatic Update function of your antivirus program.
- Set a complex password for the local administrator account (Upper- / lower case letters and numbers in a mix, e. g. “Kc53Fqwer$”).
- Create at least one local standard user in Windows who does not have the rights of an administrator!
- Never log-in as local administrator in Windows, if you wish to access your e-mail account or surf the internet! For this purpose, the standard user account has to be used or an equivalent low privileged user. Otherwise the previous measures would be useless!
Further advice (in german) can be found in our security portal.
Date: 02.02.2009
