secure computing

[cutekittycat]

there has been a lot of this whole secure computing i am hearing from friends.
it ranges from using VPN to decentralized computing with softwares like Tor, freenet, darknet, https, etc. that is just floating around.

i am basically just throwing out jargons out at this point.
i guess i am wondering whether it is worth the worry or whether it is worth a try even?
if so, what and where should i start.

i just got freenet and tor but have no idea how it works as freenet seems to be a community itself (needs friends or something to work its max security) and tor just seemed slow (not that i mind it..)
are there any other softwares out there that may be a bit user friendly? maybe a bundle or something?


yes, i know that i should not put thinks on the net if i do not want people to know it (i do not have fb, twitter, etc.); no matter how secure i go, i can still be traced if someone wanted to; AND, having a whole bunch of security only make doing things more difficult.

just like to throw a question on there about internet security, i suppose.

 

[C-Man]

Well, for conventional browsing, I go with Mozilla Firefox with the AdBlock Plus and NoScript addons. Basically, if I don't want a website to run certain kinds of code, then it does not run that code. It'll also catch any clickjacking attacks. Also, I have a certain list of websites that are allowed to store cookies, like my message boards and Youtube. If a site's not on the list, then it can't store any cookies.

The Tor Browser's pretty cool, and takes the security to a greater level to be sure. I've tinkered with it a few times. If you really don't want websites and who knows who else tracking you, that's a good way to go.

 

[cutekittycat]

I have been trying Tor for the past few days.
I guess the problem with restriction is that there are just so many sites out there that is tracking that it seemed like i am restricting myself.
google, for example, requires some sort of varification from time to time.
adobe flash/shockwave pages are just useless unless i activate it.

to a point where i am not sure if the program - seemingly to work very well in the background - is working or not.

i have also been trying freenet... it seems to be even more secure. thing is, though, that you need to 'friend' other people to be able to use it properly - AFAIK.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

These things are to protect your privacy and secure it because many sites, especially data mining sites like Google, store mass amounts of data on you without you knowing what they are storing or who has access to it.

 

[C-Man]

You might try startpage.com for searches in lieu of Google. They don't track anything.

 

[FreedByte]

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[Joshua Breeze]

I completely agree with KMFDMKid2000. Chrome is one of the most secure browsers in my opinion. And of course, keep an eye out for https:// and the padlock icon on the address bar.

 

[FreedByte]

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[FreedByte]

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[Passionate Chicken]

My bank recommended "Rapport" security so as to preclude any chance of fraud if you are involved with online banking. Checking your account, paying bills online, etc...

LINK

Firefox browser is one of the best out there. It has add-on options that stop Ad's, (Ad Blocker) like those that are on this site, so that you never see them. There's also, "No Script" that protects from scripts that can attach to your browsing. There's also "Ghostery".

All very good.
There's "Easy Hide IP" , not a Firefox ad-on, but it is superior for hiding your IP via/ Proxy, in the event you want to insure you can't be tracked to your IP's physical address.

A point of note regarding the online banking and Easy Hide IP. Or any IP proxy block program. You want to shut off the blocker when going to your bank online. They'll pick up the differing IP's and think it's phishing scam that's going on on your account and freeze your online activity for your own security.

This happened to me and I had to go into the branch and prove my ID in order to get the freeze lifted. It's for your own good in case someone is using a different computer trying to get into your account, which is what the banking security system picks up when the IP hide program shows your computer having a different IP than what they bank is familiar with.

 

[FreedByte]

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[cutekittycat]

Hi everyone, thx for the replies.
A lot of the plug-ins mentioned i have tried...
a bit iffy about duckduckgo intially because i thought it is one of those old search engines that is still trying to get piece of cake and is filled with trackers and stuff. seems like it is the other way around. i guess google is just too big a name.

i have https everywhere installed already as with ghostery.
scary to see how many trackers ghostery blocks at certain sites.

i have not played with proxy or anything of the sort.
in fact, there was a short time where i was unable to goto any websites, just by trying out tor and it asks me to change the proxy.

the only thing about Tor that runs a bit of an inconvenience (just a bit) is the disabling of flash.
i listen to some radio stations from time to time and the whole website is filled with flash thing. i have to activate the plugins and allow connection to the site.

-.- *sigh*


VPN i have an account, but it gets expensive and i worry about logs and stuff some company uses.
sometimes, i was even told NOT to use VPN because it is going through a company server with logs (or something like that). essentiallly, i am at their mercy because i am using their service.
guess it can be said with all other things.. heh.

i have tried chrome but do not like its user interface and controls.
do not mind firefox, though it IS getting a bit bloated with a lot of unnecessary junk added to it...

 

[FreedByte]

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[BlueLioness]

Is't it annoying enough when they follow you around chat rooms? I mean it's happened to me before, I'd go into one chat room, exit that room, go into another room, and then have somebody follow me in there! If I weren't feeling so *cough* merciful I wouldn't rip their head off! Yeah then I'd have to add him/her to my ignore list so they can't tell me how desperate they are looking for a date that they just had to stalk me and ask me out...I've been told that so many times it makes me roll my eyes now.

I mean how many desperate young men are there online looking for dates and stalking women in chat rooms? It's creepy.

 

[BlueLioness]

I like it how only the original poster or the moderator can edit messages. If you are not one of them you cannot edit people's posts, no matter how you feel about it. Sorry.

The original poster is the person that posted the message in the first place, and I sort of veiw the moderator as the forum boss.

I would probably not be ok with someone editing my posts since in the usa we have freedom of speech anyways. And I guess editing posts is almost like the opposite of Freedom of Speech, that would then be called Censorship.

 

[pgp_protector]

I just thought of something else: if you are using WEP or other form of old security on your wifi (if you have it), make sure to switch to WPA2.

Assuming all your older hardware will Support WPA2 (My wife's older laptop doesn't support WPA2, so no internet for her)

(And also on your WiFi, use MAC Filtering (No it isn't perfect,as MAC IDs can be spoofed, but it is another layer of protection)

 

[FreedByte]

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[EphesiaNZ]

Another thing about wireless is that if you have wireless devices that use WPS, for easy wireless setup, disable it as it is quite insecure.

Wi-Fi Security – The Rise and Fall of WPS | NetStumbler

 

[Cachook]

Ghostery is great!