Tweaking Optimizing Windows.pdf - GEGeek

www.symantec.com/avcenter/security/Content/2000_05_26_a_i_dES.html
While you're at it, you should also familiarize yourself with Outlook E-mail Security Updates
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q262/6/31.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0>
Outlook 2002 XP attachments
Microsoft Outlook 2002, included with Office XP, introduced new restrictions to stop possible unsafe e-mail attachments from being
opened or saved. This tweak allows you to modify those restrictions.
Any files with following extension are prohibited from being opened or saved when received as e-mail attachments:
ade, adp, asx, bas, bat, chm, cmd, com, cpl, crt, exe, hlp, hta, inf, ins, isp, js, jse, lnk, mda, mdb, mde, mdz, msc, msi, msp, mst,
pcd, pif, prf, reg, scf, scr, sct, shb, shs, url, vb, vbe, vbs, wsc, wsf, wsh
To change this behaviour open your registry and find the key below.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security]
Create a new String value, or modify the existing value, called "Level1Remove" and set it to equal a semi-colon seperated list of the
extension you want to allow e.g. "bat;exe;hlp" (this would allow batch files, executables and help files through). Restart Outlook for
the change to take effect.
Turn off Outlook Preview
Regarding Nimda and virus e-mails in general. Not sure if everyone can do this. OE defaults to three panes. Top-right is your list of
messages and bottom-right is the message itself. The problem is that if you want to delete an e-mail, you have to select it. When
you select it, the message opens automatically in the bottom-right panel.
If you go to View | Layout, you can turn off the preview pane. Now, you don't have to open a message in order to delete it. The
advantages are a reduced likelihood of mail-borne viruses; you can delete spam without opening it and potentially setting cookies
from a spammer's site. The disadvantage is if you want to view a new message, you have to double-click to open it up in a new
window.
If there is something you see that you're not sure about, you can right-click the suspect e-mail, go to Properties, Details tab, and
click the View Source button. Finally, you can forward spam to abuse at whatever.com without ever having to open the e-mail; you
can read the headers from the detail tab of the properties window, etc. Anyway, it seems this logic protects me from yet another
batch of e-mail viruses. Between the above tactic and my Hotmail email account which also lets me delete e-mails without having to
open them. Everything so far is pretty good. As an aside, you can also turn off WAV file playing somewhere in IE's options. I think
its Play Sounds under the Advanced section. Just a thought.
Do not allow attachments to be saved
In outlook options tick the box 'do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus'. When this option
is ticked it will essentially disable the opening of email attachments. Untick it if you wish to save/run attachments from people
whom you know
Create invalid entry in address book
Create ':' in address book and enter yourself as email address and if virus gets sent out it will email you also so you can then start
investigating quickly.
Outlook and Exchange Site
Another useful site for Outlook and Exchange solutions is http://www.slipstick.com/
Turn off Java and Javascript
Turn off Java and JavaScript everywhere. If you run them in your email client you should have your head examined. It is childishly
simple for a malicious website to write to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, force you to reboot by crashing your machine, and on reboot
automatically wipe your entire hard drive clean. Turn if off in Internet Explorer by going to tools, internet options, security, custom
and disabling java and scripts.
Other Outlook Stuff
Some email clients will automatically move to a new message when the one you're reading is moved or deleted. Make sure yours
doesn't.
3. Virus Checking
Always have running an up to date virus checker and update the virus definitions on a weekly basis. Check everything that arrives
on your computer. I personally use 3 virus checkers - I only have one loaded at any one time. Every file that comes into the
computer, goes into an incoming folder. Everything in that incoming folder is left there for a period of 1 month before being
executed. The reason for this is to allow another couple of updates to the virus definitions, just in case I have downloaded a very
new virus that the virus checker cannot detect. Everything in that Incoming folder is then checked by 3 different virus checkers.
Even then I have performed a relatively new system backup before anything is executed.
Commercial software is pretty much assumed safe from malicious code, but with the number of programs the average person
downloads from the Internet, Trojan horses are becoming a major threat. Basically, a Trojan Horse is when you run a program to do
one thing, but in the background it is doing another. These are often referred to as viruses, and frequently commercial antivirus
programs will catch the most common ones, but they are easy to make, and can access anything the person running them can. As a
rule of thumb, don't download new software and install it, unless you are sure it comes from a reputable source. Or Microsoft.
Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Make it your business to be aware of what comes in in all forms: email, web pages you look at, diskettes and CDs, accesses from
LAN or Internet when online, and junk pulled down by auto-updating-software. This is not as easy as it used to be as the old beliefs
simply do not apply anymore.
Don't run or open unsolicited executables, documents, spreadsheets, etc. Be paranoid, if you don't know something to be virus-free,
you must assume it isn't. (Have a strict policy in your organization that downloading executables and documents from the Internet