Protecting Windows XP against intrusions

If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU, less
than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what precautions
should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access emails
and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not really a viable
option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford (eg
paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs - whether
they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc and use a good
AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after MS
withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors have been
found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

NY on 2016/12/06 wrote:
^^^^^^^^^^^
\___ You own or have permission to use this domain?
http://www.whois.com/whois/privacy.net

If someone has a PC that is running XP, ...

The Windows XP newsgroups are over here ---.
..------------------------------------------'
'--- microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
alt.windows-xp
alt.os.windows-xp
alt.comp.os.windows-xp

On Tue, 6 Dec 2016 13:25:06 -0600
VanguardLH wrote:

From: VanguardLH
Subject: Protecting Windows XP against intrusions
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2016 13:25:06 -0600
Sender: VanguardLH
User-Agent: 40tude_Dialog/2.0.15.41
Newsgroups: alt.windows7.general
Organization: Usenet Elder

Better to not post when you don't know the answer...

On 06.12.16 19:51, NY wrote:
If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU, less
than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what precautions
should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access emails
and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not really a viable
option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford (eg
paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs - whether
they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc and use a good
AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after MS
withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors have been
found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

Common sense and avast.
Kept my xp clean for the last 15 years.

NY wrote:
If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU,
less than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what
precautions should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not really
a viable option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford
(eg paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs -
whether they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc and
use a good AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after
MS withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors
have been found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

POS Hack, Windows Update.

AV as before. (Some day, the AV products are going
to give up on WinXP as well.)

POS stands for Point Of Sale. There is a version of
WinXP used for Point Of Sale terminals. The end of support
for the POS version of the OS, is later than the actual
WinXP, so it continues to get (a few) security updates.
Some day soon, I expect even the POS version will
go out of support, so enjoy this hack while you can.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registr...or-windows-xp/

"Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 which will
continue to receive updated until April 9, 2019."

Note - some articles post a single registry setting.
But if you look around, you may find another article
that has *three* registry settings for POS Hack. So
don't give up at the first POS Hack article you read.
Keep looking.

A big question would be, how easy is it to get Windows
Update to even work. All the OSes except Win10, have
the wuauserv looping bug, which is caused by the
server file manifest contents. I don't expect the
POS people got a free lunch, and they probably
suffer just as much as the rest of us.

Paul

On Tue, 06 Dec 2016 18:51:11 +0000, NY wrote:

If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU,
less than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what
precautions should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not really
a viable option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford
(eg paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs -
whether they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc and
use a good AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after
MS withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors
have been found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

Just apply the "hack" and continue to get Security updates until 2019.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2016 15:07:56 -0500, Paul wrote:

NY wrote:
If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU,
less than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what
precautions should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not
really a viable option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford
(eg paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs -
whether they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc
and use a good AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after
MS withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors
have been found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

POS Hack, Windows Update.

AV as before. (Some day, the AV products are going to give up on WinXP
as well.)

POS stands for Point Of Sale. There is a version of WinXP used for Point
Of Sale terminals. The end of support for the POS version of the OS, is
later than the actual WinXP, so it continues to get (a few) security
updates. Some day soon, I expect even the POS version will go out of
support, so enjoy this hack while you can.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registr...inued-updates-
for-windows-xp/

"Windows Embedded POSReady 2009 which will
continue to receive updated until April 9, 2019."

Note - some articles post a single registry setting. But if you look
around, you may find another article that has *three* registry settings
for POS Hack. So don't give up at the first POS Hack article you read.
Keep looking.

A big question would be, how easy is it to get Windows Update to even
work. All the OSes except Win10, have the wuauserv looping bug, which is
caused by the server file manifest contents. I don't expect the POS
people got a free lunch, and they probably suffer just as much as the
rest of us.

Paul

I applied the hack to my XP and get the Security updates until 2019. I
even have the Windows Defender and Security Essentials on my XP.

"NY" wrote

| what precautions
| should they take against being hacked/virused?

I generally run XP. speed doesn't have much to
do with security, though AV is a hog that can slow
things down.

If people are inexperienced it's good to have AV
to warn them if necessary. The best thing by far:
Don't use IE online, don't use Flash and don't
enable script in the browser except when absolutely
necessary. Also, don't open email unless you really
know what it is.

I use Online Armor v. 4.0.0.15 as a firewall. It's
fairly easy to set up and can help with both security
and privacy. But it's only useful if people want to
understand how to use it.

In general you'll be safer with XP. It's no longer
being targetted and a lot of bugs post-date XP.
But the software is the real risk. Browser vulnerabilities.
Java, Flash, Acrobat Reader, script.... All of those
should be avoided as much as possible.

On Tue, 06 Dec 2016 20:57:18 +0100, Sjouke Burry
wrote:

On 06.12.16 19:51, NY wrote:
If someone has a PC that is running XP, and is of a spec (eg slow CPU, less
than 1 GB RAM) that doesn't lend itself to being upgraded, what precautions
should they take against being hacked/virused?

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access emails
and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not really a viable
option :-)

Should they use the "best" anti-virus and firewall that they can afford (eg
paid-for versions of McAfee, Norton etc) or is even that too risky?

I want to know what best to advise customers who still have XP PCs - whether
they continue but take care with opening links in emails etc and use a good
AV, or whether to advise them to replace the PC ASAP.

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after MS
withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors have been
found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

Common sense and avast.
Kept my xp clean for the last 15 years.

Ditto.

I also use Pegasus Mail, which doesn't open most lazy html messages
(which is what most spammers and malware distributors use), and so
simply delete most of the spam/scam/malware messages unread.

Just warn users not to open attachments or click on links sent by
people they don't know, and even from people they do know if there
isn't a clear and convincing explanation of why they have sent it ("I
found this site and it's really cool" is not a clear and convincing
explanation, and usually is a sign that the sender's e-mail has been
hacked).

And that applies whatever OS they are using.


--
Steve Hayes
http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
http://khanya.wordpress.com

Il giorno Tue 06 Dec 2016 07:51:11p, *NY* inviava su
alt.windows7.general il messaggio
o.uk. Vediamo cosa
scrisse:

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not
really a viable option :-)



this is a typical good reason to move to a different o.s.

there are tons of light linux distros that work well with such old
hardware, giving you the "I'm protected" feeling you need

and the interface is similar, so you don't actually need to learn something
new

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

Ammammata wrote:
Il giorno Tue 06 Dec 2016 07:51:11p, *NY* inviava su
alt.windows7.general il messaggio
o.uk. Vediamo cosa
scrisse:

I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not
really a viable option :-)



this is a typical good reason to move to a different o.s.

there are tons of light linux distros that work well with such old
hardware, giving you the "I'm protected" feeling you need

and the interface is similar, so you don't actually need to learn something
new


SSE2 support in hardware (CPU feature)

Drivers being removed from Xorg.

There are some limits. Not all 500 distros
will run on everything. We're approaching the
point where a certain percentage of old hardware
is headed to the dumpster in any case.

The way modern web browsers are designed, is
not helping matters. It's designed with the
high end modern stuff in mind (hardware accelerated
video). This will not achieve good results with
your K6 with a 3DFX card in it.

Paul

"Ammammata" wrote

| I'm assuming that their main reason for having the PC is to access
| emails and web sites, so "disconnect it from the internet" is not
| really a viable option :-)
|
| this is a typical good reason to move to a different o.s.
....
| and the interface is similar, so you don't actually
| need to learn something new

The OP wants to give advice to numerous people
using XP and doesn't actually know what they're
doing with it. There's a good chance that some are
using MS Office.

It's very likely that most or all of these people are
not up to the job of installing AV. Most people are
not. For such people I usually install AV, give them
a modest HOSTS file, and do what I can to mitigate
privacy/security problems, with the understanding
that they will do nothing and learn nothing themselves,
and that they will not tolerate any inconvenience or
new behavior when it comes to security/privacy.

Yet you suggest these people install and learn Linux?

Il giorno Wed 07 Dec 2016 03:07:03p, *Mayayana* inviava su
alt.windows7.general il messaggio news cosa scrisse:


Yet you suggest these people install and learn Linux?



well, actually they would have a very little to install, almost everything
they need is present

and "learn" is a big word: how long did you study to get acquainted with a
"double-click"?

try http://lxle.net/ to make a test on old hardware

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

Il giorno Wed 07 Dec 2016 12:24:49p, *Paul* inviava su alt.windows7.general
il messaggio news
The way modern web browsers are designed, is
not helping matters. It's designed with the
high end modern stuff in mind (hardware accelerated
video). This will not achieve good results with
your K6 with a 3DFX card in it.


sadly I agree

but you can give a try to http://lxle.net/

--
/-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ /\/\ /\/\ /-\ T /-\
-=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- - -=-
http://www.bb2002.it
............ [ al lavoro ] ...........

On Tue, 6 Dec 2016 18:51:11 -0000, "NY" wrote:

I realise that XP didn't suddenly become any less secure the day after MS
withdrew support, but since that date presumably various backdoors have been
found which make XP less secure than it used to be.

Think about it. If it had that many backdoors, there would be
a massive botnet established on the 10-15% of computers that still run
XP. And yet ....
Firewall + uninstall Flash and Java + install NoScript on your
Firefox (or Palemoon 2.65) browser.
Xpy is useful for closing a lot of useless and dangerous
"features".
Do a Malware scan from a LiveCD AV (Kaspersky Rescue Disk is
good) once a week.
Keep any software you download for a week, then upload it to
Jotti or Virustotal before installing. You will avoid the zero-days.
I just removed 240 "malwares" from a friend's Win 7 computer
(most were duplicates in the restore folder, but it's still a lot)
--- Brains. The most important, but something you can't install on a
customer's PC....
I personally wouldn't recommend XP to an inexperienced user,
because when they do get infected (they will), they'll blame you and
XP. It's human nature.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012