Re: I need to password protect my pc at startup

Kat wrote:
I have XP Home on my PC at work. I need to protect my computer so
NO ONE else can get on to it. I know someone has been coming into
the office after hours and on weekends and reading my emails and
looking at files. Personal emails have been read and then marked
unread but when I click them typically the person sending has "send
a receipt" when opening emails and on Mondays I'm not getting that
message if I reply to an email and the sender again replies then I
do get that. Also when looking at properties on files it will say
when it was last accessed and it will be a time I was not at work.
So...
How do I make my computer secure?
Is using windows logon with a password secure enough so no one else
can get on my pc?
Is there a better way to protect my machine?

Shenan Stanley wrote:
If someone has unrestricted physical access to your computer and
time - they can access everything on it. The only 'practical'
exception may be encrypted files/folders - as they *may* take years
to get into using means most would have access to. Beyond that...

I think you may be suspecting something that is not happening. You
seem to concentrate around email specifically - which to me implies
that the security breach may have nothing to do with the local
computer. Email goes through servers - and depending on what type
of server your company uses - someone could easily get access to
your email account from anywhere given the right resources and
ingenuity. As for the file 'access' stamps - are these locally
stored files or are they stored on a remote server share?
You can 'somewhat' secure the system from most. There is ways
around everything, however. New lock - custodial staff likely can
still get in - as well as other people. New password(s)? The IT
Staff likely still has full access to your computer remotely and
your email without even knowing your password.

Of course - if this is *not* your computer and is your company's
computer and the IT staff is not involved in fixing this with you -
some of this may be against policy and get you in trouble...

1) Lock your office. The first rule of computing security measures
is physical security. Without physical security - just about
everything else can be overcome. If you think your cuyrrent lock
will not stop them - ask to have the lock changed.

2) Change all your passwords. I recommend passwords that are 15
characters or longer. Hopefully you don't have any limitations in
length (other than 'has to be at least x characters...) Something
you can remember - but not obvious. Making up a phrase and then
abbreviating/putting in numbers and symbols is a good method. Like..
"Stop hacking into my computer!" could turn into
"5topH4ckingInt0MyC0mp!"...
3) You could set a BIOS password and change the boot method so that
it boots only from the hard disk drive (no other methods.) How to
get into your BIOS and such would differ per machine - but most
tell you when powering on the first time what key(s) to press to
get into the BIOS/System Setup and once there - setting a password
to boot the computer and/or change BIOS settings should be easy
enough to find. If you set it so that it won't even start to boot
without the password - this is actually your best protection (in
your case) as the 'casual' hacker will not likely be able to get
past this and the better hacker would - but covering their tracks
would be almost impossible - you'd *know* someone came in and did
something. Some others might just take the drive out and boot in a
similar/exact other machine - then put it back when done - but
they'd have to REALLY want whatever you have on that machine. ;-)

Kat wrote:
I'm at a very small company... we have 8 people working in the
office here. I don't know that much about how to set up passwords
or if using the log on password is effective enough. I do not have
that set up now. I am one of 3 owners here, almost everyone in the
office has keys to get in here on evenings and weekends. We are to
small to have an IT person let alone a department. So we are
pretty much on our own. One person here is best with pc's and does
what she can to keep us up and running but doesn't seem to know if
the windows log on is secure enough to prevent other people on my
machine. I have several files password protected so users can not
get into those. However I suspect a co-owner getting nosey and
poking around on my machine.
Hopefully this has helped explain my concern. I have delicate
files on my machine that this other person has admitted getting
into and reading. I don't want them doing that again so I'd like
to protect my machine when I am not here. This person being an
owner has access to my office as well with keys so locking the door
isn't going to do it.
I want to set it up with a password so that if the machine is off,
they can not get into it even if they can turn it on.

None of that changes my advice, really. You may have to learn some things
in order to do some of the things I suggested - but the advice is not going
to change. A logon password is *not* enough to prevent someone with
time/tools/skills from getting to your files. As I stated - the reality is
not much will stop someone who wants to get to your stuff if they have time
and access.

You may be in over your head without an IT staff - you may want to hire
someone who knows what they are doing to go through the steps I provided -
someone who has nothing to gain by leaving any backdoors in your system. ;-)

By the way, you said, "... I have several files password protected ..." <--
what do you mean by that? Password protected in what way? Using
Word/Excel/Office's password protect? Or creating a ZIP file and password
protecting it? Or perhaps using file encryption (EFS or truecrypt or
something similar?) Other than the encryption - the other methods I
mentioned provide about as much protection as the logon password - which is
just about none. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


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