PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Computer Emergency Response Team (MyCERT) has urged all system administrators, IT personnel and Internet users to make sure that their systems and networks are properly secured before they leave for their long holidays.

In a statement, MyCERT said it had cases and reports in previous years where servers and websites had been compromised and defaced during festive seasons.

Sysadmins should make sure all their systems have been installed with latest service packs and patches, it said.

If your organisation is running older versions of operating systems or software, make sure they've been upgraded them to the latest versions -- older versions may have some vulnerabilities that can be manipulated by intruders.

MyCERT said users can contact their vendors for the latest patches, service packs and upgrades.

For organisations running services, make sure all unneeded services and ports -- except HTTP and other required services -- are closed. The rest should be filtered and patched.

Make sure antivirus software running on hosts have been updated with the latest signature files and have been enabled to scan all files. You may refer to antivirus sites at www.mycert.org.my/anti-virus.htm.

MyCERT also said that organisations should ensure their systems and networks have been configured properly in order to avoid any unnecessary incidents caused by misconfigurations. They should also enable systems and servers loggings.

Organisations are recommended to install a network- or host-based IDS (intrusion detection system) to alert them on scannings and other malicious attempts on their hosts.

A list of several IDSes is available at www.mycert.org.my/resource/ids.htm.

A list of several types of sniffers is available at www.mycert.org.my/resource/sniffer.htm.

Home users are urged to install personal firewalls so that they can be alerted to any unauthorised scanning of their systems, and to block any attempts at penetration.

More information on home user PC security is available at www.mycert.org.my/homepcsecurity.html.

MyCERT said it will be on duty and standby 24x7 and can be contacted if any incident occurs. Reports can be made via pager (18630, 18631 or 18632) or e-mail mycert@mycert.org.my.