Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Taozen, could you explain? I'm not a techie. I would quote your post, but Quote is in the mood to quote everything, even what I write. It won't turn off.
I mean -- does someone have to upload something onto a website or download something, or what?
Networking is pretty complex so it's easy to configure things the wrong way so others on the internet can get access to your stuff. A basic Windows 7, 8 or 10 installation on a network behind a router and a firewall is usually pretty secure be default though, but if you install different things to give people public access, like a web or FTP server you must know what you're doing to avoid the public getting access to files you don't want them to have access to. A NAS can usually also be configured to give public access to the files it stores so you have to be careful here too.
Always change the password for your router as soon as you have installed it, otherwise hackers can easily get access to it using the default password and re-configure it to get access to your system.
You can test how secure your system is here:
https://www.grc.com/default.htm
Not really.
If your Hard Drive is not encypted they remove it and check it out. Needless to say, mine are all encrypted, as are all but one USB. Friend was boasting I would never guess his password; when I said I didn't need to he gave me free reign. I was trying to convince him to encrypt his hard drive. Can't believe he still hasn't though.
Of course it's different if you can't get physical access. But protecting your system needs considering from two aspects; physical security, and online security.
Quote, please work. It is.
OK, Taozen, thanks.
No, I won't give people public access, not knowingly. As for a router, I won't use one, for the reason you mentioned.
You can set it back to using a local user account by going to the Windows Settings, select the "Accounts" option and on the Your Info page there is an option to change it back to the local user (“Sign in with a local account instead”). I had to change mine back as well and it wasn't complicated, just asked me if I was sure, what the online password was and reset the local password, then a log out and it brought me back to the log in screen for the local user account.
So this is something that has to be done w/W10 Aug 2nd update? Great. Now, what kind of weird password did I pick for MS? OK, I remember. Whew.
When this happens after you quote click on the 'Source' button. Scroll down to the last blank line and type something. Then click again on the 'Source' button. This will insert a new line under the quote where you can type your text. It is not really clean, but it does the trick.
It would be devious if the linked OP article was a secret attack site.
MS have just done a massive patch that seems to amount to a fresh install of Win 10; it reset the password cache, maybe they've fixed this?
Thanks for the heads up...But fortunately, I never use any of those programs/services, I use 3rd party progs by default!
I'd never link to anything nefarious. In fact, the reason I selected zdnet (PC World Magazine) is because if is a well known site.
The "update" you are talking about is the anniversary update/edition. It IS a new install, unfortunately MS hasn't fixed it, and is still insisting that they don't need to.
Kendall
Thanks.
I appreciate the advice. Quote will drive me nuts sometimes.
Possibly does this for the W10 August 2nd Update. It didn't force me to the online account until I chose to install a free extension for Edge--just testing Edge as my preferred browser is Pale Moon--then suddenly it was logging into my Microsoft account online instead of my local account. So I don't know that it is the actual update that is the problem but installing any apps from the Microsoft App store or any services that ask for the account initially.
Personally I'll recommend using a NAT router as it acts as a hardware firewall adding an extra layer of security by preventing port scanning, hiding your computers IP address etc.. I've been using routers myself for many years and never had any infections through any of them. Some claim that a good software firewall (like those that come with some AV programs) is enough, personally I use both router and software firewall (Avast IS - antivirus with firewall).
From grc.com: "Although NAT routers are not generally purchased for their security benefits, all NAT routers inherently function as very effective hardware firewalls (with a few caveats examined below). As a hardware firewall they prevent "unsolicited", unexpected, unwanted, and potentially annoying or dangerous traffic from the public Internet from passing through the router and entering the user's private LAN network.....With a NAT router protecting your connection to the Internet — even if you only have one computer on the LAN behind the router — none of the Internet scanning and worms and hackers and other annoying and malicious Internet nonsense can get to your computer or computers."
https://www.grc.com/nat/nat.htm
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20016986-Does-a-router-increase-general-security
BUT a router should be of good quality and configured correctly, which most cheap consumer routers often are not:
http://routersecurity.org/
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/home-router-security,news-19245.html
https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips/ST15-002
Similarly, I sometimes get queasy feelings about ZDNet articles. But I take my precautions. I try not to be stupid but am not scared away from using Win10, and IE. I never liked the idea of Microsoft Accounts but since I don't really use them and don't log in with them except when explicitly getting my mail from my seldom used "Hotmail" account I'm not shaking in my boots.
However, I do sometimes give a thought to those people who put their entire lives and fortunes in their computers and are careless about their passwords and other security measures. Those people who share everything between all their various home and mobile devices and flippantly poke at anything they see on the screen should not be surprised when things go bump in the night. I used to make my living cleaning up their mess afterwards but I've retired now so I just shake my head and shed a crocodile tear.
NO, you do NOT need a Microsoft account to sign into Windows8 or 10. In Win10 go to the "Control Panel-->User Accounts-->MakeChangesToMyAccountInPC_Settings-->Your email and accounts" and you can change between using a "Local Account" or a "Microsoft Account". However, by not using a Microsoft account you may get warnings that you're not signed into the Microsoft store so they can't nag you about buying new games when you play "Solitare", and you may have to manually setup connection to your "Hotmail" account. Your Microsoft cloud storage may also require manual connection too (if possible) (I don't use cloud storage so I don't really know)
Note: when you installed Windows10 there was a configuration dialog screen that asked (in large font) for your Microsoft Account ID, but carefully hidden in small font somewhere on that page was an option that eventually leads you to a page where you can setup a Local account. Very tricky these corporate types!!!
Thanks. :-) I really have no need for a router though.
well.. my router sits behind a Cisco Pix... so yeah, a bit overkill.. one other usefull thing is to use MAC filtering on a router, to control device connections..
You all don't play.
I don't have anything networked. Not anymore, so no router. I don't trust that. And if I decided to keep important information on a computer, I believe I'd have it on a machine that wasn't always on the Internet.
Let the hackers come. I'll show 'em something Ajax won't take off.
Which doesn't mean the site hasn't been compromised; it does, however, offer some assurances that it is normally safe.
How do you connect to the Internet? If you use a xDSL or Fiber Box then you probably have a NAT device between you and the Internet unless you specifically told your Box to disable NAT (can be done on some of them). ISP Internet Boxes are no routers per se but they will behave as such. To be sure check your IP Address on your PC, if it begins with 192.168 then NAT is active.
This being said no ISP will ever say its Internet Boxes are security devices. This may change with IPV6 but that's another story.
IMO: Unsigned = Unsafe. Strictly speaking ZDNet is not a safe website...
I'm really not sure what sort of device I have.
Seriously, it was set up by a pro. Gets serviced by a pro. Like I said, I'm not a techie. :-)
Is it really wise for us to just lay it all out there? Tell the world what kind of setups we have? Not being mean. Just asking. :-)
No need to tell us, I perfectly understand your need of privacy. It was just a comment to tell you that you probably have more protection than you thought. Anyway like I said a box is no security device :)
That's good to know. :-) The extra protection. Especially when a big mouth says, "Come on, hacker, come on." ;-)
Even "signed" sites aren't safe and can be (have been) hijacked.
The last thing I'm saying in the thread since it has moved beyond the prupose for which it was created:
What "boxes" or security you have in front of a Windows box means exactly zero if the user visits a site and loads a page that hits a compromise in your OS or receives an email that similarly contains the specifc exploit. If Outlook, Edge, Flash, or whatever software pulls the malware through the layers then the box WILL BE INFECTED.
The point of this thread was not for people to compare about how "secure" they've made their connections, or to extol their opinions about where the news of the exploit is published, but to warn those poor souls who were forced to W10, selected the Express Settings (many of them), and are now staring at the very real prospects that they're now horribly vulnerable or compromised and MicroSoft has no current intentions to remedy the situation in a "one step" security update that makes it easy on them. Many of these folks have NO experience with, nor desire to learn, about network security or otherwise. They just want to know what the easiest way to not be a victim is.
The long and short of it is that if a Windows box is taken onto the internet it has a very real chance to be infected.
Kendall
Sorry, but you're reading something I didn't say. Unsigned is unsafe for every person working in the internet security domain. You can't infer from that sentence that signed is safe while you switch the context of what is safe or not.
Many people have windows boxes. I say a windows Box on the Internet can be perfectly safe even for a non techie but there are some simple rules to follow. The people who wrote in this thread are obviously risk aware and react accordingly and that is good. You can't tell them their windows box 'has a very real chance to be infected'. IMO that's unnecessary alarm.
Windows boxes can be made unsafe but I am convinced lots of users know what to do to avoid that because they've been told of the risks involved. If this wasn't so the ransomware threat that scours through the Internet these days would be a worldwide nightmare.
Just saying.
OK - just got the impression that you didn't want a router because of what I said about the password thing (which I don't consider an issue as long as you use a secure password), so just wanted explain a bit about routers. But it looks like you already have an opinion about routers in general, for whatever reasons.
Modems often have a built-in router. My own SP - the biggest in our country - gives their users a free modem/router device for their broadband connections, so a lot of people here uses it. Never heard of anyone who have had their device hacked.
Google "router hack", supposedly it has happened quite a bit. (Unless you meant anyone personally or anyone with your specific model.)