Privacy software

[rolo514]

Hey guys
Looking to purchase some privacy software, had been using the trial of Window washer(over and over) but they have now got on to reusing the free trial-so I will either buy this or if anyone has any other reccomendations I d love to hear.
Thanks-
Rolo

 

[HornyBoy007]

McAfee provide some security software (a suite with a firewall, an antivirus and shredder) with a reasnable price. The shredder does not only delete your cache, history ,credit card numbers, forms... but it also overwrites these files making any attempt to restore them impossible. Symantec should also provide similar tools, but with a higher price. The best spyware tool is Adaware from lavasoft.de they have a both a free version and a professional version. I've been using the free version for more than a year, and I'm pretty satisfied with it. Another free spyware is spyboot, I instanlled it once, but it froze after a while, some people prefer it to Adaware though.

Hope this will help.

 

[HornyBoy007]

AVG is a great antivirus, I'm using it too. Downloading software from Kazaaa or other p2ps is risky. If you want to do so, install an antivirus first then , test all the downloaded programs before using them. My computer was infected at least twice. once I downloaded a software called sex toy or sth like that. You can use the mouse to do a bj , or to f..ck a woman, and she moans accordingly. But it turned out that this software is a Torjan horse. Fortunately, i had AVG to remove the virus.

 

[naughtylady]

try switching to kazaa lite, a much better version without the spyware, pop-ups and cookies.

Personally I prefer spybot to ad-aware, as it never gave me a problem and ad-aware froze on me.

As for anti-virus I am curtrently using Norton and was using McAfee in the past. Never had a problem with either. Make sure to get automatic updates reguardless of the anti virus software you use since new viruses can crop up all the time.

Ronnie

 

[HornyBoy007]

True Kazaa lite does not contain spyware, I am using that version. But, even with Kazaa lite all the executable files should be scanned before

 

[kfuryon_ca]

spyware

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

Download adaware it will remove all the spyware in you computer

 

[CoolAmadeus]

Encryption software

For those very concerned about privacy...

www.drivecrypt.com
It allows you to create a special encrypted drive on your PC, in which you can store everything you have, away from prying eyes. You can use it to store documents, even have your email store moved there.

www.softwinter.com
The equivalent, but they also have a version for PocketPC. Very useful to store the Mtl spreadsheet, notes, and other stuff when on the go...

A condom for your PC!

CA

 

[Lawless]

Free Software

OK

What about all the software coming with imesh, can we prevent their installation while installing the imesh software.

Thanks,

Lawless

 

[CoolAmadeus]

Encryption is a must for married hobbyists!

Hello Simple,

I use WindowsXP, my PC requires a logon to access it, and my disks are formatted with NTFS. This would be sufficient to many users. However, I fear that I may leave my PC unnatended one day, and all my emails, pictures and other stuff could be at risk, so I encrypt everything. This way, even after my death, no-one will ever be able to know about my "2nd life"!

Eager,

You're right! And better be safe than sorry!

CA

 

[Lawless]

Life after yoyur death

CA

Don't bet on non accessibility to your disk after your death (or even divorce for that matter or even a tax audit!), everything becomes accessible through experts, I have witnessed it!!

Lawless

 

[Aquila]

Here's my 2 cents on security...

Remember that security is not problem solved by throwing hardware/software at it Its more like a process... but...

As for firewall... I like a hardware firewall for ADSL or Cable modem (like linksys BR at < 70$)... This prevent preople from getting in... Then a software firewall, this will alert me if a .exe tries to access the net. It helps to identify a trojan on an already infected system or a spyware etc... Of course this does not work for anything microsoft's sending over the net from your pc

Keep you antivirus uptodate.

use spyware remover like adaware...

Often destroy history files and cookies from you pc.

Do not keep email in outlook pst. Export them in files and encrypt.

Never put password in a clear text file. Use pwsafe or the like if you have to keep a list of passwords.

Cheers, and Keep safe!

 

[CoolAmadeus]

Security

Lawless,

Dealing with computers is what I make for a living, so I think I know what to do to ensure my privacy! Obviously, unless I clean all my history everytime I use my computer (which I don't), someone could find out that I am visiting some SP related sites. OK, no guilt there. Everyone can be curious!

The whole point here is to make sure no-one can touch or get their eyes on any "juicy" information while I am not around, and that why these encryption tools are there. I agree that some experts can break into most PCs given enough time, but breaking through a good 1344 bits security encryption package is almost impossible.

The whole point is to keep the obvious hidden, or at least far away so that one don't know it's there. And if someone get suspicious enough about me and wants to spend the K$ required to break into a security wall like that, then I wish them a lot of fun!!!

CA

 

[CoolAmadeus]

More about encryption

To supplement Aquila's note,

Once you have an encryption package installed, you can do a few simple things to increase your security...

1) Have ONE master pasword that you NEVER write anywhere and NEVER use anywhere except for opening up your encrypted disk. Make sure this password is long enough and weird enough to be unbreakable (don't use your birthday!!!)

2a) Every time you have to enter a password somewhere, use a DIFFERENT one. For example, don't use the same password to access your email and login on an internet board (that's prety obvious!).

2b) Keep each password you used in an Excel spreadsheet, and save your spreadsheet so that it requires a password to be opened. And (very important!) store this spreadsheet in your encrypted drive.

3) If you are using Outlook Express, use the configuration menus to move your email store to your encrypted disk. This is a MUST, as outlook express keeps all email received in a format that is VERY EASILY human readable simply by opening one of its files in a good text editor.

4) If you are using Windows XP, configure it so that a password is REQUIRED to access your PC, and take the habit of using the WIN-L key conbination to lock your screen everytime you go away from it. Another suggestion would be to configure your screen saver to kick in after 3 minutes of inactivity. Windows XP will require the password to log back in.

Hope this helps!

CA

 

[Lawless]

I fully understand that we can make it very difficult for anyone else to access our files and that is a major step.
However, professionals (and I had to have recourse to them in the past for work) will and/or may eventually pierce whatever you have been throwing at them and retrieve if not all, certainly a major portion of the information one is looking for.
That being said, all the steps outlined above (very informative)should be implemented (at least many of them) by any/all users with sensitive (what is not sensitive nowadays) information, be they related to our hobby (a very important part of ourselves if we do not take it too seriously!!) or not, and that is greatly appreciated.

Lawless

 

[spartacus]

privacy

thanks for all the great info.
for passwords try http://www.romanlab.com/apw/?anypassword
if your computer is accessible to others on regular basis ( like your wife, girlfriend or kids)
I suggest window washer even worthwhile to pay for it.
will delete history, cookies and even the recent documents from your startup menu etc.
you can set it so that it washes up everytime you close your browser.
Spartacus

 

[Aquila]

Of course, encryption is as good os the person who wrote the software you are using... Trust Allah, but tie your camel as the proverb goes


Especially for Excel, I woudn't trust its encryption as far as I can throw it!

pwsafe is free and open source and its implementation of encryption routines is well documented and tested by peers. It can be downloaded at http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/

There you can store all your password safely... but to tie your camel why not use code word as well... An old trick of spies is to choose a book in your library. Picks words as your password, concatenating them. When you need to write the password you choosed, write the page number, line # and word # in that line. This {132,4,2},{422,12,4} is your password. Then encrypt it. It is useless to anyone who could decrypt it unless they know which book you used.

And always clean you computer disk regularly. Try and wipe the deleted portion of your disk if you can using specialized software.

If you use word to write compromizing letters use safe as. this will clear the undo buffer of the doc which could be analyzed. Converting to pdf is better.

This is of course the tip of the iceberg when you really want to be secure, the art gets better and the tricks more and more amusing Try http://www.nsa.gov/snac/index.html for guidelines
(of course remember that whatever YOU do THEY can read and decrypt all. you can bet your ass on it!)

Cheers

 

[joeblow]

Security to me is more about adopting prudent habits than about fancy software/hardware. Here are 5 things any low-tech hobbyist can do to keep things safe:

- Set your privacy software to run automatically every day (I use Internet cleanup)
- Rename any sensitive files with innocuous sounding names
- NEVER add sensitive urls to your favourites
- Hide sensitive filles using the checkbox in Properties.
- Buy a PC specifically for your family and tell them to use THAT machine, not yours

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Skyeyes]

Re: Question

Originally posted by EagerBeaver
I have a question for those with more technical savvy than I. How do I erase the URL history in the Microsoft Explorer search window? Is there a way to do it? (So that the next person who comes on my computer and checks what sites I have been visiting, will not be able to see the history). How do you do this?

Another way is to go to Start/Settings/Task Bar & Start Menu/Advanced and clear this will remove records of recently accessed Programms, Files, Web site, etc but it will not remove cookies.

You can use the method StripperLover described but also select Delete Cookies and Delete Files this will remove everything. You can often trce where someone has been by the cookies.

 

[HornyBoy007]

Another issue is how far should you trust the company that provided your web browser or even your ISP. Many people don't know that they are uniquely identified on the internet with their IP address and another serial number uniquely assigned to you by your ISP.

The company who designed your web browser, say microsoft, could intercept all the URLs you connect to and make a very accurate, and scary, file on your "bad" habits.

Reding the previous, interesting posts, I was wondering how strong is the cryptography that comes with windows XP (for encrypting files), is it just 128bits, or do they use a much stronger crypto system?

 

[Skyeyes]

As far as surfing habit goes you can always use Anonymous Proxy to surf the web. It can be traced but not without some efforts.