[dba-Tech] Security measures

> (continued in next message. Network problems :(

Apparently Part II didn't comne through :( So here it is from memory.

> 2) What things have you done on your own PCs to battle the forces of darkness? Software (anti-virus, password encryption, firewalls) or hardware (routers, proxy servers, firewalls, etc.).

I use a Linksys NAT Router, McAffee Virus Scan and Software firewall (Zone Alamrm but right now I'm looking at Sygate)

I constanlty update my virus signatures as well as head on over to windows update several times a week.

I also do not use Outlook or Outlook Express. I won't even allow Outlook to be installed on any of my personal PCs!

I'd say 99% of the virii that I have received have come from a bug that the virii writers take advantage of in one of these two e-mail clients.

I use Pegasus Mail (http://www.pmail.com) for an e-mail client. It will display HTML mail, but it won't run any scripts. No need to worry about VBScripts or Javascripts because they won't run. Period. End of discussion. Not to mention the fact it will handle an enormous amount of e-mail with out any problems. I currently have 90,000+ emails in my message store. I have had arounbd 120,000 e-mails before the "great purge" :-)

I also *NEVER* *EVER* open an attachment from someone I don't know.

I've even been known to reply to people, that I don't know who have e-mailed me with questions about some of the stuff I have on my website, telling them that I won't respond to them unless they send plain text e-mail only. If they can't figure out how to turn that cr*p off, then I don't have time to waste trying to help them out. Mind you I ask them politely  :-)

That's what I do to stay safe.

--
Bryan Carbonnell - carbonnb at sympatico.ca
Unfortunately common sense isn't so common!