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Computer and Internet Security

All the technical mumbo jumbo in here shows me exactly why I leave all the computer stuff to my wife lol. I'm far too computer illiterate to understand nearly all of it. I know enough not to click on suspect links,ads,porn sites,download music or movies etc. Even without using an antivirus program, we very, very rarely get a virus on the computer. All we do is run Superantispyware and Malwarebytes whenever we remember to (we plan on once a week but usually forget).
I did learn something from this thread though-
Phil said:
 
 
Matter of fact, look at the bottom of this page at the ads..... I'm seeing ads for Computer Security, the ad company's computer knows the subject of this thread and it spits ads at you
 
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I had no clue at all that there were ads at the bottom of the page! 
 
MeatHead1313 said:
All the technical mumbo jumbo in here shows me exactly why I leave all the computer stuff to my wife lol. I'm far too computer illiterate to understand nearly all of it. I know enough not to click on suspect links,ads,porn sites,download music or movies etc. Even without using an antivirus program, we very, very rarely get a virus on the computer. All we do is run Superantispyware and Malwarebytes whenever we remember to (we plan on once a week but usually forget).
Click to expand...
 
It's the viruses that you don't ever see that can bankrupt you. Someone puts up a malicious piece of code on a website, and if your computer is unprotected they can see everything you do on your computer, including seeing through your webcam ,listening through your mic, and stealing your banking and credit card information if you buy things online. Even if you never shop online they can use your computer to attack other systems as a "zombie machine" (sounds funny, but very real). You'll never notice it. There will just be higher than usual memory use. All those Denial of Service attacks (DoS) you hear about on the news work that way, the infected computers get a signal to all visit the same site at once over and over and it overloads the servers, freezing out normal users and costing the company money in lost revenue.
How Zombie Computers Work:    http://computer.howstuffworks.com/zombie-computer.htm
 
GreenTea said:
 
It's the viruses that you don't ever see that can bankrupt you. Someone puts up a malicious piece of code on a website, and if your computer is unprotected they can see everything you do on your computer, including seeing through your webcam ,listening through your mic, and stealing your banking and credit card information if you buy things online. Even if you never shop online they can use your computer to attack other systems as a "zombie machine" (sounds funny, but very real). You'll never notice it. There will just be higher than usual memory use. All those Denial of Service attacks (DoS) you hear about on the news work that way, the infected computers get a signal to all visit the same site at once over and over and it overloads the servers, freezing out normal users and costing the company money in lost revenue.

How Zombie Computers Work:    http://computer.howstuffworks.com/zombie-computer.htm
Click to expand...
 
interesting note, some hacktivist groups recruit users to voluntarily take part in DDOS attacks, with good turn out. But yeah for the  most part zombie machines are infected and used for attacks, spam, click fraud etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_Orbit_Ion_Cannon
 
A recent bot net was also seen operating in the darknet via TOR.
 
Interesting note: report on the radio today that the network at Starbucks coffee is more secure than the network at the Pentagon......
 
I use a Linksys router as a hardware firewall, have Microsoft Security Essentials running, use Malware Bytes Anti-Malware from time to time and have been pretty safe but nothing is really "safe" as has been mentioned. I understand your fascination though as I saw some really cool server farms when I worked security in the Silicon Valley.
Stay off those adult sites and you probably won't have many troubles. :P
 
 
Matter of fact, look at the bottom of this page at the ads.
Click to expand...
There aren't any for me, and even if I turn off noscript, none of the ads relate to my searches or history, nor the contents of my postings.
 
Not worried about being profiled or targeted for advertising and such?
 
Good on ya then, but be aware you agree to have it done to you.
 
Wonder why google knows what you are looking for with just a couple letters in the search box?
 
You know they sell that information?
 
Wonder why some of those ads are referencing people in your city or town ?
 
You know governments are very interested in your profile?
 
You know a couple got raided because the wife was searching for backpacks for their children, while the husband was searching for a pressure cooker for home canning?
 
You should presume that everything you do online is visible to everyone who happens to casually look in your direction.
 
That is why I always use some random name/address/info when filling out the paperwork for said shopping cards, some stores will even just fill them out with the stores info, if you tell them you do not give out your personal info.
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How would you get your bill if it shows address for the the store, you have to give personal information to receive credit, this post is ridiculous.
 
armac said:
How would you get your bill if it shows address for the the store, you have to give personal information to receive credit, this post is ridiculous.
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Gotrox said:
I believe he is talking about store loyalty cards, not credit cards.
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Exactly, the reply I made was directed to the store loyalty/club cards, there was no mention of credit cards by the OP...but there is no reason why you could not use a P.O. Box or other mailbox service for credit cards, bills or anything else where you needed to receive a bill.
 
Except that is also where all the spam would arrive, and your CC needs your real name------used in conjunction with your loyalty card, your cover is blown.
 
Gotrox said:
Except that is also where all the spam would arrive, and your CC needs your real name------used in conjunction with your loyalty card, your cover is blown.
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Prepaid credit cards...cash...?

I tell my mailbox provider to throw away all junk mail, that's all you're going to be getting there anyway.
 
Vodu said:
Prepaid credit cards...cash...?

I tell my mailbox provider to throw away all junk mail, that's all you're going to be getting there anyway.
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personally I would not trust a 9.00/hr clerk to separate and throw away any of my mail, many of your techniques are strange.......as posted in this thread....do you use any of the aforementioned techniques or is it just cool to speak about your 'security measures' on a pepper forum.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
 
Who cares if they track I buy 12 rolls of TP, hey, they give me a coupon for $5 off TP next time. I got no issue with that! They can sell the info. That's what they do. They don't sell your personal info just statistics. Some people are a bit too paranoid.
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Too funny, a person who is currently selling our "statistics" to advertising companies is telling us we are being too paranoid...
 
Ghostery and AdBlockPlus plugins for Firefox and Chrome, hits the webmasters right in the ol' pocketbook.
 
Comodo Firewall/Internet Security Suite for the cheapskates.
 
And if you are really paranoid, learn to use Tor, just stay away from .onion sites, the NSA/FBI have made infiltrating those sites a priority.
 
 
Ghostery and AdBlockPlus plugins
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 Don't forget noscript, which blocks that pesky flash that gets compromised to deliver nasties every couple months.
 
But don't everyone protect themselves all at once.
 
Fixing problems generated by exploits and errant "clicker finger" clicks is how I have made mad money for upgrading my computer and purchasing new gizmo's over the last decade or so. ;)
 
Vodu said:
Prepaid credit cards...cash...?

I tell my mailbox provider to throw away all junk mail, that's all you're going to be getting there anyway.
Click to expand...
 
 
armac said:
personally I would not trust a 9.00/hr clerk to separate and throw away any of my mail, many of your techniques are strange.......as posted in this thread....do you use any of the aforementioned techniques or is it just cool to speak about your 'security measures' on a pepper forum.
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I use them all the time.  I assure you I am more secure in my self that I do not need to be 'cool' on a pepper forum, but I am sure there are those here that say they grow more than they really do...
 
What's strange about them?  You have never used made up info when setting up an email account?  Or only put your first initial and last name on something that required your name?  When the cashier asks for your zip code, you never gave them 90210?
 
If you have set up your P.O. box or other third party mailbox correctly and only use that address for anything and everyone that will sell your info to 3rd parties, then the only thing you will ever receive in it is junk, so yes I trust a $9hr clerk to throw it away.
 
ALL my internet traffic goes through a VPN.
 
Here is an excellent link that touches on the basics of removing your online presence... http://lifehacker.com/5958801/how-to-commit-internet-suicide-and-disappear-from-the-web-forever
 
Real bills, of course I use real info, but that does not mean I have to provide my 'real' physical address.  That's why P.O Boxes were made...

theghostpepperstore said:
 
Too funny, a person who is currently selling our "statistics" to advertising companies is telling us we are being too paranoid...
 
Ghostery and AdBlockPlus plugins for Firefox and Chrome, hits the webmasters right in the ol' pocketbook.
 
Comodo Firewall/Internet Security Suite for the cheapskates.
 
And if you are really paranoid, learn to use Tor, just stay away from .onion sites, the NSA/FBI have made infiltrating those sites a priority.
Click to expand...
 
 
DoNotTrackMe is another excellent plugin for Firefox.
 
 
edited for missing punctuation.
 
Vodu said:
 
 
 
I use them all the time.  I assure you I am more secure in my self that I do not need to be 'cool' on a pepper forum, but I am sure there are those here that say they grow more than they really do...
 
What's strange about them?  You have never used made up info when setting up an email account?  Or only put your first initial and last name on something that required your name?  When the cashier asks for your zip code, you never gave them 90210?
 
If you have set up your P.O. box or other third party mailbox correctly and only use that address for anything and everyone that will sell your info to 3rd parties, then the only thing you will ever receive in it is junk, so yes I trust a $9hr clerk to throw it away.
 
ALL my internet traffic goes through a VPN.
 
Here is an excellent link that touches on the basics of removing your online presence... http://lifehacker.com/5958801/how-to-commit-internet-suicide-and-disappear-from-the-web-forever
 
Real bills, of course I use real info, but that does not mean I have to provide my 'real' physical address.  That's why P.O Boxes were made...

 
 
DoNotTrackMe is another excellent plugin for Firefox.
 
 
edited for missing punctuation.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
SO you set up a po box for real bills and a po box for 3rd party stuff that you expect to be thrown away? Seems like you are spending more money on po boxes than is necessary.
 
If you are that scared of your creditors getting your physical address, perhaps you should avoid credit
 
Doesn't really have anything to do with "fear".
 
It's "nuisance avoidence".
 
It is much easier to prevent rhan remediate.
 
Got that embarassing picture taken by a friend at a frat party decades ago?
Did that friend tag the photo with your name before uploading it to a web album?
Do you now have an inbox full of ads for beer, magic markers, and face painting services (or worse) ?
 
Know what I mean? :lol:
 
I don't use social media sites at all. Never signed up for f@$$book (best online choice I ever made), and I avoid using gaagle as much as possible. I've abandoned the old geemail and yootoob accounts I used to have. These days if I have to use gaagle sites I do it without a login, just anonymous surfing, and never look up anything sensitive. Even if they collect data, they can't definitively match it to me as a user. Instead I use Startpage as a search engine nowadays. If and when I sign up for a new web service I use an e-mail account with phoney info. No real name, no birth date, usually put the wrong gender. So laugh when I see ads for retirement cruises, and financial services for seniors. I use forefox as a browser with AdBlock, Ghostery, Self-Destructing Cookies, and NoScript.

 
Best thing to do is buy a new computer (or do a clean re-install of your operating system), then use masking techniques  from day one. Don't give out any information online. Make a new e-mail address without your full name. For example. Joe S istead of Joe Smith.
 
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