How Do I Secure My Devices Against Viruses? Antivirus

 

In partnership with the Cybermalveillance platform, ZDNet.fr broadcasts during the month of November a series of videos to raise awareness of the most common computer attack risks. Today: malware.

In addition to being vigilant in the face of a suspicious link or file, it is possible to strengthen the security of your devices. Indeed, many security solutions exist to protect against various attacks, such as viruses, ransomware (ransomware), phishing that can be suffered by mobile devices or computers.

While Windows has made great strides in securing its operating system, the tools Microsoft provides for device security remain inferior to what the rest of the market offers. To spread malware, attackers exploit security vulnerabilities in programs installed on the device: these are corrected by the publisher in the various updates. Except of course, when the publisher itself is not aware of the security flaw used by cybercriminals: in this case, we generally speak of 0day flaws, and defending against malware exploiting such faults is often complex.

Get an antivirus, keep it up to date, and scan your device regularly. Pay particular attention to your mobile devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.) which are used more and more on a daily basis and are often much less secure than desktop computers. It is therefore important to equip yourself with security tools. Do not install pirated applications or programs. Always update your devices early to secure the system and installed software. Finally, make regular backups of your data. An up-to-date operating system is the best guarantee of security!

Safer Networks at Home: How to work remotely in 2021

Working from home full time presents a unique set of challenges. However, there is one aspect that is easy to overlook: the security of your home network.

Many of us have now spent nearly nine months working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and have adapted to this new way of doing things, potentially for the long term, if not permanently.

Many employers are now realizing that their employees can be just as effective working remotely as they are at their premises. But working effectively from a distance doesn't have to mean working in the safest way possible. Here are several technologies to consider - you may already have some of these options to enable in your equipment - to work safely from your home, over the next year and beyond.

Desktop Ethernet Switches

Nothing beats good old wired ethernet for network security and performance. If you have a desk and can put a small switch in it to connect the PC, printer, and other work equipment, do so instead of using Wi-Fi.

If you have one of those newer laptops, Mac or Windows, that don't have an ethernet port, feel free to get a USB-C ethernet dongle or docking station. These are particularly suitable for adding additional USB ports and distributing video and audio across multiple monitors and external speakers.

Wi-Fi 6 and WPA3

Wi-Fi 6 is faster wireless technology, but also more secure. Indeed, it is more resistant to outside intrusion attempts by an access point or the router. This new security protocol standard used by Wi-Fi 6 is called WPA3 and was introduced a few years ago on an experimental basis in the 802.11ac standard or in routers and Wi-Fi 5 access points. If you can activate it in your existing equipment, possibly through a firmware update, absolutely do so.

WPA3 is more secure than the previous WPA2 (which replaced WEP, and you absolutely must not have any devices or equipment using it, in your home or small business), because it prevents the attacker to record the process when your devices connect to the access point, to reproduce this connection on his computer and to crack your offline passwords.

The easiest way to install Wi-Fi 6 on your home network is to get yourself a Wi-Fi 6 access point and connect it to your existing routers, for example using an internet provider that provides you with an equipped box. You can also put many third-party routers in "Bridge" mode, or perform so-called "Double NAT". In my opinion, double NAT should be avoided if possible, due to its complexity.

Remember, your devices should also support Wi-Fi 6 or WPA3, but all current smartphone and PC / Mac operating systems support WPA3, and all these new hotspots Wi-Fi 6 are backward compatible with your existing equipment.

Guest Networks and SSIDs

Access Control Lists (ACLs) are another way to separate devices and define what can and cannot talk to each other. Again, this is a setting in your router's configuration that allows you to define entry and exit patterns on the internet, using the MAC address of specific devices on your network.

Additionally, in separate access points and some high-end consumer Wi-Fi routers and access points, you can create additional SSIDs (the name of your wireless network) to go with those VLANs and even disable them. broadcasting SSIDs so that only you know which network to connect to; no one else in your neighborhood can see it.

VLANs and ACLs

Virtual private network (VLAN) is a technology that you may have already integrated into your existing router or ethernet switch. It's all about giving your wired and wireless ethernet devices a dedicated lane. To do this, simply enable VLAN "tagging" in the switch or router configuration and create a unique virtual network that only specifically assigned devices can see.

So, for example, if you create a VLAN 100, and place the PCs and equipment in your home office on that VLAN 100, nothing else in your home can communicate with them, such as IoT equipment or the like. In Windows, a VLAN tag is set in your PC's network adapters configuration options. On Mac, this is done in  Network Preferences.

If the VLAN is too complicated or difficult to set up with your existing equipment, consider separating IoT and other devices from your work systems by setting up the guest network of your Wi-Fi router, and have them connect. to this instead of your primary Wi-Fi.

Prioritization of Network/Traffic quality of service

This is another way to limit what devices on your network can do, but it's specific to bandwidth usage. QoS stands for Quality of Service. If you work at home and your office PC or Mac needs most of the network bandwidth, say for a high traffic application like Zoom, you don't want your kids or other equipment to consume that bandwidth when you need it most.

So you can set the amount of bandwidth, where, when, and which apps get what, depending on the device and what the router offers. In some home broadband routers, this is called traffic prioritization.

Firewall and Unified Threat Management (UTM)

Many routers have some sort of built-in firewall, and most also have capabilities already enabled. But most of the ones available in the market are pretty straightforward and use what is called Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) because it is much less CPU intensive. However, it isn't as sophisticated as Unified Threat Management, which uses a technology known as Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and even blocks things like viruses or phishing.

Deep packet inspection examines network traffic at the bit and byte level. UTM allows you to see not only malicious behavior on things like network ports but also the actual footprint of malicious traffic. This requires additional processing power at the device level that a typical home broadband router does not have.

A firewall with UTM can cost up to thousands of dollars depending on how fast you want it to go, and the number of users who need to use it simultaneously. If you have a 100 megabit connection, you can get firewalls that handle your wire speed without degrading your performance. If you have a gigabit connection, you might need to look into devices that cost $ 500 or more.

Some of these products also have an annual subscription cost for malware signature updates. You can also build these types of firewalls using old PCs, or Raspberry Pi's, using free software like Endian, and a few others. You can also buy PC software like SOPHOS, which you can also run on a cheap box.

VPNs

A VPN is a virtual private network. We have already talked about VLANs, which allow you to separate devices that talk to each other on your own network before going on the internet. This technology is different because it creates an encrypted "tunnel" that carries traffic between your device, at the point of origin or endpoint, and where it goes on the Internet.

If your employer has a VPN hotspot, like Cisco or Microsoft, they've probably provided you with the software or configuration file that you can run on your PC or Mac or even on your mobile device or even on your router (or firewall) itself to connect to your work, your corporate data center, or your internet service provider.

But you can also set up VPNs on public terminals using subscription services so that it is more difficult for your traffic to be spied on. VPNs are widely used by users from other countries, like China, to access websites like Google and Facebook, as they are blocked/censored by firewalls. They are also used to circumvent media restrictions imposed by services like Netflix, allowing users in specific regions to view certain content. Secure your device with antivirus and protect your device.