The Admin/User Principal
When most people get a new computer they setup a login or use the
default login which usually have ‘administrative’ privileges. With
administrative privileges, you can install ANYTHING on your computer and
this is also what gets people in trouble. Most malware gains access to
your system by tricking the user into installing their program. A
common mode of deception is the “you have viruses” approach where a
windows pops up telling you that your system is infected. Even if you
know you’re looking at a fake and try to exit or shut down the program,
the makers had the foresight to make the cancel button and the red ‘X’
close-window button into an install button. That’s right, you think
you’re getting out of a bad situation when you tell it to close you’re
actually installing the malware. One way to prevent the installation
would be open the ‘Task Manager’ and end the process to kill the
installation. Another more proactive way to prevent malware for getting
installed on your systems is to reserve administrative privileges for
administrative tasks, such as program installations.
It’s a very
easy concept to implement. Create one account with administrative
privileges and make the rest ‘limited’ users. In order for malware to
install itself into your system, it needs access to critical operating
system files and directories. By surfing the web with only ‘user’
privileges, you cut off malware’s ability to install in the background
because the user security settings won’t allow it. When you need to
install a program you simply login to your ‘administrative’ account.