Advanced Plus Security CyberDevil's 2021 Security Configuration

[CyberDevil]

Hi guys! I have been testing this configuration for about a week and I am interested in your opinion. The main idea of this config is three levels of network security.
1. Norton provides application-level security by blocking traffic for little-known applications based on its cloud base.
2. NextDNS provides protection at the DNS level, allowing to minimize the chance of connecting to a compromised site.
3. BlackFog Privacy analyzes network traffic at the TCP/IP level and blocks leaks of personal data based on behavior, also, as I understand it, it blocks any direct connections over IP if the IP was not resolved by the DNS server (can someone confirm this?).
In my opinion, this is a very interesting combination of these three security applications and it seems that they do not interfere with each other.

 

[harlan4096]

@CyberDevil:

You may set UAC to Always Notify.

In Login security, even if not sharing Your system, it would be interesting to set up, at least, a Windows PIN.

In Network firewall, are You using a router? Does it have some kind of firewall feature enabled?

In Device recovery & backup, Windows Restore Points usually get corrupted or tends to fail the restoration, You should use here a Full Image System BackUp: Macrium Free or AOMEI BackUpper are reliable and free.

Thanks for sharing

 

[CyberDevil]

So, bye bye Norton! Now here are FS-Protection, HitmanPro.Alert, Portmaster and even more filters in ublock =)

 

[CyberDevil]

In Login security, even if not sharing Your system, it would be interesting to set up, at least, a Windows PIN.

Oh, I didn't pay attention! Of course, I have a small pin code from a set of favorite numbers. I also have two-factor authorization installed for all Microsoft services.

On other points: the router is quite old, so I do not attach importance to its firewall, also I think to install macrium in the near future as soon as I finish setting up and installing all the necessary software and as long as Windows is fresh enough, but I am still too lazy to enable UAC to Always Notify, I rely entirely on Hitman in eliminating zero-day threats with library substitution.

 

[CyberDevil]

After quite long tests of various antiviruses (in terms of usability) I came back to Eset again because of its lightness and interesting settings. All the nuances are in the application form above. I also have good impressions of Portmaster, although its usability still needs polishing. )

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

As harlan4096 wrote, you should set UAC to maximum.
i also don’t think you need that much Maintenance Tools.

 

[CyberDevil]

i also don’t think you need that much Maintenance Tools.

DriverEasy is the best driver installation tool I have ever tried. In Reg Organizer, I mainly use its two modules Autorun Organizer for autostart control, as well as Soft Organizer for installing and removing all software with tracking. I use Kerish Doctor quite rarely, mainly to delete empty folders and clean up temporary files, when I run out of license, i think I will replace it with free and open BleachBit

As harlan4096 wrote, you should set UAC to maximum.

I'll try

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

DriverEasy is the best driver installation tool I have ever tried.

Did you use it that often? Normally you only need watching OEM and graphic driver and even both aren’t updated much

In Reg Organizer, I mainly use its two modules Autorun Organizer for autostart control

take a look at Autoruns from Microsoft

as well as Soft Organizer for installing and removing all software with tracking.

Don’t understand. Why installing such software than before?

I use Kerish Doctor quite rarely, mainly to delete empty folders and clean up temporary files, when I run out of license, i think I will replace it with free and open BleachBit

deleting empty folder doesn’t improve anything but can break stuff if the folder is important. Temporarily stuff can be deleted with Windows internal Storage tool.

 

[CyberDevil]

Did you use it that often? Normally you only need watching OEM and graphic driver and even both aren’t updated much

For example, sound drivers are updated almost every month. If I'm not mistaken, a vulnerability was recently found in Realtek. It seems to me that updating drivers is no less important than updating any other software. Of course, as long as the compatibility remains. At least I haven't had any problems with the new drivers so far.

take a look at Autorund from Microsoft

Autorun Organizer is able to block the return of programs to auto-upload. It is enough to block a program once and even after the update, it will not be able to register itself in the startup again. For example, browsers with their updates like to return there periodically.

Don’t understand. Why installing such software than before?

I didn't understand what you didn't understand. I don't like to use backups too often, I think it's not very useful for SSD, but at the same time I sometimes try different software like a new antivirus or recently vmware instead of virtual box, such programs leave a lot of garbage in the system, programs like Reh Organizer, Revo Uninstaller or HiBit Uninstaller help to avoid the accumulation of this garbage. Often, standard uninstallers do not even remove drivers from the system folder after themselves.

deleting empty folder doesn’t improve anything but can break stuff if the folder is important. Temporarily stuff can be deleted with Windows internal Storage tool.

There's a fairly safe algorithm that removes empty folders only in Users and Temp, unless you change the setting specially. Although I agree that this is absolutely not necessary. I just like when there is nothing unnecessary in the system.

 

[Zorro]

Are there any problems with the firewall portmaster? There have been no updates to this program for a long time, and for some reason they do not go into beta testing for a long time.

 

[Kongo]

Are there any problems with the firewall portmaster? There have been no updates to this program for a long time, and for some reason they do not go into beta testing for a long time.

In case you didn't notice yet:

Portmaster Firewall (Alpha stage)

Portmaster is a free and open-source application that puts you back in charge over all your computer's network connections. What it has to offer: - Discover everything that is happening on your computer. Expose every connection your applications make and detect evil ones. Finally get the...

malwaretips.com

Now it’s actually in beta stage

 

[Zorro]

Now it’s actually in beta stage

The official website still says that the program is in alpha version.

 

[CyberDevil]

The official website still says that the program is in alpha version.

Github is an even more than official site.

 

[CyberDevil]

Bitdefender still feels like something too cumbersome and inflexible, I went back to Eset, but after watching its new tests, I realized that it has big problems, which is well solved by AppCheck installed nearby.

Add: Oh, also, I'm back on Firefox since I need to sync my phone and PC, and the android version of Brave is still more like a cryptocurrency wallet than a browser.

 

[Kongo]

NextDNS + ESET web protection + ESETs strong signatures would be sufficent protection against common entry points of Malware including Ransomware. You can even harden the Ransomware protection of ESET by adding additional HIPS rules and Firewall rules that were often mentioned before. I don't think that you actually need AppCheck if you are cautious online.

1. [KB6119] Configure HIPS rules for ESET business products to protect against ransomware (8.x)

2. [KB6132] Configure firewall rules for ESET Endpoint Security to protect against ransomware (7.3 – 9.x)

No need for another software that consumes more computer resources.

 

[CyberDevil]

I don't think that you actually need AppCheck if you are cautious online.

Shadowra's latest test showed that Eset could easily miss modifying the MBR, which would create a huge headache. I'm not sure if HIPS rules will solve this weakness in Eset.

Meanwhile, AppCheck only takes up 18 megabytes of RAM and does not create a load.

 

[SeriousHoax]

I'm back on Firefox since I need to sync my phone and PC

Is it an Android phone or an iPhone?

 

[CyberDevil]

Is it an Android phone or an iPhone?

Yes, I have an Android. I use Fennec installed from F-Droid as a stable version of Firefox without telemetry, but with full support for extensions (requires importing your collection through the developer menu) - it is very convenient.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Yes, I have an Android. I use Fennec installed from F-Droid as a stable version of Firefox without telemetry, but with full support for extensions (requires importing your collection through the developer menu) - it is very convenient.

Yeah, that feature to add any extension using that method is great. But for the PlayStore version as you know, it requires Firefox Nightly.
But does the Fennec version have syncing feature?

 

[Kongo]

Shadowra's latest test showed that Eset could easily miss modifying the MBR, which would create a huge headache. I'm not sure if HIPS rules will solve this weakness in Eset.

View attachment 262689

Meanwhile, AppCheck only takes up 18 megabytes of RAM and does not create a load.

View attachment 262690

No offence to @Shadowra as I am a big fan of his tests too, but the chance of getting this exact type of malware on your system is pretty low. The demonstrations of Shadowra show what would happen if you bomb a computer with thousands of samples and dozens of malicious links, but even the most incautious surfer wouldn't face such a big bunch of malware at once. Most malware is blocked before even reaching the antivirus layer as you are using NextDNS with great attack surface reduction protections, that will stop a big number of malware before it even reaches the next security layer of your system. In addition to NextDNS you even have the web-protection of ESET which is also pretty decent. But if you don't have any conflicts or performance issues then I don't see any reason not to use it.
Well, there is one... Bigger attack surface