5. Send in the processor probes

Posted on 12 May 2008 at 15:05

Processor security isn't something that immediately springs to mind when locking down your PC. The Gibson Research Corporation has given it plenty of thought, though, and has come up with a tool called SecurAble (www.grc.com/securable.htm).

Why is processor security important? Steve Gibson says that even though Microsoft introduced support for Hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP) into the 32-bit versions of Windows XP SP2, Windows 2003 Server SP1 and Windows Vista, "it's disabled for all or most of the system's software by default and it does no-one any good unless it's turned on".

When hardware DEP is switched on, memory regions not explicitly containing executable code can be marked as non-executable, thus protecting the system heaps, stacks, data and communications buffers from running that code inadvertently. "So-called 'buffer overrun' attacks are the predominant way internet-connected computers have historically been remotely hacked and compromised," claims Gibson.

SecurAble quickly and painlessly probes your processor to determine the presence and operational status of 64-bit instruction extensions, hardware support for detecting and preventing the execution of code in program data areas and hardware support for system resource virtualisation, allowing you to see at a glance if these handy features are running on your PC.

6. Flex test your passwords

Hack it yourself

Author: Davey Winder