Safe Web Browsing Tips
1. DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!!!! Go into Control Panel and remove Internet Explorer from your computer.
2. Use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome
3. Use Mozilla Thunderbird for Email or any other reputable client other than a Microsoft Product
4. Do not use Windows XP or Windows Vista. Shell out the money for Windows 7.
5. Get Adblock+, a browser addon. It will block advertisements and other such unwanted giblits of evil.
6. Get a Javascript blocker such as Noscript. These will essentially allow you to visit *any* website *safetly*. It will block Javascript unless you authorize it. The only downside to this is you will need to go to all of your favorite websites and authorize Javascript. Not really a huge deal.
7. Unless you specifically have a need for Java, uninstall it completely. Java is extremely vulnerable in its current state and I doubt it will ever be safe. There are vulnerabilities the vendor has lied about fixing or have refused to acknowledge.
8. Passwords... the longer the better, the more complex the better. Use capital letters, numbers, special characters such as: !@#$%^&*(). Make them totally unrelated to your personal interests or publically avaialble information about yourself. Complex randomness is the best. For example: "dj!#JO391jfe!!TT" No, that is not one of my passwords. PLEASE DO NOT USE A BLANK PASSWORD FOR WINDOWS. Use different passwords for different websites.
9. Email addresses, create multiple email accounts and segregate their usage into categories. Make one for screwing around, one for serious personal accounts, another for gaming, etc. The ones you use for personal banking or other such uses should be complex, for example: d3jf9e9w3je9fj@gmail.com. Use different passwords for each email.
10. Use atleast one scanning application. I use Spybot Search and Destroy from Safer-Networking. Others such as MalwareBytes or AVG are good. Scan and update regularly. The reason I like Spybot is because it can immunize you against threats using a number of methods.
11. Windows Firewall: turn it on, leave it on.
12: Windows UAC (User Access Control), turn it to maximum. Yes it is annoying, yes it will make you safer.
13: Executable files (EXE, MSI, COM, SCR, PIF, SHS). Do not run them until you have 100% verified the credentials of the source website. I also run them through http://www.virustotal.com. This website lets you upload files and it will scan them using 50+ virus scanners and show you the results. If it comes back clean, it is still not trustworthy until you verify the source is clean.
14: Windows Media Player: Stop using it. I like VLC (VideoLAN) player. Plays everything, even broken files. Music? Try Foobar2000.
15. Adobe Acrobat. Stop using it. Try FoxIT reader. The amount of patches for Adobe that are released per month blows my mind.
16. Microsoft Office. If you need it you need it, otherwise get rid of it.
17. Windows Update: Turn it on and verify it is working.
18. If you had kids using the computer, make them non-administrator accounts with non-blank passwords.
19. SSL/TLS secure browsing: If you are using online banking or any other sensitive website do not enter any password unless the session is encrypted. You may see a shield or padlock icon in the browser bar or somewhere letting you know it is encrypted.
20. Emails from a bank or anywhere else asking you to login. Do not use them. Go to your browser and type the address in manually. Please educate yourself about phishing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing
21. Keep your software up to date! Check for new releases or updates atleast once a week.
22. Browser history, cookies, and Windows temporary files. Remove them once a day. There are applications that will do this for you such as CCleaner: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
If you want to take Windows security a step further and do some more advanced things, you can disable ICMP response, turn off unnecessary Windows services, change local group policy settings, change folder permissions or other such things. I'll leave the research up to you as there are entire books on this stuff.
Be Safe!
The code is hidden in the tumblers. One position opens the lock, another position opens one of these doors...
http://www.youtube.com/xeotech1
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