Secunia: popular security suites failing to block exploits

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Patch your applications...

And don't run your browser with administrative rights (in case you forget to patch those applications, e.g., WinAmp, QuickTime, etc).

If you're on Windows XP/2000 or Vista and you've foolishly turned off UAC, you can use this tool:

http://www.download.com/RemoveAdmin/3000-2381_4-10824971.html?tag=lst-1&cdlPid=10835515

Thing is, RemoveAdmin is a general tool. You can strip administrative rights on anything. Even though the installer doesn't create shortcuts for other browsers or applications, let's say you wanted to secure Opera.

Create a shortcut on your desktop. Right click on it, select "Properties", go to the "Target" edit field and enter this

"c:\Program Files\RemoveAdmin\removeAdmin.exe" "C:\Program Files\Opera\Opera.exe"

That's ONE line by the way and don't forget the space between the second double quote and the third one - you're passing a command line argument to RemoveAdmin.

You can change the shortcut's icon to use Opera's icon. Just hit the "Change Icon" button. Windows will tell you removeAdmin.exe has no icons, that's ok. A popup allows you to specify some other .EXE to get icons from. Just enter the path to Opera, i.e.:

"C:\Program Files\Opera\Opera.exe"

Now you can pick the icon you want and your shortcut looks "polished". Call it "SecureOpera" or some such.

I use this tool to strip admin rights on any application that talks on the Internet.

-M

Posted by: betelgeuse68   Posted on: 10/14/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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