Local Security

Out of all the different ways an intruder can access your computer, local access is the most promising way to circumvent your security. If a person has local access to a computer, it is only a matter of time before the data on the computer will be extracted.

However, protecting your computer against local attacks is also easy and only takes a few minutes. First, put a password on your BIOS configuration. Typically, it involves pressing Esc, Tab, F1, or some other key to access the BIOS configuration. From there, the configuration menu should have a tab about security. Open the tab about security and choose a decent password (there are hints about choosing a good password later on). Also, set the computer to boot up from the hard drive first, and do not let it try to boot from the A:\ drive or the CD-ROM drive. The reason why it shouldn’t attempt to read the A:\ or CD-ROM drive is that an intruder could use a CD-ROM bootable O.S. like Knoppix to steal your password, even though a BIOS password is set. Now save the changes and exit.

Now to set a password on your accounts on Windows operating systems:

For NT and XP users: Make sure your administrative account has a password on it. Also, put a password on any other accounts you have and disable the guest account.

For 95, 98, and ME users: The security offered on these platforms is insufficient for the protection of your data. The best option for these platforms would be to rely on other forms of protection, such as encryption.