OK, I’m no IT professional, but I just spent half a morning cleaning up my dad’s laptop. Somehow he collects every redirect and (mostly harmless?) malware known to man. I don’t know how he does it, but it never ends.
All he does is log into his email (Comcast, because I can’t get him to switch to GMail, which means he can’t switch to Verizon…), his bank’s online billpay, and look at information about the cars he had as a kid.
Is there a browser that’s more locked down, as far as the ability to install all this crap? I have to assume he’s going to continue clicking links and “Install” indiscriminately, since that’s just who he is.
Are these things less a problem on a Mac?
Any other ideas?
(He’s got some infuriating ask.com redirect and- this is interesting- if you do a google search, from the Google search page, it opens bing results)
How about configuring the computer so that when he uses it, it’s only as a user with limited or no permission to install anything, rather than an administrator? If you do that, it doesn’t matter which browser you use.
If you’re going to stick with Windows, I would recommend Brave.
It’s essentially the same browser as Chrome, but has inbuilt ad-blocking and other privacy/security features on top of Chrome’s.
However, Mac computers are a safer alternative due to the fact that they make up a much smaller share of the market, so there is less incentive for malware designed for their software.
Unfortunately extensions don’t require admin privileges to install. And there is malware that runs entirely in user mode without elevation. It’s generally easier to remove, but it exists. (And he’d be less likely to know he needed to remove it).
The main thing I’d suggest is to lock down Smartscreen and disable unsafe downloads altogether in his web browser–I’m pretty sure you can do this in Chrome and in Firefox, but you’ll have to google how. And, yes, run as limited user for some extra protection. And maybe throw in a third party antivirus/antimalware solution. Oh, and make sure you run adblock (uBlock Origin is probably the best, though some browsers have their own.)
“If you’re a home user, you may just want something more secure for a relative. If your relative only uses their computer for basic email and social media, this is a great way to make their computer more secure. They won’t be susceptible to malware and other attacks that target Windows or macOS, since they won’t be using either of those operating systems.”
Naturally you want to back up the system ahead of time in case you want to go back. Something like Free Macrium Reflect and back it up to a portable drive.
Be sure to scroll down to: Download Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition, as their first entries are for the paid edition.
[If this is confusing ask here before you try this–there are several computer experts here.]
Or buy them a cheap chromebook. That was going to be my advice. The great things about a chromebook is that it’s completely locked down, you can’t really install anything on it.
If they need to edit photos or work in excel a chromebook won’t work, of course. But if they just need email and a web browser it can be a great option.
Definitely create a Windows account account for him that has limited permissions.
Whatever browser he is using, make sure you have an ad blocker installed. This will prevent many extraneous links from being displayed in the first place.
Slimjet is pretty good. It’s Chrome based, and in addition has an excellent ad blocker and privacy options installed as default, and checks URLs against lists of unsafe sites. It has settings to block all pop-ups and redirects.