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AskSoylent: I Give Up - How Do We Achieve Good Security?

posted by janrinok on Monday October 05 2015, @12:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the heartfelt-plea dept.

I'm just informed enough about IT security to know that I really know very very little about it. That said, I probably know ten times as much as do 99% of people. I'm an expert in my field, and while I've been a jack of all trades on many fronts, today's threats to privacy and IT security require expert knowledge to combat.

I do not have time.

  • For example, I hear that Microsoft added updates to Win7/8 that threaten my family's privacy...yet I have not yet gone and removed the offending updates. I moved myself to Ubuntu/xfce, but my son is still using Win8. I'll get to it eventually.
  • For example, java script is a security risk, and I have No-Script, turn off 3rd party cookies, etc, but invariably I have to turn it off for some website (i.e. to pay my bill), and eventually, I stop turning it back to full security.
  • I installed Cyanogenmod and Fdroid on my phone. And for the most part its great..and I have very few apps with permissive permissions settings....but my wife is still using an iphone and ipad, with all sorts of apps...with ridiculous permission leaks..and that is a struggle.

The long winded point I have is that it is now just too damn much work to do it all right. I'm tired after a 10 hour workday. I've obviously taken more steps than most, but it is still leaky as hell...

I need a company/organization that I can reasonably trust to manage my information security/property, to manage my computers, manage my vpns, e.g., to isolate my web browser windows over multiple vpns, ... all of it, and it can't be GOOGLE. My data is my property, as long as I can hold it, so it needs to be a company/organization that built in privacy obligations (like lawyers and doctors supposedly do).

-Signed: A Frustrated Tired Old Nerd (with children)

[Ed's Comment: Does such a company exist? Is it even possible to provide such a service? Or have we just identified a niche in the market for some enterprising person to fill?]

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2015, @02:38PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2015, @02:38PM (#245642)

    Security is process. It takes practice to get right because a lot of it is developing good habits. It depends on layers to slow an attacker long enough to be seen and have their access severed. It all starts with taking control of your devices.

    So for a start, adopt a platform that gives you the most control, Linux. Do this everywhere, but at least initially on the edges of the network like routers, security checkpoints..so to speak, etc. Then one piece at a time learn how firewalls, dansguardian+clamav+squid, full disk encryption, host-based and network-based IDS/IPS work[tripwire/rkhunter/snort]. Then use these tools.

    Security, just like everything else worth it, is hard in the beginning but gets easier once you've done it for a while.