The return of the technical writing....

[seasleepy]

Someone was asking about something on the board tonight, which made me think about this project I did for technical writing last fall. See, we had to do an instruction set, and I couldn't think of anything to do. Finally it ocurred to me that I know something about computers, and did my report on that. My project ended up being "Five Steps to Keeping Your Windows XP Computer Secure at Texas A&M", and my actual writing was the CD booklet for a CD I burned with the installer files for several useful security programs.
And so, I thought that people might find it useful, and since I'm an idiot and am not in bed yet I might go ahead and edit it a bit, flesh out some of the parts I skimmed over in the booklet for lack of space and fix things that were way too formal, reformat it so it'd look okay on a webpage, and stick it up here in LJ.

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Five Steps to Keeping Your Windows Computer Secure

1. Stay patched with Windows Update
2. Have antivirus protection
3. Check for spyware
4. Use a firewall
5. Use common sense

Step 1: Stay patched with Windows Update

Microsoft issues critical patches for security holes its Windows operating system at least once a month, and occasionally more often. Oftentimes when these patches are issued, there are viruses exploiting the hole already circulating. Therefore, it’s extremely important to stay up to date.

2 Easy Ways to Stay Patched:

• Use the Windows Update website:
  Microsoft provides a useful website which will let you know if there are new patches and let you install them right from there. Also, the website has updates for hardware and for various Microsoft programs.
  

  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com

  
  To use Windows Update, simply go to the website and follow the onscreen instructions. Note that you must be an administrator on your computer to use the site, and that you must use Internet Explorer to access it.


• Automatically update through Windows XP:
  If you don’t like having to remember to go to the website monthly or even more often, Microsoft has an even easier way to make sure you stay patched built into the operating system.
  
  Here’s how to activate it:
  
  
  1. Right-click on My Computer. (Alternatively, you can launch the “System” item from the Control Panel.)
  2. Click on the Automatic Updates tab. This should show you Figure 1.
  3. Check the box that says “Keep my computer up to date” and choose whichever radio button you prefer.
  
  
  
  Figure 1: Automatic Updates from within Windows XP
  
  Your computer will notify you when new updates are available by showing the Windows Update icon in the system tray.
  
  Note that automatically updating will only apply critical patches. Check the Windows Update website occasionally to check for other non-critical updates.

Step 2: Have antivirus protection

Everyone knows what kind of damage a virus can do to a computer or a network, yet many people have no antivirus protection software installed on their computers, and many of those who do haven’t updated their software since it was installed, which is almost as dangerous.

There are many different antivirus programs available, but no matter which one is installed on your system, it’s important to do these two things:

• Keep it up-to-date. New viruses are being found daily, and if your antivirus software isn’t updated, you aren’t protected against them.


• Perform a full system scan at least once every couple of weeks, and scan any suspicious files whenever you encounter them.

If you don’t have antivirus software installed on your computer, I suggest trying this free antivirus program from AVG.

• Note: In order to use the program, you have to fill out a free registration form. The installer will prompt you to do enter a code e-mailed to the address provided in the form before you are able to do anything else.

Make sure you keep the default suggestions as the program installs. Once the installer has completed, you will be prompted to restart your computer.
AVG will run once again on startup in order to finish collecting your preferences and the program will have you update its files as shown in Figure 2.


Figure 2: Updating antivirus files

The program should automatically be set to download updates, but you should check to make sure. To do so, go to the AVG Control Panel by double-clicking on the AVG icon in the system tray and then click the Update Manager tab, as shown in Figure 3.


Figure 3: Make sure files are set to automatically update

Step 3: Check for spyware

Spyware is software that can track you on your trips online. Oftentimes, spyware is hidden within installers for otherwise useful programs or within malicious code on websites, so it’s possible to get spyware on your computer without your knowledge. Some spyware is fairly innocuous, but others can open back doors into your computer or transfer your name, address, or internet browsing information back to their home website.

One program that will help find and remove spyware is called Spybot Search & Destroy.

To use it, install the program as you usually would. In the start menu, there will be an icon to launch the program in Easy Mode, which offers you, predictably enough, the easiest way to use the program. Before you scan, make sure Spybot is up to date by clicking the Update button on the sidebar as shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4: Updating Spybot

Then use Spybot to scan your computer by clicking on the button that says Search & Destroy in the sidebar, as shown in Figure 5.


Figure 5: Scanning for spyware

Note that Spybot does not have scheduling built in. Make sure to manually run it every couple of weeks, or anytime you suspect you may have spyware on your computer, making sure you check for updates before you scan.

Another highly-recommended spyware removal program is Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. However, recently there have been several different spyware applications that will disable or hide from Ad-Aware. As Spybot is somewhat less well-known, it tends to not have this problem. In any case, I highly suggest using these two programs in tandem to be absolutely sure you do not have spyware.

Step 4: Use a firewall

A firewall is essentially a gatekeeper for your computer, making sure things that you want to keep in stay in, and things that you want to keep out stay out. It’s very important to have if you’re always connected to the internet, as you are if you are on a DSL or cable modem. Even if you are on at a university or other organization that has its own firewall, using your own will help protect you from worms that can get on the local network.

There are quite a few firewall programs available, often bundled with antivirus software. However, if you don’t have one, there is an excellent firewall made by Kerio, which is free for personal use. Kerio has recently introduced new (non-essential) pay features into the firewall, but these features will automatically turn off after the 30-day trial period.

Additionally, keep in mind that Kerio has come out with a new version of the firewall since I took these screenshots, so the interface will look slightly different, although the way it behaves will be very much the same.

Install the firewall by following the on-screen instructions in the installer. Make sure the program is set to run on startup.

Firewalls are known to be loud at first and then quiet as time goes on. When a program first tries to access the internet, Kerio will pop up a notification asking if you want to allow that traffic, as shown in Figure 6.


Figure 6: Firewall notification

If the program asking for access is a program you trust, make a rule so the firewall will immediately grant it access in the future.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to allow that program to access the internet for some reason, you can set a rule so that it will be immediately denied.


Figure 7: Setting advanced rules for the firewall

Click the checkbox at the bottom of the notification and the button below it, which will show you the dialog box in Figure 7 and give you more flexibility if you wish to only allow certain locations to connect, or things along those lines. Once you click OK on that dialog, then click Permit or Deny (Figure 6).

If you don’t recognize the program asking for access, deny the traffic for that time and then make sure to check your computer for viruses and spyware as soon as possible. However, keep in mind that benign programs occasionally have different names than you would expect, so you may want to look up the name of the mysterious program on Google to see what it is before getting too concerned.

Another well-known free firewall comes from ZoneLabs, but they are trying to sell their pay version of the firewall fairly heavily, while Kerio is not.

Unlike the spyware removal programs, however, you only need one firewall. Don't bother with getting another if you already have one.

Step 5: Use common sense.

Almost all security problems can be prevented by keeping a watchful eye on your computer and by using common sense.

For example:

• Don’t open e-mail attachments from people you don’t know.
• Scan things you’ve downloaded for viruses.
• Use good passwords. This site gives good advice for passwords to avoid, as well as some ways to make secure ones.
  A couple of my personal favorite techniques, which aren't listed, are to take a song lyric or a phrase that you will remember and choose the first letters of the words in it (for example, "Watching X-Files with no lights on" could be wxfwnlo) or to strengthen what you would normally choose as your password by converting some of the letters to similar-looking numbers (for example, cheese could become ch33se, though I'd suggest something other than a short word like that as your password).
• Don’t give out your password to anyone. (This also means that you shouldn’t have your password written down anywhere near your computer.)
• If your computer suddenly slows down greatly or behaves oddly, check for viruses or spyware.

These are just tips, but keep your eyes open and use common sense, and your computer should be safe and sound for quite some time!

So, useful, I hope? :)

Comments

[harbinjer.livejournal.com]

Looks very helpful! Thanks!
I'm gonna add it to Memories and recommend it to everyone I know.