{"id":23036,"date":"2011-07-26T10:57:50","date_gmt":"2011-07-26T15:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=23036"},"modified":"2011-07-26T10:57:50","modified_gmt":"2011-07-26T15:57:50","slug":"ask-leo-time-to-dedicate-a-machine-to-online-banking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/ask-leo-time-to-dedicate-a-machine-to-online-banking\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Leo: Time to Dedicate a Machine to Online Banking?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"askleo\"<\/p>\n

By Leo Notenboom<\/p>\n

I am wary of using online banking and brokerage services, but I would like to use them for the convenience. With basic notebook computers now costing $300 and less, I am thinking of getting one to be used solely for financial transactions. No emailing, browsing, Facebooking, etc. Ideally, I want it to connect only to a short list of financial websites and have no contact in or out with any others. What would be the best way to do this? What other safety measures should I use? After all, it is one thing to have an email account hacked, but my retirement account is something else again.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

There are a number of approaches that you can take – getting a dedicated machine is certainly one.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of thoughts on how best to do this. Most add at least a
\nlayer of inconvenience and some become downright impractical, at least to me.<\/p>\n

Much, of course, depends on your own level of concern and realistic
\nconfidence in your own abilities.<\/p>\n

Boot from a live Linux CD<\/h3>\n

This is the solution that I hear thrown about most often.<\/p>\n

The approach is very, very simple: download a “live” Linux boot CD – I would
\nrecommend Ubuntu Linux<\/a> as being
\nvery capable and popular. Then, simply reboot your existing machine from that
\nCD. (“Live” refers to the fact that it is bootable, and boots into a working or
\n“live” copy of the operating system without any install required.)<\/p>\n

“Each time that you boot from the CD,
\nyou’re starting with a completely clean slate.”<\/div>\n

Once booted, you’ll be running in Linux, not Windows; you’ll find common
\ntools, like the Firefox web browser, that you can then use to go online and do
\nwhatever you wish to do securely, without fear of Windows malware.<\/p>\n

The appeal is simply this: it’s not Windows and nothing is stored on your
\nmachine. While the live CD technically does have access to your hard drive,
\nit’s typically not mounted by default and not used at all by the running
\noperating system.<\/p>\n

So nothing that any potential malware might try to leave behind on your
\nmachine will stick – reboot and it’s gone. Each time that you boot from the CD,
\nyou’re starting with a completely clean slate.<\/p>\n

While I do know of at least one person who operates this way, I personally
\nfind this exceptionally impractical.<\/p>\n

Starting with a clean slate on each reboot means that you can save nothing –
\nnothing at all – to your own computer. While that’s kinda the point when it
\ncomes to malware, it also prevents even the simplest of operations of your
\nown.<\/p>\n

You can’t even save a bookmark without resorting to additional online
\nservices. You can’t save a PDF that you’ve downloaded without once again using
\nsome kind of additional online service, emailing it to yourself, or saving it to a USB
\nthumbdrive.<\/p>\n

To my way of thinking, pulling in additional services or using a USB drive
\ndefeats much of the purpose of having this sterile environment – it breaks the
\nisolation.<\/p>\n

And if you’re going to do that, then there’s a much more practical and usable
\napproach.<\/p>\n

A machine running Linux<\/h3>\n

A more practical approach, in my opinion, is a separate machine on which
\nsomething other than Windows (i.e. Linux) is actually installed.<\/p>\n

If you restrict your activity on this machine to only your high-security
\nactivities, such as your online banking needs, then you get most of the benefit
\nof the live CD approach, while being able to save downloaded documents,
\nbookmarks, and other customizations without needing to repeat them each time that you
\nrestart the system.<\/p>\n

In fact, it’s very reasonable to include file-sharing access to other
\nmachines on your local network so as to transfer documents to this secure
\nsystem. You might even set up an email client so that you can act on email
\nrequests, click links, and\/or use that as a way to transfer files without setting up
\nmachine-to-machine networking.<\/p>\n

Purists will argue that each of these “convenience-enabling” actions reduces
\nthe absolute security of the solution … and they’re right. The live CD is in
\nan absolute sense more secure.<\/p>\n

The question boils down to this: is the amount of additional security you
\ngain from using only a live CD worth the inconvenience? My take, naturally, is
\nnot. In fact, I’d predict that most folks who intend to use the live CD
\napproach will soon abandon it. It takes a certain amount of rigor to stick with
\nit. If you can, great.<\/p>\n

But for the rest of us … we’re human, and I know I’m lazy. I’d rather walk
\nover to the Linux machine that’s all ready to go and with which I can easily
\ntransfer files as needed.<\/p>\n

Article Continued Here: A machine doesn’t have to be a new machine, or a machine at all<\/a><\/h3>\n

This post is excerpted with Leo’s permission from his blog.<\/p>\n

FaceBook URL: Leo’s Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter URL: http:\/\/twitter.com\/askleo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"askleo\"<\/p>\n

Using a dedicated machine is one approach to significantly improving the security of online opertations. I’ll examine the approach and alternatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":66012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[46,4875,623,624,625,229],"class_list":["post-23036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leo-notenboom","tag-ask-leo","tag-leo-notenboom","tag-linux","tag-online-banking","tag-online-security","tag-windows"],"yoast_head":"\nAsk Leo: Time to Dedicate a Machine to Online Banking?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Using a dedicated machine is one approach to significantly improving the security of online opertations. 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