[Closed] Laptop security question.

Update the OS and apps.

Uninstall Flash and Java.

Uninstall whatever trial AV foisterware it comes bundled with.

Don't click on stupid shit.

Create a non-admin user account and use that day-to-day rather than a full Administrator account.

Why not get the Acer Chromebook 14? Or does it have to specifically be Windows for installing "specific" programs?

If you're a Mac user, you should know about security. It's just as important. You might get fewer viruses, but everything else applies pretty much.

You probably don't need to do much except maybe install malware bytes. There's already antivirus built in, so malwarebytes would complement that. You don't need to encrypt the hard drive if you are not storing anything senstivie on it.

However I'd run a mile from tha website. Looks a little bit too cheap to me.

EDIT oh yeah, and uninstall flash and Java.

However I'd run a mile from tha website. Looks a little bit too cheap to me.

I wouldn't buy a non-brand laptop, but that's not really a security issue.

No, it's not a security issue*, more a potential quality and after-sales service issue.

* it might not have a TPM but that might not matter if you aren't encrypting. But it also might come with dodgy software installed - but then, Lenovo did that recently (by mistake) and they are hardly a fly by night outfit.

I wouldn't buy a non-brand laptop, but that's not really a security issue.

I dunno, how paranoid do you want to be? Firmware hacks, compromised OS builds etc. E.g. the well publicised Lenovo system level vulnerabilities they were shipping. Supplier very much IS an issue.

The NSA publish guides to hardening various OS, but I can't find a windows one from a quick google.

Or does it have to specifically be Windows for installing "specific" programs?
Not really fussed what it is . I was trying to log on to our bank with our iPad and failing. We do have a blue tooth keyboard but I can't tell when the CAPS lock is on and I keep messing up our password. I can either get a better keyboard or a cheap laptop. This was the first lap top that came up on amazon and we have vouchers to spend.
Cougar ,don't forget me no speaky computer language!

No, it's not a security issue*, more a potential quality and after-sales service issue.

Absolutely.

Cougar ,don't forget me no speaky computer language!

I'm happy to elaborate, but you'll need to be clearer as to what you don't understand.

The create a non admin user account and uninstall the AV are the main bits I don't understand.
Will we need to get Norton or something like that?

Can I just say NO NORTON.

A few thoughts. One a little grey perhaps ...

Why not buy a Mac (Air?) for the business ?
Buy a decent Mac for the businesses but use it yourself and your old one for the business ?
Why not just use your Mac ?

When you create a user you can specify the access level, the day to day accounts should not be admin access.
Windows comes with a solid inbuilt anti virus tool.
Also make sure you have auto updates on.

[I]Can I just say NO NORTON. [/I]

Why not?

We've had it on all our PC's at home for years, always kept the subscriptions up and never had an issue (all of £50 pa for 10 machines).

Why not?

We've had it on all our PC's at home for years, always kept the subscriptions up and never had an issue (all of £50 pa for 10 machines).

do our banking on and pay bills with

All web based? Struggling to see past a chromebook then. Automatically up to date, secure, cheap and if it breaks/falls in the sea just buy a new one and up and running in minutes.

Of course you have to secure the google account you use on it, two factor authentication etc, but other than that?

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-chromebook/

Why not buy a Mac (Air?) for the business ?

Because they are £800 and the machine he linked to is £150. So he clearly doens't want to spend £800 does he?

If you want small and it doesn't have to be Windows - get a Thinkpad X60 off Ebay, get a cheap SSD and put Ubuntu on it - it'll be cheaper than that laptop, and last longer.

SSD ,Ubuntu?
Honestly ,do not underestimate how thick I am when it comes to this stuff!
Would this be a better use of our £150?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-MacBook-A1181-Intel-Core-2-Duo-1-83GHz-4GB-250GB-Snow-Leopard-/272494543648?hash=item3f71f0c320:g:zN0AAOSwPCVYB34B

Chromebook, definitely. You cannot screw up the purchase or the machine itself.

Chromebook sounds like what we need.

What decade is the used Mac from? 😉 for security latest version of the OS is good. Chromebook certainly a good shout but plenty of basic win 10 laptops out there.

The create a non admin user account and uninstall the AV are the main bits I don't understand.
Will we need to get Norton or something like that?

Creating another user account will be 'standard' by default.

It'll come with some AV or other, McAfee perhaps. Just uninstall it.

You don't need to pay for AV - removing the bundled "hey, give us your credit card details" software will revert to Windows Defender which is perfectly adequate.

Chromebook, definitely.

Can't install "full-fat" apps on a Chromebook as far as I'm aware.

Molgrips he has Mac at home so why not use one in the business was my thought. VAT back, depreciation, pre-tax purchase etc.

We can just about get by using the iPad at the shop it's just proving difficult to log into our bank account. I really don't want to spend a lot of money just so that we can log in.
For a complete numpty would the first laptop be just as safe as a chrome book or even our current iPad?

Can't install "full-fat" apps on a Chromebook as far as I'm aware.

If all he wants to do is online banking, then there's no reason to have anything other than a Chromebook.

If he wants to use a credit card reader to take payments he'll need something else though.

For a complete numpty would the first laptop be just as safe as a chrome book or even our current iPad?

Your question is pretty vague but I'm going to say no.

Given that you say you want to use online banking, I'm assuming you are simply going to log onto bank websites and do stuff. This means that the transaction is between your *browser* and your bank's website. Everything is encrypted between the browser and the website, so that's always safe. Nothing is stored on your computer except if you click the 'remember my login' bit, and on a bank's website that should only remember your user name. If the browser remembers your password that's also encrypted but it is stored on the device - be that Mac, iPad, Windows or whatever.

However the information you send doesn't start in the browser, it starts in your head and goes via your fingers to the keyboard into the computer's memory, before the browser can encrypt it. So the only real risk is that malicious software is sitting on the device intercepting your keystrokes whilst you type stuff into the browser. These exist, and are called keyloggers.

Now as far as I know you have to have installed some dodgy software in order to have a keylogger. So something that say, promises to download free movies, so you click through the installer, so you are willingly installing the keylogger. This is called a Trojan Horse (I think) for obvious reasons.

Malware bytes should hopefully pick up stuff like this. Macs are susceptible to it in theory, but there are probably fewer trojans going around for Mac I don't know.

The thing is though - on a Chromebook I think it's pretty much impossible to even create a Trojan for it because you cannot install any software. You can only install browser plugins, which live in the browser and not on the computer itself. Therefore the keylogger concept couldn't work.

In theory at least - as long as no-one's made a mistake when writing the Chromebook software...

Thanks Mol,even I understood that!
Chrome book it is.

Before you push the button though - there are caveats.

For writing letters and doing spreadsheets, you use Google Docs or Sheets. On a Chromebook you can save documents on the local machine (but they may not be encrypted, not sure); or you can save them on the cloud.

As far as I know (I haven't checked) the T&Cs of the cloud (Google's verison is called Google Drive) say that they can, in theory, go through your documents, like they do with your email. They can do this to be helpful, like say automatically putting appointments in your calendar; but they can also do stuff like learn about what you're up to so they can tell advertisers.

If it is important to your business to be able to write letters that absolutely no-one else must read, then don't put them on Google Drive. You can still use a Chromebook, you could plug in an external encrypted hard drive if it's important.

However, if that fairly niche requirement is not an issue, then don't worry about it!

Liking the expandable memory. We are constantly having to delete photos and apps as the ipad fills up.
Can't undrstand why they are so cheap though. Less than a rubbish phone!

You can buy antivirus licenses ended off eBay cheap.

3 year 3 machine kapersky 20usd

It's still more than the free one bolted into Windows that works better.

That laptop is pretty low-spec, I'd steer clear for business use. It has an old Atom cpu and only 2GB RAM, plus a very small, slow EMMC disk. I would suggest that you look for something from one of the major brands (Lenovo, HP, Dell, etc) that has a Pentium or i3 cpu, at least 4GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD or bigger.

Something like [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-250-G5-Laptop-Pentium/dp/B01MA3CIMP/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483844031&sr=8-1&keywords=pentium ]this[/url] would be much more useful.

If you're going to be using it for business and are worried about security, Win10 Pro (not Home) might be worth the upgrade for the disk encryption. If you keep Windows 10 updated (just leave it turned on by default and it'll update itself), disable flash, use a non-administrator account, and stay away from dodgy websites, it's just as secure as MacOS. The Safari browser on Macs is not as secure as Mac fanboys imagine, so believing that you're safe just because you use a Mac is a major mistake.

Out of interest as I've just installed win 10 pro is creating a non administration account as simple as just adding another users to the account

And how would I disable flash and java and what does that affect

Ta

Using a non admin account is the default behaviour isn't it?

No idea I've not used a proper computer for years tbh. I think I've always used an administrator account never seemed to have caused a problem

This is top of our list now. Thinking the touch screen will be useful.
Any obvious flaws?
https://m.johnlewis.com/asus-chromebook-flip-c100pa-arm-cortex-a17-4gb-ram-16gb-emmc-flash-10-1-touch-screen-silver/p/2143457?sku=234606195&s_kwcid=2dx92700016580452589&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKEAiA48fDBRDJ24_imejhwUkSJAAr0M5kZK_LKmkdjLEknxgGp2dUrDSr2RuXtn0-7XjQ0taLhRoC04Hw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Same as Holst said about the last one, really.

Using a non admin account is the default behaviour isn't it?

The first account you create is admin (it has to be, if you think about it), and supplementary accounts default to being standard users.

And how would I disable flash and java and what does that affect

uninstall them from "programs & features" in the control panel, it'll stop a lot of nasty's from accessing you computer and some websites (mainly ad's? dunno TBH I stopped installing them years ago) will stop working

Cheers I'll have a look next time it's on. I only set it up windows as I got a new garmin otherwise I wouldn't bother with a computer

But surely user account control means you dont need specific admin accounts, Cougar? So even if the single account is admin you don't run anything elevated unless you click the OK in the pop-up dialogue?