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advice on security setup for my elderly inlaws

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tomos:
uBlock Origin
-dr_andus (May 09, 2016, 06:27 PM)
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good ideas, but uBlock Origin may be a bit too conservative -- it blocks a lot of pages for relatively minor stuff imo (using it in FF & PaleMoon at any rate). It does give you the option to proceed to the page, but not sure if that whole scenario is great for a beginner.

dr_andus:
You're right (it's mainly the blocking of google ad links that might be offputting to a beginner). Adblock Plus might be better then.

mouser:
one piece of advice given above is good -- make a full drive image of the computer when you get it set up the way you want it, and you keep a copy of that.  then if their set up gets messed up, you can restore it to how you had it in minutes.

Stoic Joker:
Ransomware targets the user to get them to compromise their own files. Click here...boom! Your stuff is gone (/encrypted). Now what?-Stoic Joker (May 09, 2016, 12:54 PM)
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How would that work on Chome OS though? You don't normally keep your files on the Chromebook, you keep them in Google Drive. So a hacker would need to hack Google's server to be able to access and encrypt the files. At that point it would also become Google's problem, so the user is not entirely alone to face the problem, like when it's your Windows machine that gets infected.-dr_andus (May 09, 2016, 01:27 PM)
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No need to hack anything since the user is already logged in, so anything accessible within the current users context is automatically subsequently...exposed.


While it's possible to keep files locally in a Chromebook, it is not encouraged, and there is not a lot of space (a typical Chromebook comes with 16GB local drive). But it's not possible to run an executable in Chrome OS, so the risk of ransomware seems remote.-dr_andus (May 09, 2016, 01:27 PM)
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People are people... :) And .exe is not the only 'executable' code, Flash, Java, JavaScript, and friends all have options to reak havoc if applied in that fashion...and once again: There is no security blocking access - by the current user - to the current users files...and those are ransomware's target. That's precisely what makes the damn thing so freaking dangerous.



Chrome OS probably is just fine for less adept users...but assuming that it will magically defend against ransomware just because it isn't Windows is a very very risky strategy.
-Stoic Joker (May 09, 2016, 12:54 PM)
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Actually security by obscurity worked well enough for quite a few years for those on the Mac and Linux platforms. So if Chrome OS is obscure and its obscurity gives it some safety, maybe there is some value in that, even if it's temporary and not absolute.-dr_andus (May 09, 2016, 01:27 PM)
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Yeah, unfortunately (back then), it worked just well enough to dramatize the nice big hole in the "Target Market" that is now being closed ... Because now this has become a money game. Back in the day it was about pride, prowess, and bragging rights. Now it's a mercenary money game...and that makes it a very very ugly game indeed.

First rule of security, is to never assume you are safe.

dr_andus:
First rule of security, is to never assume you are safe.
-Stoic Joker (May 10, 2016, 06:47 AM)
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I'm not saying that Chrome OS is undefeatable (there have been a few rogue extensions, and Google makes some effort to weed them out), but it eliminates a lot of sources of threats (such as .exe or Java, which is not allowed to run on Chrome OS, or not storing your personal files locally).

There are just very few things currently that can go wrong when compared to other OS's (especially once kitted out with adblockers), which makes it ideal for less savvy users, and especially to those who are providing the IT support.

All I can say is that since I've replaced Windows machines with Chromebooks in my family (young and old), support requests dropped to zero, viruses dropped to zero (and everybody is super-happy with their machines), while before I had to deal with all kinds of Windows emergencies or cryptic pop-ups, spending hours on the phone or dealing with them in person.

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