Mar 26 2009
Another good interview with Charlie Miller
Tom’s Hardware has another good interview with Charlie Miller, the man who hacked a Mac in seconds at the Pwn2own contest.
Here’s the quote that Small Business owners and staff (in fact everyone) need to take from this:
“Alan: In hindsight, was there anything that could have been done on the user end? That is, if you had outgoing firewalls, anti-spyware/anti-malware software, weren’t logged in as a root user, would that have done anything to limit the extent of the breach?
Charlie: None of those protections would have probably worked, or at least there were potential workarounds. The best thing the user could have done is not click on the malicious link. “
Safe Browsing
Folks, it is very important to practice safe browsing. We can put multiple levels of security in place, but if you wander off to “some site” and click links wantonly, you will have problems. Remind your staff that these are business computers, for work activities. Save the casual browsing for home, where it’s not going to cause a business interruption.
Here’s one other quote:
Alan: So for our readers, what are some tips for running a “secure” PC/Mac/Linux machine?
Charlie: For all OS’s, make sure you keep your system up to date. That’s the best thing you can do. On a PC, I’d recommend running some AV software to help clean up when things go bad. Otherwise, just be smart, pay attention, and hope for the best.
Secure your business
Make sure you systems are up to date with proactive network management. We can help secure your Small Business network and computers. Call us at 604-7815-5107.
Foreverwarm Consulting Inc provides peace of mind to small businesses through proactive computer and network services.
