[DM-MUG] Safe computing using Windows on your Mac...

[Victoria L. Herring]

This guidance from the MacLaw list I am on seemed to be good advice to share.

>
>
>On May 31, 2007, at 12:42 PM, Carol Shepherd wrote:
>
>>  So it sounds like I could avoid viruses completely by A. not
>>  getting any
>>  email via Windows and B. not browsing the Internet via Windows and C.
>>  not allowing untrusted CDs or other media to upload things to the
>>  Windows side--does that sound correct?
>
>That would make it very unlikely.
>
>But don't let the fear of Windows viruses freak you out. The reason
>most people who get their PCs infected do so is because they practice
>unsafe computing, notable failing to keep their antivirus software up
>to date. In a nutshell:
>
>1. Use antivirus software and keep it up to date.
>2. Don't copy files from media which hasn't been scanned, if it's
>coming from another Windows user.
>3. Use an anti-spyware hosts file so that if you DO need to access
>the Internet, the majority of malicious sites and ad-serving sites
>are blocked. See 
><<http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm>http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm>. 
>Their
>hosts file is free.
>4. If you need to access the Internet from your Windows VM or
>partition, use Firefox if possible. I only use Internet Explorer if
>I need to access a site which requires it to work.
>5. Keep up to date with the latest Windows security patches from
>Microsoft. Set XP to fetch them automatically.
>
>Yes, doing the above is a PITA, but will make it very unlikely that
>your system will get infected. It's less of a PITA than getting your
>system infected.
>
>One GREAT thing about Parallels is that once you have a Windows
>Virtual Machine setup, you can easily back it up by copying it to a
>DVD or an external drive. This way you can maintain a known good
>configuration, and if the working copy gets corrupted or infected,
>you can wipe it and start over.
>
>---
>David S. Markowitz Attorney at Law & Network Consultant
>davemarkowitz -at- mac.com 
><http://www.davemarkowitz.net/>http://www.davemarkowitz.net/
>120 Shasta Road 
><http://keystonestatelaw.blogspot.com/>http://keystonestatelaw.blogspot.com/
>Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 (Cell) 610-389-1724

-- 
Victoria L. Herring, Des Moines, Iowa -  Civil rights, 
Discrimination and Employment Law Attorney;  Des Moines, Iowa: 
http://www.herringlaw.com.  Ph. 515/255-4475;  iChat AV: 
victoriaherring at mac.com.
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