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How secure is PCLinuxOS?


snminc

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Greetings to all, My Brother (A Win XP user) has just discovered has bank card's been cloned and his savings account has been cleaned out :teehee: His situation has got me thinking about my own online security. I'm using PCLinuxOS 0.93a with A Netgear DG834GT wireless router/firewall.Is there any other steps I should takeMany thanks for reading this farS & M Inc

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The steps you could take are enough to make you completely insane and paranoia. The question is how far do you want to go ? Let's think it over a bit, shall we ?

My Brother (A Win XP user) has just discovered has bank card's been cloned and his savings account has been cleaned out
You didn't tell how exactly that has happened, but I know there are ways.But that has nothing to do with online security. (don't post here how it happened, we don't want to offer some ideas...)You're using linux.You're behind a descent router/firewall combo.That's a pro to begin with.Next : I would say the usual recommendations apply, like never open unasked mail, be very very carefull with attachments and don't open them (don't even click them ! ) when not explicitly asked by you, keep your systems updated, blah blah blah ....Then there's a whole space with all kind of other things one could do, but do you need that? Is it worth it?The other end of the spectrum might be just pulling the connection from the internet, bunkering your home like fort Knox, get yourself a few bodyguards and ... and ... and ... by now you may be mentally destroyed and insane.I would say, keep your head clear and stay in the middle of somewhere I described above.Something you may have to guard for are rootkits. (Rkhunter or chkrootkit will help you there)Again, think, read, think what you're doing and don't click every button you see : if in doubt the answer always should be a fat NO.
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If this is obvious, I apologize, but don't use your debit card online--believe it or not, some people do--always use a credit card, preferably one with online access so you can check it frequently for possible fraudulent charges. I use a credit card from Citi that let's me assign single-use virtual account numbers, so that even if someone gets the number, it can't be used. Bank of America has also started to do this recently. Also, be sure your online banking logon screen is secure--I had to search on Bank of America to find a place to login using https--their main portal uses http. They had lots of good reasons why their main portal was *secure*, but I didn't like the idea. Believe it or not, I check the site certificate each time before I log in, even though I use my own link to reach the site. Well, okay, I'm slightly paranoid. B)

Edited by ebrke
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My thanks to all for their advice, I had also posted on the Network & Security forum to seek advice on what additional steps my brother should take to stop this happening again. The following software has been recommendedAVG Anti-SpywareSpybot Search and DestroySpyware BlasterSpyware Guardas well as decent anti-virus, firewall and regular windows updatesHaving to take such elaborate steps to secure my PC was one of the reasons I've switched to PCLinuxOS. I just wasn't sure if my linux setup could be vulnerable to spyware.Striker, Could you please advise which rootkit is best. I'm assuming this is something to stop anyone else logging on to my pc as root is this correct?Bruno, My wifi setup has 128bit encryption (I've always erred on the paranoid side :thumbsup: )Once again my thanks to all. S & M Inc

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Thanks Bruno ;) I DID think of that AFTER I posted :o :hysterical: Typical November's Child eh??? :o Anyway it is installed Does it run in the background BrunoCheers for YearsColin B)

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Try running the EICAR virus test in Windows, and then try running it on your Linux box if you have any doubts!

(F-Prot will find it, but only in a scan since it is not running all the time, so as stated above, you could theoretically mail it to someone and if there was no AV between you and them, they could get it in their Windows machine, where if it were a real virus it could then be executed.)or the Gibson Leak Test here:
(Windows will execute it; Linux has no clue as to what to do with it!)Bill Edited by BillD
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