Data Protection

[mitunnelrat]

I'm doing it wrong. Both my desktop and laptop have been in for work, and I was told the tech guy had never seen so many viruses as my laptop had. The desktop wasn't much better. I blamed it on buying them both used, but just ran into some trouble again last night, to find my laptop's hard drive crashed and data inaccessible this morning. AVG alerted me of a trojan after the damage was done.

I've been using Windows Vista because it was loaded on the computer when I bought it, and it lets me game. I now think I'll put that on hold and load Ubuntu again.

Since it appears to be web searching getting me in trouble, does anyone have any recommendations on freeware firewalls/ AV protection for linux systems? Are there any other products/ actions you're taking that improve your security?

What about those of you operating a Windows OS? Have you found any one security protocol as more effective than another? For all the talk of OPSEC, how many of you know exactly how vulnerable you are through your web interactions and activities?

I'm now realize I'm not as protected as I thought.

[Stg1swret]

I've worked IT support for over 15 years, I do not store any data on my PC. It is all on DVD/CD's and thumb drives. I re-do my OS every 6 months.

[RedJohn]

I've worked IT support for over 15 years, I do not store any data on my PC. It is all on DVD/CD's and thumb drives. I re-do my OS every 6 months.

DVD/CD tend to fade with the years. I keep my data on multiple HDD. Recently, I moved everything on a personal NAS for RAID added security. And I am totally with you on the re-do of the machine. I do it 2 or 3 times a year. I have sped up the process though by doing a Ghost copy of my drive at the initial status. I just have to apply the ghost (about 10 minutes) apply the updates then ghost again for the next time. I also always ghost my factory drive, just in case.

Of course, experience and loss of inestimable data lead me to that method.

[bacpacker]

Note to self: learn how to ghost system!
I am always having issues with malwar/spyware/virus this sounds like a great way to work around and fixin the problems.

[RedJohn]

Note to self: learn how to ghost system!

I use Norton (Backup Software - File Recovery | Norton Ghost)

[Twitchy]

External 120 GB SSD for my important stuff... everything else on the factory drive.

[RedJohn]

External 120 GB SSD for my important stuff... everything else on the factory drive.

I can tell you, having lived thru it, that this is not enough unless you move very fast after either one crashes.

I plugged my external drive in the wrong outlet. I fried the external drive. 5 days later, I still had not purchased replacement for that drive, when the computer drive failed. That day, I lost definitely 10 years worth of data. You never make this mistake twice.

[AlphaTea]

about 5 years ago I switched to Ubuntu (Linux).
I made a duel boot system with my WinXP system. I gotta say the only time I don't use linux is to make labels on a Brother P-Touch label printer which doesnt have any linux drivers. BFD
I have no virus worries and yes I do have virus software I run weekly JIC. My 6year old Athlon 1GHz with 512MB memory is like WARP speed faster than the latest speed box we have at work.
I have a RAID 10 setup (I think)
The software is FREE and includes Open Office. It will all fit on a CDR with room to spare. The OS can be run from a USB stick or the CD if you want. You can even run a fair amount of Windows software.
Did I mention that it was free?

[RedJohn]

All my servers are in Ubuntu these days, but I cannot have a desktop like this. there are too many applications that I must use that are windows only. One day maybe.

[RedJohn]

We just had to talk about it. I erased my computer today and redid it all. Switched to 64bit this time. I am good until October now.