OT-Internet security-some notes

[Guest guest]

THE DAYS OF BIG BROTHER WATCHING YOUR EVERY MOVE ARE HERE.

So I have written these notes on personal information security for

new net users, or for those who just do not realise how vulnerable

they may be to their personal information being sent via the internet

without them knowing.

 

1. makes money every time you log onto their newsgroups. This

is because they log every visitor, who they are and their home IP

number. So don't think you are getting a free service because in

commerce there is always a catch to such seemingly free services.

They use that information to get their advertisers and can use it any

other way they wish to generate income for the company.

 

2.

(a) used to permit people to sign on by using a proxy server.

For those who do not know, this is an intermediate server that strips

your identity from the hidden information your computer transmits.

That means web sites cannot identify who you are. Now you cannot

sign on to newsgroups via a proxy, that means they can track

who you are and how often you use their service as well as any other

information their cookies tell them on your surfing habits.

 

(b) MSN newsgroups can still be accessed via a proxy server and

therefore your anonymity is preserved. Not often I praise Microsoft

but one up for them-at the moment:(

 

3. Cookies: It amazes me how many people let these damned spy

programmes build up on their hard drive. Cookies are used by web

sites in order to gather all kinds of commercially useful information

on your web surfing activities. I have always refused to use cookies

on my own web site. However, due to UK Government laws the servers

now have to keep log files on every visit made to my web site. I can

access those logs and see the IP address of every visitor. I dislike

this as it is intrusive, but apart from not looking at the logs there

is nothing I can do. You can only avoid such logging by doing what I

do while surfing and use a proxy server called Anonymity 4 proxy:

http://www.inetprivacy.com Using that you can click on web sites and

they do not know who you are.

 

4. Active x scripts: If you permit a web site to allow these to be

run on your computer you are running the risk of them being used to

access personal data and transmit it back to the spying computer.

Therefore, it is better to disable active x scripts in Windows -

Internet Options - advanced menu.

 

After years of being on the internet I have developed my own regime

of clearing my computer of spyware as follows:

 

1. *Every time* I have finished visiting web sites I clear everything

they have planted on my hard drive. In particular cookies under

windows and Netscape and all of the 'Temporary Internet Files' under

windows and 'Cache' files under Netscape.

 

2. An easy way to do this with Windows is using a lovely programme

called PugeIE at www.purgeie.com

This clears most of the garbage left after a session on the internet

using Internet Explorer and it is worth every Dollar of the $30 it

costs. With Netscape-depending on the version- you should delete the

cookies and cache manually

 

The next great hard drive cleanser is called MRU-Blaster. What this

does is delete all of the history files in the windows registry which

build up over time and can contain all kinds of personal information

of value to the spyware makers-this one is FREE or you can donate.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublaster.html

The only thing you need to be careful about is that when the computer

reboots you may loose some settings such as the view menu in windows,

but that takes just a couple of seconds to reset.

 

3. Spyware programmes. There are now many of these that can be

planted on your hard drive when you hit a particular web site. These

can send back to the spying computer all kinds of personal

information including credit card numbers. There are now several

programmes that you can use to sweep your computer for such spyware

and delete it. A good one is

Ad-aware from: www.lavasoft.com

 

4. Always use a firewall programme. Many people do not realise, but

without a firewall as soon as you use Microsoft Media Player while on-

line it sends out a message to the world to say you are on-line.

That is fine if you want to use chat programmes, but otherwise block

it. Several other programmes also broadcast to the world that you

are connected to the net. The firewall also stops spy bots accessing

your hard drive without you knowing about it, the Far East are a hive

of such spy bots constantly trying to get access to your computer as

soon as you go on-line.

 

This is just a short intro to the subject and I hope it may help

those who are technophobes to realise they must really take care

while on the internet.

 

Martin Watt

http://www.aromamedical.com

NO COOKIES-NEVER WILL BE