Tech Q&A - Security

[Tiberius]

The last Tech Q&A was fun, so here's another. Ask me any questions about computer / network security and I will endeavor to answer them.

If you missed the last Tech Q&A and have a question about The Internet, feel free to post it in that thread.

[Darth]

How much safer are macs?

[cratehorus]

how do I hack into the Pentagon?

[Tiberius]

How much safer are macs?

Assuming we are talking about the relative security of the OS X operating system when compared to Windows or Linux, it really depends on how it is configured, and how well you look after it. A badly configured Linux or OS X computer can fall to malware just as easily as a Windows computer.

It is a myth that there are no viruses (or malware, generally) for OS X or Linux, however it is true that in general, malware for these systems is less damaging than malware for Windows. This is due to Windows being designed for ease of use, with security as an afterthought, and OS X / Linux being designed with security at least in mind. On a lot of Windows installations, the Administrator account is used as the main user account, whilst the administrator account on Linux / OS X ('root') is kept completely separate and is rarely used for non-system functions.

Authenticating as an admin account on Windows can be done pretty much automatically as well, which doesn't help things. On OS X and Linux, either the admin password, or a user password (from a trusted user) has to be given at a prompt before the admin account can be used. This prevents malware from easily gaining access to an admin account, unless of course the password is particularly bad.

Patch release cycles are also generally more regular on Linux and OS X than on Windows. Both former OS's seem to release patches and updates as soon as possible, whilst Microsoft release theirs once a month. Regularity is a great thing for a sysadmin, but it's not so good in terms of security. If a vulnerability is discovered the day after the most recent patch release, malware authors have a whole month to write and deploy malicious code before a patch is released. In contrast, I've seen critical Linux patches released several hours after the vulnerability was discovered.

So whilst I would recommend either OS X or Linux for security benefits, they should be kept up to date, and have anti-virus software installed on them.

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how do I hack into the Pentagon?

If we are to believe Gary McKinnon, you don't need to. They have loads of computers with blank administrator passwords.

[Nine]

I need new anti virus whats should I get?

[Tiberius]

I need new anti virus whats should I get?

I recommend Kaspersky Internet Security 2013 based on consistent high scores in AV Comparatives tests.

Unfortunately, these days there don't seem to be any consistently reliable "free" anti-virus products, though I would rank Avast! as better than AVG.

[Angrboda]

Does the proof of the ABC conjecture mean that public key cryptography is doomed to obsolescence?

[Tiberius]

Does the proof of the ABC conjecture mean that public key cryptography is doomed to obsolescence?

Not in the slightest. Public key cryptography and the ABC conjecture are only linked by the fact they both concern prime numbers. However, public key cryptography does not use, nor does it depend on anything a proof of the ABC conjecture would call into doubt, or make insecure.

Public key cryptography (at least, RSA) depends on the complexity of prime factorization.

[Annik]

How should one respond to a virus on their computer?

[Tiberius]

How should one respond to a virus on their computer?

It depends on the virus and how your computer is set up.

If you have anti-virus software installed and it has detected the virus, it should have methods to either quarantine it or remove it completely. If not, I'd suggest installing better anti-virus software.

If you don't have anti-virus software installed, and the virus is preventing you from installing it (common with some viruses), then you will most likely have to connect your hard drive to another computer as an external disk and have the other computer to a scan to find the virus.

If the virus is causing a load of weird stuff to happen, or your system is loading slowly, turn the computer off immediately and do the same thing (scan the hard drive by using another computer). The less time the virus has to mess with your system, the better. As long as your OS isn't booted up, the virus shouldn't be able to do any damage, so connecting the hard drive to another computer as a secondary disk (not the main disk) will not put that computer at risk.