Re: Basic Computer Security Advice Needed

["Kurt Buff" <kurt.buff () gmail com>]

The SANS Reading Room is your friend - look for it on http://www.sans.org.

Also, a couple of words of advice.

First, make sure that the OSes you're using are supported by the
vendor. If any of them are too old for vendor support ('fer instance,
Win9x, and Pre-OSX Macs) make sure they don't have access to the
Internet, or any network, for that matter.

Second, make sure they're patched.

Beyond that, what you need to do will depend on your circumstances.

Kurt

On Fri, May 16, 2008 at 10:52 AM, Mark Goodridge
<mrgoodridge () roadrunner com> wrote:
> I am what passes for the computer technology guy at a small elementary
> school. I'm trying to improve the security of the information we store on
> our computers and I hope this list can give me some advice.
>
> First, I'm looking for an appropriate definition of information security as
> it would apply to my situation. "If I don't know what it is, how will I know
> when I've found it?"
>
> Second, I need to write a policy or a checklist, or a document of some sort
> we can use to evaluate, monitor, and improve our computer/information
> security.
>
> We're constrained by time, training, and money. Any policy I devise has to
> be capable of being implemented and managed by people with modest computer
> skills (the equivalent of the CompTIA A+ or Network+) with limited time
> available, and for all practical purposes, no funding.
>
> I realize that under these circumstances an extremely high level of security
> is unobtainable and probably unnecessary in any event. What I hope to be
> able to do it to make the information on the LAN secure from the casual
> hacker and all but the most persistent attacks from those who might
> deliberately target our network.
>
> Can you direct me toward any resources; particularly security definitions,
> security frameworks, or security policies that you think might assist me? I
> have done the usual Google searches and come up with an overwhelming list of
> web sites but I was wondering if you knew of anything that specifically
> addressed my problem.
>
> Thank you for your assistance,
>
> Mark Goodridge