Hi gang,  I just read an article by Kim Komando on what people see about you when you surf the net.

Now, I will go first.  Since I use IE8, it has In Private Browsing and I use it when surfing.

     It still tells  the evil website what you IP address is, who your IP is, what your operating system is, and what browser you are using.  It may tell the site what your speed is and the city your are living in (Except with Kim Komando's site and her check, it got my speed wrong and the city and state was completely wrong).  It also couldn't see the sites I visited.

-I clean my computer of everything each day

-I have a extremely speedie 56 K Modem that when I come back on line, my IP address is different.

How about you folks-what measures do you use to protect your selves?  Jan

Avast!, Comodo, Quickjava, Adblock and Noscript with a large dash of common sense.

Quote - It still tells  the evil website what you IP address is, who your IP is, what your operating system is, and what browser you are using.  It may tell the site what your speed is and the city your are living in...

I'm not really worried if they know what city I live in, or what OS I am using, but I use ZoneAlarm firewall and anti-virus. For browsing I use FireFox with the NoScript plugin, which combination seems to give the best protection against various forms of attack whilst browsing.

Tinfoil Hat, dark sun glasses, marigolds & a false moustache, but only when the web cam is switched on.

sorry couldn't resist. ;)

The porn sites are the worse for giving you things you dont want to take home, LOL. I never surf those. As long as I am surfing commercial sites I don't worry so much.

I use the free microsoft security items, according to maximum pc they are as good as any so why pay for it.

Quote - Tinfoil Hat, dark sun glasses, marigolds & a false moustache, but only when the web cam is switched on.

sorry couldn't resist. ;)

Lucifer, plus you are probably the last person, these scumbags will want to mess with, you have a special place for them. LOL  Jan

Airgap firewall :biggrin:

AVG + Firefox + noscript seems to do the trick for me

where do you find those free MS security apps?

My IP, Charter, provides a security suite...I'm always afreaid to use their stuff.

Currently use Avast, Spybot S&D, MS firewall, cable goes through router, frequent cleanup of temp stuff, keep the kids off the system.

Dave, do you have Internet Explorer version 8?  It has, under Safety, In Private Browsing and other good things?  You will need to use MS' Cleanmgr.  Gets rid of stuff in Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, Thumbnails as well as your Temporary files.  Also locate your cookie files and delete those too.  Jan

yes, I haave IE8.. I only use private for porn sites LOL L:) ..just koking there.
I will need to start using that feature..thanks

Quote - Dave, do you have Internet Explorer version 8?  It has, under Safety, In Private Browsing and other good things?  You will need to use MS' Cleanmgr.  Gets rid of stuff in Downloaded Program Files, Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, Thumbnails as well as your Temporary files.  Also locate your cookie files and delete those too.  Jan

Your computer sends certain capability info so the web site can correctly send you ustomised pages. The geolocation feature depends a lot on how your ISP allocates ip addresses. There used to be a few utilities that would allow you to send selected info instead of your real data, that sometimes breaks sites though if you lie about what browser you are using.

A decent anti-virus anti-spyware and a firewall that blocks outgoing requests is a good start.  I have a thing called scriptwatch that puts up an icon if the web page tries to run java or javascript. I havent found many sites that are actively trying to drop spyware although there are a couple of sites that do try to send you to porn sites.

Google I think has a safe-site sort of thing that warns you if the site you request is a known danger.

Quote - Avast!, Comodo, Quickjava, Adblock and Noscript with a large dash of common sense.

Pretty close to how I run.  Avast!, Firefox with Adblock Plus, Flashblock and NoScript.  For cleaning out caches, I use CCleaner.

I feel pretty safe with Avast & Comodo. I have NoScript for FF but I use Opera 90% of the time, which may cut the risk of browser specific attacks somewhat. You're probably as safe at Playboy as Walmart. I think it has more to do with the reputability of the company in question than the business they're in. I feel more privacy impaired if I have to go to FaceBook than anywhere else on the web.

Geolocation can work differently depending on the site. I use Opera's "Turbo" feature that routes requests through their proxy server. Some sites see me as coming from Oslo, others grab the true IP and report cities in Texas  or Louisiana. The stuff people post on social networking sites is more likely to reveal their location (and much more) than anything their browser is revealing.

If you want to stay relatively hidden, you need to use (preferably multiple) anonymous proxies and test them to make sure they really are anonymous. Either that or use only internet cafes while in disguise, wearing latex gloves. Make sure you're not tailed on the way there, switch taxis etc. you know the drill. Or, hire easily silenced minions to check you email, though that is probably a bit much :-) 

Yeah- I just changed over to Avast myself. AVG was just getting way to resource intensive. It took a half hour on boot just to get my systems resources back.
I also use  program  ProxyVoyager, a-squared Anti-Malware, Glary Utilities, IntegryDESK, Total Privacy 5 and a few more :)

 I piggy back onto Lucifer's connection, that way they see his foil hat etc. (by the way the point is supposed to lean the other way)

Seriously I use McAfee and Adaware. I tried Norton, Avast and AVG and got viruses while using each(about 1 a year and had to reinstall everything each time). So far I'm 3 years with McAfee and it's caught  or cleaned everything I've gotten into.

I forgot, I also use AOL's McAfee for stage one cleaning, virus,  worm and malware protection.

Additionally, I don't open anything from sites I don't know, people I don't know or e-mail from friends that direct me to a website to view stuff or download movies from sites I don't know (my 56K is a great stopper, I tain't gonna spend an hour downloading a dumb movie short).  Jan

Panda Cloud (free) + Malwarebytes Antimalware pro ($24) work fantastic together.

Two words, one concept: Ubuntu Linux.

No need for anything else.

Not everyone's cup of tea, I'll grant you that, but I have yet to run into any problems, even those that Firefox warns me about, like PoserFashion and like that. Nothing can run on this notebook unless I give it explicit permission to, in Linux.

Mossberg M590 shotgun, M4 carbine, M9 sidearm and a tactical tomahawk. ; )

Quote - Mossberg M590 shotgun, M4 carbine, M9 sidearm and a tactical tomahawk. ; )

Or you could just trade them all in for the AA-12. :scared:

Quote - > Quote - Mossberg M590 shotgun, M4 carbine, M9 sidearm and a tactical tomahawk. ; )

Or you could just trade them all in for the AA-12. :scared:

Mmmmmmmm 300 rounds per minute YES!

 I have a mac.

um...AVG, Spybot S&D, I use cleanup! alllll the time (great for clearing out those poser caches and such)....just started using Advance System Care (ASC)...all of them are free and/or free limited stuff...oh, and I went to Firefox (which also has the prvt browsing option) years ago...and after reading all these, i might have to give avast a try...i do a lot of reading on the pc world site too and have had no troubles with anything that's been recommended there...of course, my first defense...extreme prudence when surfing  :o)

 I've never needed any prudence or any of that other stuff you all mention.
So far my mac has been bullet proof.  I've had macs since they were invented.
Love esther
PS I also had a PC for awhile as well so I could use some software I needed (don't need it anymore)

I also use Sandboxie which will isolate your browser or most other programs in a protected virtual environment. I almost never use it for surfing but it's great for checking out installs of applications that you're not sure you really want.

I do think the whole PC danger thing is overblown and/or the result of people not following the most basic procedures. Use a firewall and an anti-virus and 95% of potential problems go away. Install them, set the automatic updates and you're done. I'm glad users of other systems  feel safe, but honestly with a modicum of common sense, Windows is a safe environment despite notions to the contrary. That's my opinion anyway after many years of fairly imprudent computing :-)

" i might have to give avast a try"

I think any of the major free AV programs are about the same. I've used AntiVir, AVG and BitDefender at various times. Avast happened to be a smaller download, it works well and has frequent small updates. While I love Comodo's firewall, their AV was a work in progress. I'd stick with one of the established companies in that area.

RobynsVeil,

Did you get Poser to run well under ubuntu?**
**

Microsoft Security Essentials
Ccleaner
Advanced System Care pro (the only one I payed for)
Glary utilities,

all once a day.

And Malwarebytes from time to time.

I  use AVG for some years now, I never answer to unknown persons who want to be friends with me on facebook, hyves or MSN, and offer me their worn underware. I had some offers by nigerian people who promised me huge amounts of money, but because I'm not greedy (and not stupid) I always deleted their Emails. I use paypall instead of leaving my creditcard information all around the internet and I haven't visit a pornsite (beside the one that can't be mentioned here) for decades.

Common sense is the first step to keep yourself out of trouble. Everyone who promise you a big profit on the internet (or in real life) has to be mistrusted. Second step is a good virusscanner, which also scans for rootkits, trojan horses and whatsever, updates almost every day. and has a good firewall.

Be aware that abuse of your creditcard is always insured, a simple letter to your bank or creditcard company will refund your money, it happened to me twice  and believe me, it doesn't has to be someone on the internet, but it can also be  that nice italian restaurant you visited on your holidays.

best regards,

Bopper.

I use:

TrendMicro InterNet Security Pro

SpywareTerminator

Linux and Firefox with AdBlock Plus and No-Script...

I get liquored up and wave a digital shotgun around. 

Quote -  I've never needed any prudence or any of that other stuff you all mention.
So far my mac has been bullet proof.  I've had macs since they were invented.
Love esther

As macs get more popular, more viruses will come out for them.  Windows gets hit more because 90% of people use windows.

Pretty Cool WandW. I have been thinking about converting to Ubuntu. I have been messing with it using the Live CD. I have Ubuntu 10.10 installed on one of my laptops. I am liking it. My main worry, will poser perform just as well as it does on WinXP. Same goes for DS.

I have had DS and Poser 7 working; Poser 8 works, but the embedded Library didn't, although it can be run in Firefox.  I haven't fooled around with getting it to run in a couple of months.    I have a seperate XP machine that I reserve for Poser work.

Thanks, I use Poserpro (7) and DS3.

More and more exploits are targeting things like Flash and Acrobat that run on every OS.

I use a massive combination of tools and utilities. Just to name a few of the more readily available:

AVG, Ccleaner, Clamwin, Malwarebytes, Spybot Search & Destroy w/Teatimer and resident protection scripts, Superantispyware, Peerguardian 2 (with custom blocklists), Zonealarm Firewall only, Hackthis, a pack of rabid wolverines, and the bone dust of a 300 year old juju priest for good measure.

Personally, having done many system and virus cleans both freelance and for a shop I have absolutely no respect for Norton, or any symantec product, Microsoft firewall, or most Mcafee products - the most heavily infected systems I had to clean always had one or more of them running and were sure they were safe from virii.  AVG is not as good as it used to be, but I personally am not fond of Avast because of the constant need to reverify to keep the free key working - free should be hassle free too.  I have heard many people like kaspersky, but have no feelings either way about it.

Also, the minute my PC does anything... ANYTHING out of the ordinary or unusual, I promptly disconnect the internet connection and begin scanning the crap out of it. I also have a bootable USB with a number of virus solutions on it that I periodicly update definitions on, just in case.

Quote - Linux and Firefox with AdBlock Plus and No-Script...

What WandW said, plus BetterPrivacy for flash.

@edgeverse, Poser (6 at least) runs better under Ubuntu than Windoze.  Just install under Wine.  You may still need to install a couple of .dll's manually - but there's a post from me around here somewhere detailing.  Parameter Dials are much more responsive (because Linux handles intertask communication better than Windoze - indeed everything does - and since P5 Poser has separate tasks).

Sheesh, even this "new" editor disables browser's spellchacker.  Really 21st Century that!

I forgot about BetterPrivacy-valuable indeed! 

One option for Windows users might be to do bowsing under Linux in a virtual machine, such as VirtualBox (free at  virtualbox.org) that has restricted access to the host machine's file system.  Amother option is Sandboxie, which allows one to run a webbrowser in it's own 'sandbox', where any registry or filesystem changes are isolated from the rest of the system. (Nagware, http://www.sandboxie.com/ )

And I forgot about my latest addition:  Beef Taco

So simplke, but so effective.

I'm going back to lurking - this editor requires that I be able to yupe!  To me my speelchecker is an input device!!!

I guess a Linux VM under Windoze would be fine as an interim setup.  But rreally need to run Windoze as a VM on Ubuntu.  Once setup simply use Linux to copy the entire Windoze VM to another location.  Then ANY problem, copy it back.  System reset in the time of a Linux copy (which is much faster than Windoze) and no need to even look to see what is infected/contaminated/corrurpyed.

"...but I personally am not fond of Avast because of the constant need to reverify to keep the free key working - free should be hassle free too."

Thanks for reminding me - mine was due up next month. I'd hardly call 30 seconds once a year a major hassle though :-)

Quote - "...but I personally am not fond of Avast because of the constant need to reverify to keep the free key working - free should be hassle free too."

Thanks for reminding me - mine was due up next month. I'd hardly call 30 seconds once a year a major hassle though :-)

When I had it installed it was asking for reverification about every other month, and that was just too annoying for me.

"When I had it installed it was asking for reverification about every other month, and that was just too annoying for me."

Odd, never had that with either 4.x or now with 5.

& seriously folks, if you don't want to be perceived as part of the snarky fanboi side of Linux, learn how to spell Windows.

Quote - Odd, never had that with either 4.x or now with 5.

I have heard that alot, so I figure the software just didn't like me.  Then again I get some of the oddest bugs and problems when I do get them. Heck, I have stumped Smith Micro tech support more than once with bugs they never heard of and couldn't recreate.

Quote - & seriously folks, if you don't want to be perceived as part of the snarky fanboi side of Linux, learn how to spell Windows.

I just had to say, I am far from a Linux user, and primarily use Winblows XP, and even I mispell it on purpose sometimes.  Though XP Pro isn't too bad, and can be made to be fairly stable, I have utter distaste for most other versions of it starting from ME and spreading through the entire Vista family.  In fairness I'll say I have not used or tried 7 yet, so I can not say anything good or bad about it, but since it is built up from Vista I am in no hurry to try it.

Quote -  I have a mac.

So do I but I am finding out other more technically savy Mac users that we are not as safe as we used to be any more and even the Macs snitch us out to software manufacturers, Google, Yahoo and our Internet providers to name a few of the more mainstream "commercial" snoops.

I read in a Mac publication...not remembering the name just now (I think it was the old MacAddict with new name), that said if you want to add a little more protection from the net to set up an older server inhouse that can act as a screening ip address for your browsing box. I gotta look into that more. Sounds like a good idea. Macs have their own good firewalls and you can set up routers and modems to help for the privacy issue but apps pinging back software manufacturers when ever they are launched (despite the firewalls and other protections) ALA Adobe CS Suite troubles me to no end....and I have a clean conscious!

A friend installed a little app SNITCH-something, that tells him just how much pinging and communication and invasive attempts are made on his Macs from prying intruders each time he is on the net. He said it is really troubling how much of it is going on and we think we are safe on the Macs. Right!