Running a DC client will never be risk-free. A firewall is a mis-guided effort that - though it will help with many other things - will not be of any use with the concerns in question here. A good, up to date Antivirus program will be of some use.
The problem is that if you come up with "guidelines" (laws) such as those suggested by an Ars member (open source, reputable backer, available point of contact, assurance of server security), you instantly outlaw a great portion of the projects that we (Team AnandTech) run. S@H, F@H, and more are not open source; DPAD and others are run by a single person; with server security, you just have to take their word for it that they're patched up and properly secured (still, new vulnerabilities are found at a regular rate in both Windows and the Unices, though the rate at which they are found in the former is higher, and those new vulnerabilities that nobody knows about yet are going to get somebody screwed when the first hacker finds them). But why am I restating this? It's pointless, considering that all these points have already been made in the aforelinked thread.
So, if you want to get something done in this regard, you're first going to have to get the support of some official or semi-official people around here. Forget Anand, because he rarely shows interest in the DC team any more, and efforts to contact him regarding more important matters have not been quickly fruitful. Learn who the project leaders are around here, and try to get ahold of them via PM. Oh, BTW, try to make sure that your "rules" don't "outlaw" the projects they help with, and they might be more willing to consider your points. :sigh;
