Subscribe in a readerWindows Steady State
If you use Window XP or Windows Vista, Microsoft has a tool that could be useful to some people. It’s meant more for shared computers, or for any PC that’s at greater risk of infection.
What it does is fairly simple. Every time you reboot the PC, Steady State will restore it to how it was before. So no matter how many viruses, spyware and adware you end up accidentally installing. it becomes fresh and anew.
You need to install it and set it up correctly, and for most people it might be a good idea to get some advice from someone who’s IT savvy, just to make sure you take full advantage of this great tool.
Best of all is that it’s free, as long as you have a genuine Windows XP or Vista license.
While you should still be responsible with how you use a computer, what you download and which web sites you visit, this tool is great tool for certain people.
More info and a download link here.
Another Symbian Virus
There’s a new virus affecting mobile phones (cell phones) that use Symbian series 60. It’s been detected in China and is called Kiazha-A Trojan.
It gets transmitted through Bluetooth or MMS messages so you can’t completely avoid receiving it but you can delete it if it arrives on your phone.
It first deletes all text messages in the phone then displays a message asking for RMB 50 yuan (US$7) to get them back.
We have a list here showing some of the more popular phones that are vulnerable. If your phone uses Symbian S60 then be aware of virus messages like this one and delete them if you receive it.
It’s also a good idea to backup your phone’s contents to a memory card every couple of months.
Windows powered phones are also susceptible to viruses, as we’ve mentioned here.
G-Archiver Password Theft
G-Archiver is an archival tool for Gmail. It lets you backup your Gmail emails to your computer. It’s been discovered that it also has a darker purpose.
G-Archiver costs US$29.95, and it does what it claims. To use it you enter your Gmail username and password, and it downloads emails to your computer as a backup.
Unfortunately the program has also been sending people’s usernames and password to the program’s creator (identified as John Terry).
If you’ve used G-Archiver before then uninstall it and change your Gmail password.
Whole Disk Encryption
If you carry a notebook outside of your home or office then Whole Disk Encryption is a technology you should be interested in. It’s also called Full Disk Encryption. First let’s identify the problem.
Most people who carry notebook computers (laptops) keep sensitive files on the machine’s drive. Business documents, business databases, contact lists, emails, chat logs, password lists, etc. The most common situation is someone carrying confidential documents on the computer.
If the notebook is lost or stolen then whoever holds the notebook computer has access to the files. Login passwords aren’t enough to protect the documents, they’re easily recovered by anyone.
A more worrying trend is for international business travellers who carry confidential data on their notebooks. 
There have been many instances of airport customs staff not only inspecting the notebook for banned items but they’re now looking in the notebook’s hard drive and looking through any documents stored there. Their excuse is that they have to search for anything that’s a threat to national security. Irrespective of why they’re doing this the point is that someone else can gain access to your files at airports. Read this article for an example. And for examples of lost or stolen notebooks see here.
Most large companies are now telling their staff to wipe all documents off notebook computers before travelling. This is excellent advice.
Another solution is to use whole disk encryption. This is a software technology that encodes the entire drive so that it’s unreadable without a password. At present this technology is rarely used on notebooks.
Advantages:
- It’s not possible for someone to extract files from a lost or stolen notebook computer
- You don’t have to remember to turn it on or to prepare anything before you leave home or the office. It’s always enabled
Disadvantages:
- Not all encryption programs are free (read below for some good news on free software)
- It slows down the computer
- You have to enter another password before using the computer
- It doesn’t protect you from malware (trojans etc). You still need a good antivirus system
- You must have a backup of all your data at home or at the office. If something goes wrong with the computer then there’s no way to recover the data without a backup
- Security is only as good as your password. If you use your car number plate or some other easy to guess password then it’s not really secure. You need to use a good password.
So with more disadvantages than advantages you’re probably put off. It depends how valuable your files are. If you’re a lawyer carrying around all your client’s documents then your files are probably quite valuable, and you should be doing everything in your power to stop strangers getting at them.
How does it work?
The technical explanations are beyond the scope of this article. It’s enough to know that it encrypts all of the drive. Older encryption programs encrypt some files only and smart hackers can usually recover all or part of documents. Therefore the “whole disk” part of the encryption program is important. The disk is completely unreadable and unusable without the password.
What whole disk encryption programs are available?
Recently there has been some progress on this and there are now good free versions including ones for Mac notebooks, as well as commercial solutions.
Free Windows Solutions:
There are quite a few solutions, below are the more popular ones available today.
- BitLocker - it comes with Windows Vista Enterprise, Windows Vista Ultimate, and Windows Server 2008
- TrueCrypt - a popular open source solution (see notes below). Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Commercial Solutions:
Below are low cost commercial solutions. There are many expensive enterprise level solutions not listed here.
- PGP - This program has been around for a very long time and is trusted by many people and companies. On the 13th Feb 2008 a version was also made for Apple Macs.
Summary
If you take your computer outside of a secure environment (home, office, etc) and you have anything on there you wouldn’t like others to have then whole disk encryption is a must.
As for airport customs and other law enforcement agencies, a lot of countries have laws making it possible for them to demand your password. So while you can keep random strangers from reading your data it’s really up to you how you comply with legal requests to hand over data. At least you have a choice.
Notes:
Open Source: in security it’s often a good thing to make programs or algorithms open source. It enables the programming community or security community to review the code and find any possible bugs as quickly as possible. It’s also a form of full disclosure. With commercial solutions you have to trust a company that they didn’t include a backdoor for whatever reason. With open source solutions everything’s exposed for public review.
Keep critical software up to date
Some programs you use are critical to the safe use of your computer, and it’s important to keep these patched.
In this article critical software is the collection of programs (both visible and those that run in the background) that transport information from a web server to your screen. It’s the chain of data flow that you use the most often when using the internet.
You have your operating system (e.g. Windows, MacOS, Linux), a web browser, and a stack of drivers that basically make the internet work for you. This is a simplified model, most people’s computers will be unique and full of all sorts of programs.
Because information is flowing along this chain of programs, data being handed off from the operating system to the web browser, every link in the chain is critical. And like the old mantra, the price of security is eternal vigilance. In this case we’re looking at the eternal task of patching your software.
Patches are released by software vendors, whether it’s a free open source program or from a commercial software company. Patches are written because the programmers are always fixing bugs, in particular they’re always fixing security vulnerabilities as they are discovered. It’s a way of strengthening each of the links in your data chain.
The point of this article is that you should always update the following:
- Patch your operating system (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, etc). Yes there’s a risk in being the first to install a patch, it might break something. Large companies have long complicated procedures to test patches before installing them. Small companies and home users need to take the risk and apply the patch blindly, trusting the vendor. It’s a choice between having the most secure computer possible or waiting to see if a patch is released by mistake. My advice is to take the secure option and make regular backups of all your data (backups would be a good topic for a future article). Most operating systems these days have automated patching systems in place making this simple and often a transparent process.
- Patch your web browser. All web browsers need to be patched - Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE), FireFox, Opera, Safari, etc. Apply patches as soon as they’re released. Today a web browser is the most vulnerable program on a computer, it gets used to run code that other people write. Code that comes from all corners of the world and is almost always not certified in any way and there’s almost no way of trusting the code. Your web browser will execute it blindly, trusting that it’s safe and you trust that all other programs on your computer (including the operating system) will handle the attacks in a graceful way. Web browsers will be attacked, this is almost a certainty these days. So you need to very latest version that hopefully has had every known vulnerability fixed.
- Patch your antivirus software. This is often automatic, and it’s often a paid service. Antivirus companies spend a lot of time and money keeping their tools up to date and it’s in your best interest to use their technology. Consider it a good investment, it could cost you thousands of dollars if your system is compromised.
- Sometimes routers will have to be patched as well. This is a little more advanced and you should only do it if you’re comfortable working with your router.
- Personal firewalls should also be patched. If your antivirus software includes a [personal] firewall then it’ll be patched automatically, otherwise it’s a separate process.
All software that uses the internet in any way, including the various video and music players, needs to be kept up to date. Web browsers and operating systems are the most critical and should be patched the most often. The time and effort you spend is the price you pay for having a safe computer.
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