I am the only person on my computer and I am the administrator but

[Cr00zng]

People STILL say it......

"no way, I am the only user on my system, what do I need that headache for?"
I should be full admin on my system, it's mine and i run it the way I want.
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah,.....

All of you who say that, go right ahead, your right, it's your virus/malware ridden headache.
Have fun with that,,

That's one of the reasons why Windows isn't considered to be a secure platform, right or wrong but that's the perception...

 

[Tepid]

The final thing that I wanted to add to this is....

If any application requires "Run as Admin" to do it's thing, it should only be run for the task at hand and then quit.
It should NOT run full time in the background, that is a security hole.

 

[Tepid]

People STILL say it......

"no way, I am the only user on my system, what do I need that headache for?"
I should be full admin on my system, it's mine and i run it the way I want.
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah,.....

All of you who say that, go right ahead, your right, it's your virus/malware ridden headache.
Have fun with that,,

That's one of the reasons why Windows isn't considered to be a secure platform, right or wrong but that's the perception...

But you have some in the Linux world who say the same thing and run as Root all the time.



So, it's not just windows, it's any OS, Windows just has the bigger share and therefor more scrutinized.

That is also the fault of Micosoft, I agree.
Yes, I wish Windows ran more like Linux does out of the box, and it can be
Security wise.
But that is the direction they are moving, i think. We will see.

Also note that,,, Linux world does not like applications that must run as Root (Admin in windows world) to do any job. And that should be the same in Windows.
Any application that requires Admin to run and do it's tasks should be avoided.
Depending on the app that is. If is something to do admin tasks, then ok, if it's something like Solitare (you know what I mean) that is not ok.

These things are not taught ti average users. And it should be.

I think every one needs to pass a PC Drivers Test and have a license just to use one.

Security
File Cabinet type thinking processes
And some other very basic skills

You fail, no pc for you.

That alone would cut down on well over half the Virus/Malware infections in the wild.

 

[eaglepi]

The final thing that I wanted to add to this is....

If any application requires "Run as Admin" to do it's thing, it should only be run for the task at hand and then quit.
It should NOT run full time in the background, that is a security hole.

That is how I run it, only when doing a backup otherwise it is not open

 

[Cr00zng]

The final thing that I wanted to add to this is....

If any application requires "Run as Admin" to do it's thing, it should only be run for the task at hand and then quit.
It should NOT run full time in the background, that is a security hole.

I guess that the Core Temp gadget, or any other temperature monitoring solution, shouldn't be running either. While I understand that there might be a security risk doing so, somewhere I need to draw the line...

 

[Cr00zng]

But you have some in the Linux world who say the same thing and run as Root all the time.

Some, but nowhere near of the percentage of the Windows users; if they get exploited, nobody blames Linux...

So, it's not just windows, it's any OS, Windows just has the bigger share and therefor more scrutinized.

That is also the fault of Micosoft, I agree.

More accurately, "Windows just has the bigest share..."

Any system that has its security protection modified by administrator and exploited should not reflect on the system, it should reflect on the administrator. Windows should be no different...

 

[Tepid]

Any system that has its security protection modified by administrator and exploited should not reflect on the system, it should reflect on the administrator. Windows should be no different...

Yes, that is what I was trying to say.

It is the user, not the OS.

The OS can be locked down, the user decides how much.

While I understand that there might be a security risk doing so, somewhere I need to draw the line...

I am sure that there is something out there that does not require Admin Privs to run all the time. It depends on what you are willing to live with.

My point is what should be done, not what is being done.
The right way, and the wrong way.

What should be watched out for and what should be avoided.

What one can live with and live without.

Your only as secure as you want to be.

 

[Cr00zng]

Windows is easy pie as far as running administrator accounts on it heck linux which I equally enjoy is quite the secure platform you should load up backtrack 4 linux, it's all about security, you have to manually start the network even on that with a password. Nothing gets done without a password...

I run my Windows 7 with a standard account that does not have the rights to perform system changes. I can run programs as an administrator, but it requires entering the admin password. It's not Linux, but it'll do...

Hey Cr00zng did you ever get the better privacy cookie problem solved?

No, it's still the same... The Firefox add on of Better Privacy does remove them, including the IE ones, but it's still on the SSD. I am kind wary of moving my user folder to an HDD...

 

[Cr00zng]

I am sure that there is something out there that does not require Admin Privs to run all the time. It depends on what you are willing to live with.

My point is what should be done, not what is being done.
The right way, and the wrong way.

What should be watched out for and what should be avoided.

What one can live with and live without.

Your only as secure as you want to be.

I am not disagreeing with you, for the most part you are correct.

Avoiding everything is not the answer either and everyone will need to decide the level of risk that they willing to take. As long as they make their decision based on the pros and cons instead of ignorance, by all means.

I've made a conscious decision that I like the Core Temp and its gadget and willing to accept the risk that running them as admin may present to me, or to my system. There are some compensating controls in place to minimize the impact of running a program in high privilege mode as it should be when dealing with risks for systems.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Permissions go wrong sometimes anyway

Occasionally I will be unable to access a folder (that I've made).
If I check the permissions, "Administrators" is in the list, with "Full Access".
Those folders have to be set to my user account name, before I can access them.

Avoid setting "Everyone" in the permissions list (ACL).
If you are the only user, use your user account name.