F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
#948477
04/05/14 12:19 PM
04/05/14 12:19 PM
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Jenny100
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Security expert Steve Gibson mentioned this XP advisory list in the F-Secure H2 2013 Threat Report in ***Episode #446 of the Security Now! podcast***: F-Secure's security advisory for those staying with XP for the immediate future http://www.f-secure.com/static/doc/labs_global/Research/Threat_Report_H2_2013.pdf 1. Install Windows XP’s final update.
2. Install an alternative browser or browsers (they’re free!) — don’t rely solely on Internet Explorer. And don’t use Internet Explorer as the default.
3. If installed, make sure Microsoft Office is fully patched. Note that older versions of Office will run things such as Flash by default if embedded in documents. If using an older version of Office, tighten up the security options. Don’t open documents from sources you don’t trust.
4. Review the third-party software you’ve installed and uninstall anything that isn’t needed. If you’re going to keep XP, do a “spring cleaning” and get rid of old software. Because old software very often equals vulnerable software.
5. For the third-party software that you keep – consider disabling or uninstalling the browser plugins. Set the browser to “always ask” what to do about things such as PDF files. a. Do you need Java installed on your home laptop? Probably not. b. Advanced browser features include “click to play” options. They’re worth the extra effort.
6. Have an up-to-date security product with antivirus and firewall installed.
7. Keep your XP computer connected to a NAT router, at home, which will act as a hardware firewall. (Practically speaking, this means you shouldn’t be roaming connecting your laptop to free Wi-Fi hotspots – keep your computer at home on a trusted network.)
8. And finally... consider upgrading your OS. If you don’t want Windows 8 – there’s always Windows 7. The OEM installation is still available from many fine online retailers.
Yes #8 is sort of a broken record remark, but it's better to buy a copy of Windows 7 now than be stuck with Windows 8 later. So even if you don't intend to install Windows 7 right away, it's best to be prepared. For Steve Gibson's comments on the F-Secure report, go to https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-446.htmand search around the area where he says: "They said: "Microsoft Windows XP operating system reaches its end of extended support period on April 8th of this year. And after that, no more public system updates. No more public security updates. Users will be on their own. But XP is still a very popular OS, or at least it is prevalent. See other sections of this report for details," they say. Then they said: "Elsewhere in this report are detection statistics which highlight two very serious threats to Windows users, web-based attacks and Java-based attacks. And Windows XP is particularly an issue because, once compromised, it is much more difficult to repair than its siblings. An ounce of prevention is really worth more than a cure in the case of XP. Prediction: The April 8th 'deadline' [they have in quotes] will be picked up by the mainstream press as a type of Y2K apocalypse waiting to happen. And when nothing happens on April 9th, the press will again publicly question what all the fuss was about.
Meanwhile, in the tech press, reporters will be patiently waiting for the first critical post-XP vulnerability when, not if, a powerful zero-day exploit makes its way to market. That's when the real concerns begin and important questions will be asked. Can XP be trusted? But all is not lost. Patching XP is not the first line of defense, or it shouldn't be."
...I know this is of interest to a huge body of our listeners who are still using XP, as I am, and will be for some time.
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948483
04/05/14 12:48 PM
04/05/14 12:48 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,120 Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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Excellent information... I grabbed a spare copy of Windows 7 for $80 at Newegg. If you don't want to go to Windows 8.1, remember that Microsoft will continue to support Windows 7 until 2020 which is a good long time yet.
I hope I am correct in my belief that April 9 and the weeks after will be a giant "whumpf" of nothing. But I'm just not willing to take a chance, so my XP has been off-line for a couple of months now.
The one piece of information which I think is most important in these articles is to stop using the older versions of IE - IE 7 and IE 8. I've read several things that say if anything is going to be exploited, it's going to be the older versions of IE.
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948541
04/05/14 04:34 PM
04/05/14 04:34 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Draclvr
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I'm crossing my fingers for you too, sandy! I'm down to just one person still on XP due to finances, but she is taking hers off-line for awhile just to be safe. If you want to know if your present computer will support Windows 7, just run the Upgrade Advisor - it will tell you what you need to know. Windows 7 Upgrade Adviros Greyfuss is updating one of his older XP computers with 32-bit Windows 7 for his grandson.
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948780
04/07/14 10:22 AM
04/07/14 10:22 AM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644 southeast USA
Jenny100
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If you do your Microsoft updates manually, one of the updates produces nagware about Microsoft XP not being secure. If you do your updates manually, you can uncheck the box for the nagware "update" so it isn't installed. Unfortunately the update to Microsoft Security Essentials also adds nagware. I'm not talking about the definitions, which will continue to be provided until 2015, but the update itself that shows up in Windows update. It got me yesterday because I didn't realize it was going to do that. I was thinking of uninstalling the antivirus, but found a link to a download of the old version in the ***Tom's Hardware Forum*** so I'll try that first. The actual link to the installer is http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=231274I assume you'd have to uninstall the naggy new version in order to install the slightly older, uncontaminated, nag-free version. If you've got the previous version of Security Essentials, keep it. The definitions will continue to be supplied -- at least until 2015 -- and you won't get the nag screen.
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948794
04/07/14 12:02 PM
04/07/14 12:02 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,120 Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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Thank you so much for those links, Jenny... Just downloaded and installed the "hopefully" nag-free version. While I don't plan on going to internet on my XP, for those times that I do, I definitely want something for it. Nagging was the reason I got rid of Avast on it...
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948837
04/07/14 04:27 PM
04/07/14 04:27 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,120 Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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I believe we all are to some extent, Sandy! But since you are "living on the edge" here, I sure would recommend doing a complete backup if you have anything of value on the computer. If it gets compromised, you may lose all your programs, but at least you would have all your documents, photos etc.
I always install updates manually and found the most recent one was to install the "nag" about XP being at the end of its life! Needless to say, I told updates to ignore that one!
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#948985
04/08/14 11:42 AM
04/08/14 11:42 AM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,120 Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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I'm predicting you will be just fine, Sandy. Now, let's just hope I'm right!
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: Jenny100]
#949046
04/08/14 04:56 PM
04/08/14 04:56 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505 Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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Bill just took the cable off the computer for taking it off the internet. He must have the nag as the internet icon in the system tray is red and every time Bill Boots up he gets the warning. If I go in and uncheck automatic update, will that take care of it?
It didn't. What can I do to get rid of that warning?
Last edited by flutist; 04/08/14 05:04 PM.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: F-Secure's Security Advisory for those staying with XP
[Re: flutist]
#949056
04/08/14 05:35 PM
04/08/14 05:35 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,644 southeast USA
Jenny100
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Bill just took the cable off the computer for taking it off the internet. He must have the nag as the internet icon in the system tray is red and every time Bill Boots up he gets the warning. If I go in and uncheck automatic update, will that take care of it?
It didn't. What can I do to get rid of that warning? That depends on which icon you're talking about and where the nag is coming from. If you're talking about the nag from the Security Essentials antivirus, just uninstall it if the computer is going to be offline. If you want to put XP online occasionally, reinstall the old version of Security Essentials that I linked to earlier at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=231274If you're talking about a nag from XP itself, you may be able to uninstall the update through Add/Remove Programs. I think there's a checkbox that allows display of Microsoft updates. If you see KB2934207 there, see if you can uninstall it. Alternatively, someone posted a registry fix that disables the message in the ***Spiceworks forum***.
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