re: 5 security tips for your computer

Dave — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 06:26:51 GMT

Good to see that up to date Windows and office is at the top of the list! This is the most important foundation for good security.

re: 5 security tips for your computer

ShelLuser — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:06:55 GMT

User comment (just to make sure that I avoid confusion):

6) Consider upgrading your Windows environment to Windows 7 (if you're using Windows XP it might be a good idea to warm up to and if you're on Windows Vista I'd personally recommend it quite seriously for several reasons).

truth be told I think that downgrading your account on Windows to that of a regular user (and password protecting the admin account!) will have a much deeper impact than merely password protecting your own account. After all; the moment you visit "weird" webites (or start "weird" software) then your own password isn't going to do you much good, esp. if you're an admin. Then it will heavily matter what kind of account you're using.

Not trying to go too technical here but if I try to add nastyness to my global Office environment (meaning: into global locations, so outside my main environment where I might not notice it) I won't succeed. For example the "trusted location" (read up on this!) "\program files\Microsoft Office\Templates". Here's what I get:

PS C:\Users\Peter> New-Item -Path 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates' -type "File" -Name "nasty.txt" -Value 'this is a nasty text file! beware!'

New-Item : Toegang tot het pad C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\nasty.txt is geweigerd.

In short: Using PowerShell under normal credentials (my own account "Peter") I try to create a file into the location mentioned above. With the results of a (localized) error message telling me that access to that file has been denied.

I'm well aware that you're trying to reach "non-techies" so to speak and I really applaud the effort. It can't be said enough that you should always be careful. Still; being a 'techie' I couldn't resist this one.