Personal PC: Microsoft Account yes or no?

badrobot · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
Can you clarify please how?
All my games are originals and digitally signed.

Why are you inclined to use other OS if not for gaming?

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

badrobot said:
Why are you inclined to use other OS if not for gaming?

Primarily for privacy reasons.

Protecting your privacy today is way more difficult that managing security of a system.
You can secure your system without any issues, you can make is "un-hackable",
but I still have not found effective methods to protect privacy and it's only getting worse with all those privacy hostile features included in windows with every new release of the OS.

Dru2 · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
Can you clarify please how?
All my games are originals and digitally signed.

Anytime you install a piece of software to include games, you risk exposure and especially if a game connects to the internet.

Yes, the risk is minimal, but still.... hackers are remarkable in their ability to find ways to infiltrate your system. And why keeping your OS and malware/virus software updated helps protect against these things.

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

Dru2 said:
Anytime you install a piece of software to include games, you risk exposure and especially if a game connects to the internet.

True, but this is the case with any software not just games.

My simple method is to never let any program connect to internet unless I inspect every port with process monitor and then google out purpose of connection.
If there is no meaningful result in google I either keep it blocked or declare harmful, depending on if it's digitally signed or not and in addition whether publisher is known.

Dru2 said:
hackers are remarkable in their ability to find ways to infiltrate your system. And why keeping your OS and malware/virus software updated helps protect against these things.

Agree, that's why we also must educate ourselfs of their methods.
I keep everything up to date but that's far from enough.

Dru2 · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
You can secure your system without any issues, you can make is "un-hackable",

That's a false assumption.

The only way to be "un-hackable" is to never connect to the internet. And never connect to other devices to include external drives.

johnlgalt · Jun 21, 2023

Dru2 said:
That's a false assumption.

The only way to be "un-hackable" is to never connect to the internet. And never connect to other devices to include external drives.

^^^^^^ This, 100%.

If it is digital, it CAN be hacked. If it is connected to an external connection, whether network or device, it is always less than 100% safe. No matter how good your Anti-Malware suite(s) / procedures are.

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

Dru2 said:
That's a false assumption.

The only way to be "un-hackable" is to never connect to the internet. And never connect to other devices to include external drives.

No hacker no matter how skilled will be able to hack you if you close all your ports on your hardware firewall.
The only other way around is when you install a malware program which connects outbound but this can as well be solved by configuring software firewall to block outbound and of course by not installing malware in the first place.

Only ISP may screw you with firmware but this is solvable if one buys good hardware firewall that is not from ISP.

johnlgalt · Jun 21, 2023

If you close all your ports you cannot connect to anything outside the firewall.

Furthermore, most people don't have hardware firewalls other than those built in to their Internet Service Provider's equipment.

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

johnlgalt said:
If you close all your ports you cannot connect to anything outside the firewall.

If you close all ports (I mean inbound on hardware firewall) then no hacker can get in, assuming you're not running a server or something.
The rest is all about you, which is where software firewall needs to block outbound, and your only job is to monitor outbound traffic and set up rules to allow legitimate connections.

But 95% of the people (I'm sure) do not do that.

johnlgalt said:
Furthermore, most people don't have hardware firewalls other than those built in to their Internet Service Provider's equipment.

It's not really expensive, anyone can afford it if it whishes to feel extra safety.
you can find good one for approx. 500$ onward, that's not so much, it's like buying a new CPU.

johnlgalt · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
If you close all ports (I mean inbound on hardware firewall) then no hacker can get in, assuming you're not running a server or something.
The rest is all about you, which is where software firewall needs to block outbound, and your only job is to monitor outbound traffic and set up rules to allow legitimate connections.

But 95% of the people (I'm sure) do not do that.

It's not really expensive, anyone can afford it if it whishes to feel extra safety.
you can find good one for approx. 500$ onward, that's not so much, it's like buying a new CPU.

I run a much more complex system than most people, so you're preaching to the choir here. But most people don't, as you noted.

Even then, though, you're only looking at directed hacking via network penetration. That is only one facet of security. Even having a physical hardware firewall does not guarantee that you're safe. It minimizes the risk of external penetration - it does not fully prevent it.

Plus, there is a lot more to digital safety than just preventing external penetration. A whole lot more.

To be fully safe and secure, you have to disconnect it completely. However, in today's age of always connected everything everywhere all at once, that is pretty much impossible.

Dru2 · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
No hacker no matter how skilled will be able to hack you if you close all your ports on your hardware firewall.
The only other way around is when you install a malware program which connects outbound but this can as well be solved by configuring software firewall to block outbound and of course by not installing malware in the first place.

Only ISP may screw you with firmware but this is solvable if one buys good hardware firewall that is not from ISP.

No matter what you do, if you're connected to the internet, you're hackable. The only question is whether you have something someone really wants. And whether they have to skillset to get past the defenses used.

All that said, that doesn't mean we stop trying to protect ourselves, only that we understand the real world we live in.

Good luck.

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

johnlgalt said:
Even having a physical hardware firewall does not guarantee that you're safe.

Dru2 said:
No matter what you do, if you're connected to the internet, you're hackable.

I'm not aware of any method or real-life case where an inbound blocking hardware firewall has been breached, it's theoretically impossible.
only if you're runing a service and need to open port it becomes possible to get trough.

johnlgalt said:
That is only one facet of security.

Yes agree but most powerful one.
The rest is all about us rather than hacker's skill.

Web browser are the biggest evil IMO because we connect to all sorts of servers and have no clue who is on another side.
other than this it all boils down to what one install on their computer.

CharmaineK · Jun 21, 2023

So those who don't use a MS Account can't sync between devices and easily access files. If you want to also access your files on your devices you use than you need to use a MS Account. If you prefer to only use a local account then everytime you need a file you will need copy to a to USB stick and plug it into that device or email to yourself. I have used a MS account for many years and I use Office365. I like the convenience of being able to access my files on all my devices.

badrobot · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
Primarily for privacy reasons.

Protecting your privacy today is way more difficult that managing security of a system.
You can secure your system without any issues, you can make is "un-hackable",
but I still have not found effective methods to protect privacy and it's only getting worse with all those privacy hostile features included in windows with every new release of the OS.

Which leads to the point I was trying to make.
The OS itself cannot protect you. Any software (or games) you install can be a hacker's portal no matter what OS you use.
Your games also share your data.

Alex__ASSR · Jun 21, 2023

I always use a local account, no password, no pin and no ms account to login, I'm just the one using the pc I find it much more practical.
Totally gaming oriented.

Dru2 · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
I'm not aware of any method or real-life case where an inbound blocking hardware firewall has been breached, it's theoretically impossible.
only if you're runing a service and need to open port it becomes possible to get trough.

I can't account for every what if in the universe, but at the end of the day, if you're connected to the internet, you're hackable. That's fact.

And that's my point.

zebal · Jun 21, 2023

badrobot said:
Which leads to the point I was trying to make.
The OS itself cannot protect you. Any software (or games) you install can be a hacker's portal no matter what OS you use.

That's why digital signatures are important and why we should install only software from publishers which we trust.
It makes no sense to trust no-one.

I trust Microsoft software (the OS and software) is not malware and there are several other publishers I trust but not many.
Bigger your trust more likely it becomes you install the wrong thing and then your firewall and anything else you set up means zero.

CountMike · Jun 21, 2023

I'm play on the card "Nobody interesting enough to be a target". Not famous, not rich, no big business, not sticking my nose where it doesn't belong. In other words, not worth bothering. Using reasonable precautions on and off internet, I listen to what AV like Defender says and don't insist on circumventing it unless I'm 101% sure it's not a threat. I don't open Firewall unless I'm sure what it is for (like an online game for instance), My internet modem/router has reasonable firewall which filters all threats known to my ISP. I don't have much of it but any sensitive personal data is kept on offline secured disks (also backed up) where internet connection can't get to.
Nowhere close to being rich but my banking is done from alive Linux on a USB which doesn't remember anything once I sign out. A CD or DVD would be even more secure but can't rotate IP from it or change password.
I've been on internet so long (since first days) so it's inevitable that there were some attempts on hacking and braking in but those were stopped by main MS/ Hotmail account while other e-mail accounts range from unanimous to one shot disposable ones without any real personal data I never go back to.
There were many attempts on phishing and other fraudulent attempts but I'm too old and experienced to fall on and can smell them from miles away.

Dru2 · Jun 21, 2023

CharmaineK said:
So those who don't use a MS Account can't sync between devices and easily access files. If you want to also access your files on your devices you use than you need to use a MS Account. If you prefer to only use a local account then everytime you need a file you will need copy to a to USB stick and plug it into that device or email to yourself. I have used a MS account for many years and I use Office365. I like the convenience of being able to access my files on all my devices.

For clarity sake, you can't share files across different devices from a local account as done with a Microsoft account. However, that still doesn't prevent you from creating shares or mapping drives from other devices.

And BTW, you can still use Office 365 on a local account by simply signing in to activate the service. With a Local account, you basically choose what services to log into or not, that an MSA would otherwise do.

Windows 11: Local account or Microsoft account? Here is what you need to know

pparks1 · Jun 21, 2023

zebal said:
If you close all ports (I mean inbound on hardware firewall) then no hacker can get in, assuming you're not running a server or something.
The rest is all about you, which is where software firewall needs to block outbound, and your only job is to monitor outbound traffic and set up rules to allow legitimate connections.

I agree, if your ports are closed inbound, an outside person is not going to be able to initiate an inbound connection from a remote source. However, if you were to initiate an outbound connection to a shady website, (or a legit website that was compromised....like this very forum even) the return traffic could contain malicious payload, and could also generate additional outbound traffic.