Other Kitchen Sink security tips

Following my recent encryption post:

Prevent Viruses

• Virus check your files frequently using ClamAV. Keep in mind the false positives that usually come up.
  
• Discard any changes made to your flash drive using the "Mirror" function in Toucan. Make sure the "source" is the trusted location and "destination" is the USB drive
  
• Enable write-protect on your USB drive. Not all drives do this but if you use SD cards, there's a tiny slider on the side of the card. Many programs on Kitchen Sink require that they have read access, so for those programs just copy the files locally.

Prevent theft / data loss

• Keep your USB drive on you at all times. Being attached to a key chain, lanyard, or built into some other device you use frequently like a watch. Extremely small drives can fit in your wallet.
• Choose an inconspicuous flash drive such as a frayed USB cable or lipstick. This idea made famous by the coffee container in the less-than-great Al Pacino movie The Recruit.
• Back up your files daily using included Toucan (simple) or DSyncronize (advanced). DSyncronize will even do "realtime," or continuous, backups.
  
• Wipe sensitive files with CyberShredder or Eraser.
• Clean up leftover cache files using CCleaner before you close Kitchen Sink might help prevent any recovery of personal data.
• Take notes securely using only Crypditor. Be sure to save frequently as this program doesn't have an autosave function.

Paranoid

• Use multiple security tools together. For example: Firefox Secure with Tor for anonymity, PeerGuaridan with HTML blocking turned on as a mild firewall, and AAST to prevent shoulder surfing.
  

• Only use public terminals to be more anonymous, although this is not more secure overall.
• Track down and kill individual data files - See development for the "Cleanup - Privacy" ( Section II.C. ) for files that can be removed to improve privacy. (I plan to create a batch file to do this.)
  

Encrypting Kitchen Sink (part 2)

Rohos comes recommended, bringing some smooth and easy security. You're stuck with 2 gig volumes, but that's fine for Kitchen Sink; most external devices run the FAT32 filesystem, which has problems with files larger than 2 gigs.

Additionally, I'm going to start testing FreeOTFE, as it doesn't require admin rights, unlike my TrueCrypt Howto.

Extra security in portable software

You might want to take Kitchen Sink with you fully encrypted.

More virus false-positive problems

In doing some computer repair yesterday, I ran into the issue of Norton anti-virus not even allowing me to copy files onto the computer. I'm working on an easy-to-use tool that will auto resume and get the maximum number of files transferred over.

I'm also trying to find a way to make the archive self-update. Toucan has some options for this but I don't know how to personalize it to Kitchen Sink.

Lots to do before 1.0 comes out.

Additionally, Xmedia Recode is no replacement for MediaCoder. Bleh.

Virus false-positive problems

I've begun to consider going ahead and cutting out all files that show up as viruses even though they're false positives. Its not good policy to share files like that and I'm concerned one day these files could actually BE a virus but users will think its a false positive.

I mention it because one of my files "StartKitchenSink.exe" (the one that starts them all) shows up -- once in system memory -- as a virus. Comodo's antivirus is undoubtedly turned up a little high and therefore finds false positives but users shouldn't have to deal with this. The root file doesn't come up on any radars, nor does the tool that created the original EXE. Two other virus programs are much smarter about this, but I see the virus company's point: why not be extra paranoid?

I loathe Windows sometimes.

Whatever the case, I'd have to put them all in a separate archive of some kind and make that available elsewhere. This is so stupid because several of those files are extremely useful. AAST has no program like it that I can find. RockXP has some really essential system tools. This is terrible.

Any thoughts? Anyone?