Advanced Plus Security blackice's 2021 Security Configuration

[blackice]

Basically no change on the new rig for the year. Probably switching from Cloudflare to Quad9 when I can take the network down while I'm awake. Cloudflare sometimes won't resolve the IP for my work's VPN.

 

[blackice]

Decided since I took the time to do this to switch the network to Quad9 DNS. We'll see if that resolves the DNS issues for my work VPN.

 

[Kongo]

Are you using any browser extensions? If so, could you add them to your post? Good config btw.

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Computer specifications
Ryzen 5 5600x
32GB G.Skill Trident Neo 3600 cl16

I own a Ryzen 5-5600X too but with 32GB Crucial PC 3200 CL16 KIT (2x16B) Ballistix.
As the Ryzen only run with 3200 Mhz RAM by default so i wonder at which Mhz your RAM run

 

[blackice]

Fixed, nothing fancy.

Chrome -
uBlock Origin
1Password

Edge Chromium -
uBlock Origin
1Password

Firefox -
uBlock Origin
Malwarebyte Browser Guard
1Password

Brave -
Malwarebyte Browser Guard
1Password

 

[blackice]

I own a Ryzen 5-5600X too but with 32GB Crucial PC 3200 CL16 KIT (2x16B) Ballistix.
As the Ryzen only run with 3200 Mhz RAM by default so i wonder at which Mhz your RAM run

Zen 3 infinity fabric runs 1:1 up to 1800mhz. Which is the speed mine runs at; and DDR makes it 3600. Just set to D.O.C.P. Settings.

 

[Lightning_Brian]

How is Quad9 for your DNS working out thus far?

~Brian

 

[blackice]

How is Quad9 for your DNS working out thus far?

~Brian

Seems to be doing great. Honestly I think DNS speed is overstated (to a degree) since cache is used in browsers and routers. Most of my browsing is to frequent sites and when it’s not I don’t notice the extra 10ms. I don’t visit many sketchy places so I can’t speak to the security. I also no longer have resolution issues for my work network, and fewer failures when using DoH on the devices I have that on. Which is funny because cloudflare used to be the only DoT system that would work as an ASUS router solution because of some technical quirks.

I saw a good interview with one of their leads a while back and liked what they had to say. Also, if I recall correctly, their director, or whatever his title is, has been active on the smallnetbuilder forums and had some good insight into their operations.

Overall I’d give Quad9 a thumbs up.

Edit: I should also note I used Quad9 in the past and liked it. I switched to the fastest alternative DNS for me, because why not, but am happy to try it again.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

I gave Quad9 a brief test drive a week ago, it seemed to slow down my browser's opening of web pages. It was very noticeable but wasn't much of a test though, couple minutes of slowdowns and removed.

 

[blackice]

I gave Quad9 a brief test drive a week ago, it seemed to slow down my browser's opening of web pages. It was very noticeable but wasn't much of a test though, couple minutes of slowdowns and removed.

Location can definitely cause people to have differing experiences. I know we are fairly far apart so we’d definitely be pinging different servers.

 

[blackice]

Switched to AVG Internet Security thanks to @McMcbrad ’s tips.

 

[blackice]

Also disabled Malwarebytes Extension in Brave and Firefox since AVG has both covered. Now just 1Password enabled.

 

[blackice]

Zen 3 infinity fabric runs 1:1 up to 1800mhz. Which is the speed mine runs at; and DDR makes it 3600. Just set to D.O.C.P. Settings.View attachment 252546

@SecurityNightmares I was just reading something that brought my mind back to this post. You are 100% correct that the spec for Ryzen 5000 is DDR4 3200 (1600mhz). And anything else is considered overclocking, even XMP/DOCP. So technically it could void your warranty (though outside of messing with voltages I don’t think they do). AMD doesn’t actually make this very clear since they advertise the Infinity Fabric can actually go up to 3733 at a 1:1 ratio.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Your config still shows Microsoft Defender as the Firewall. You may wanna change that.
BTW, you were talking about checking AVG's Firewall if it had any negative impact or something like that. Have you find anything noteworthy?

 

[blackice]

Your config still shows Microsoft Defender as the Firewall. You may wanna change that.
BTW, you were talking about checking AVG's Firewall if it had any negative impact or something like that. Have you find anything noteworthy?

Thanks, I sleepily missed changing that. Happily it seems as invisible as ESET. Bitdefender would sometimes add odd latency that I couldn’t nail down, but it was only occasionally (I didn’t even realize it was BD until I uninstalled it). AVG hasn’t seemed to have affected my connection at all in Speedtest, downloads, or when playing games with low pings. I don’t get a lot of time for games, but pings seem the same with the little I have tried since installing.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Thanks, I sleepily missed changing that. Happily it seems as invisible as ESET. Bitdefender would sometimes add odd latency that I couldn’t nail down, but it was only occasionally (I didn’t even realize it was BD until I uninstalled it). AVG hasn’t seemed to have affected my connection at all in Speedtest, downloads, or when playing games with low pings. I don’t get a lot of time for games, but pings seem the same with the little I have tried since installing.

Everything is great then with AVG

 

[blackice]

Everything is great then with AVG

So far so good. I even think my issue with 3DMark may have been a rare case of my CPU undervolt not being 100% stable. Hard to tell since only that program froze, but windows didn’t crash. I added some voltage to be sure. But I never reproduced it.

 

[blackice]

Removed Brave, updated PC Maintenance section. I am going to try Edge Chromium as my main solution again. I like Firefox, but it can be a touch slower and less secure (and compatible). If M$ wants to steal my browsing they can on Win 10 anyway, so I feel fine using Edge.

 

[blackice]

Went back to Defender from AVG for this rig. Started getting slightly lower CPU performance that was inexplicable. Only new thing was more recent AMD chipset drivers. But it was repeatable causing 8% performance loss by benchmarks, which was no bueno. Back to WD for this one for now.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Went back to Defender from AVG for this rig. Started getting slightly lower CPU performance that was inexplicable. Only new thing was more recent AMD chipset drivers. But it was repeatable causing 8% performance loss by benchmarks, which was no bueno. Back to WD for this one for now.

I noticed I was getting 8 fewer FPS on average on a game with AVG. The game was even on the exclusion list. I got curious and went back to WD, and it was normal again. I already had a plan to freshly install Windows and did it last night. Now it turns out WD is even a bit faster in default settings compared to Configure Defender at high. I have 2-3 apps that used to launch with a 2-2.5 sec delay on first run after booting up the PC (fast startup is disabled). Now those apps are launching almost immediately too. I'm not sure which particular setting/settings was causing this slight delay on those apps. I think I'm gonna stay with the default settings for a while.