I have seen public computers with outdated and flawed security systems. For example, I have seen security systems that let you edit and access most of the system files. Discuss:

-insecure public computers
-what can be done to make them more secure
-what the most secure security software could be to prevent hackers
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thought this meant public computers who feel anxious and unconfident

what do you mean by “public”? like computers in a library? a school? an internet café?

luiysia wrote:

thought this meant public computers who feel anxious and unconfident

Heh, yeah, that's usually what I usually think of when someone says “insecure” as well.

I've seen a lot of computers running google maps at museums.
They try to keep people from using anything but google maps by getting rid of everything but the webpage (no startbar, internet options, x button)
But it's quite easy to exploit, all you got to do is click the google logo in the bottom right corner

About half the computers at my local library were attacked by a virus about a year ago.

CN12 wrote:

About half the computers at my local library were attacked by a virus about a year ago.

What OS were they running?

All the computers at my library run Windows 2000
I guess since malware / virus coders keep their attention to the OS with the most market share (Win XP and 7 IIRC) those computers aren't very vulnerable. But with the rising popularity of HTML 5 and the uncompatibility of it with Win 2000, my library is going to have to ugrade sooner or later.

My school runs Win 7 and it is the most secure thing ever.
(well, that's a lie. )
Literally- it blocks Google translate and images but you can bypass it in seconds.
Whenever I want google images i'm google.com/imghp.

Oh you mean like when I dualbooted Linux on a school computer?
My school's computers are actually really secure. The library's are not so much. They have no security software and running Firefox 3.0, Windows XP.

chocolatepenguin wrote:

My school runs Win 7 and it is the most secure thing ever.
(well, that's a lie. )
Literally- it blocks Google translate and images but you can bypass it in seconds.
Whenever I want google images i'm google.com/imghp.

Haha. My school used to block YouTube, but so many people circumvented it they got rid of the filters (yesss)
Here's how:
1. Go to google and type in “youtube”
2. Click the first result.

No I'm not even kidding, it was that bad.

scratchisthebest wrote:

chocolatepenguin wrote:

My school runs Win 7 and it is the most secure thing ever.
(well, that's a lie. )
Literally- it blocks Google translate and images but you can bypass it in seconds.
Whenever I want google images i'm google.com/imghp.

Haha. My school used to block YouTube, but so many people circumvented it they got rid of the filters (yesss)
Here's how:
1. Go to google and type in “youtube”
2. Click the first result.

No I'm not even kidding, it was that bad.

Well get this. Our school has 2 wifi networks. There is a student network that has a filter, a 25 minute usage limit, and a password. There is also a staff only one with no filter, no time limit, and no password. No logic in that one.

LeDerpy123 wrote:

scratchisthebest wrote:

chocolatepenguin wrote:

My school runs Win 7 and it is the most secure thing ever.
(well, that's a lie. )
Literally- it blocks Google translate and images but you can bypass it in seconds.
Whenever I want google images i'm google.com/imghp.

Haha. My school used to block YouTube, but so many people circumvented it they got rid of the filters (yesss)
Here's how:
1. Go to google and type in “youtube”
2. Click the first result.

No I'm not even kidding, it was that bad.

Well get this. Our school has 2 wifi networks. There is a student network that has a filter, a 25 minute usage limit, and a password. There is also a staff only one with no filter, no time limit, and no password. No logic in that one.

That's hilarious

I wonder what an really secure security program actually is. The others are too often outdated and bypassed when used on newer OS's.

PlasmaKairo wrote:

CN12 wrote:

About half the computers at my local library were attacked by a virus about a year ago.

What OS were they running?

All the computers at my library run Windows 2000
I guess since malware / virus coders keep their attention to the OS with the most market share (Win XP and 7 IIRC) those computers aren't very vulnerable. But with the rising popularity of HTML 5 and the uncompatibility of it with Win 2000, my library is going to have to ugrade sooner or later.

Either 2000 or XP, if it was XP, it's set to the classic look.

I remember last year the computers at my school were really crazy. Someone messed up a firewall, and well…….. lets just say some awkward stuff happened.

The only thing that our school is good about is the separation of admin/student accounts. I cannot access the control panel and my tech teacher actually gave me an hour to try to because he was really nice and he was very confident in his work. I could do anything except download programs or log out of my account. I couldn't do it.

LeDerpy123 wrote:

The only thing that our school is good about is the separation of admin/student accounts. I cannot access the control panel and my tech teacher actually gave me an hour to try to because he was really nice and he was very confident in his work. I could do anything except download programs or log out of my account. I couldn't do it.

Did it allow access to the command prompt or the boot menu from the start screen? Those are two flaws in some Windows securities. Also, task manager, too, I think can be open for malicious, uh, end users as normal processes can be ended and stuff

turkey3_test wrote:

LeDerpy123 wrote:

The only thing that our school is good about is the separation of admin/student accounts. I cannot access the control panel and my tech teacher actually gave me an hour to try to because he was really nice and he was very confident in his work. I could do anything except download programs or log out of my account. I couldn't do it.

Did it allow access to the command prompt or the boot menu from the start screen? Those are two flaws in some Windows securities. Also, task manager, too, I think can be open for malicious, uh, end users as normal processes can be ended and stuff

No and no. The “new task” feature in the task manager is disabled at school for some reason.

Someone once accidently got malware on one of the school computers…

It took days for the (human) security software to clear it out.