Jae Onasi Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Safe surfing! What do you do to surf the web safely to prevent viruses, malware, or spyware? What steps do you take to protect your privacy or anonymity? Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inyri Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Just a couple of obvious things. It's always good to be aware of the dangers of instant messaging and how easy it is for you - and more importantly other people - to get viruses/malware/whatever that will hijack a user's IM client and masquerade as your friend sending you a harmless link or file. Know your online buddies, and if they're sending you a link and aren't telling you what it is, ask them. If they're confused, odds are it was a malicious link sent by some malicious software and you definitely shouldn't click it. And always be suspicious if your friends are acting out of character. Also be able to judge links. If a link looks suspicious it probably is. If you're planning on using social networking sites or sites that allow user comments - MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube are just a few examples - be careful of what you click and make sure your computer is protected by a firewall, virus scanner, and spyware scanner. Clicking random links is one of the best ways to infect your computer with all sorts of nasty things. I'm not much of an expert on other topics, so I'll let the others have a go at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Gaarni Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Mozilla. Plus adblock and I don't remember what it's called, but it displayes a V, a ?, or an X after a link when I google it, to tell me what sites are most reliable. Other than that, I use common sense and skeptisism to prevent stuff like that to happen to me. EDIT: Ooo, and what Inyri mentioned above about the MSN etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pho3nix Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I use Antivir and Zonealarm. Both are free, never had any major problems with viruses. I also run ad-aware once a month, I don't surf on porn sites and I use Mozilla Firefox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Common sense and enginuity. *snort* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev7 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I have a pop-up blocker on the browser that I use. The computer that I use also has Webroot, and Norton. Other than that I really don't give out my e-mail address to just anyone. Only to the people that I really know/trust. As many others have pointed out, always use common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Gaarni Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hmm, maybe I should add that too. I use McAfee Antivirus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igyman Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Well, I use the latest Eset Smart Security Business Edition (updated automatically several times a day) and I use Ad-Aware with Ad-Watch enabled. Haven't had any virus problems that weren't instantly detected and sterilized. Ahhhh, that word... sterilize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doctor Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Mozilla. FTW. I also run Spybot S&D once a week, as well as AVG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jae Onasi Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Common sense and enginuity. *snort* There's a saying, 'Common things are common'. Common sense, however, is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbieZ Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I think with me it comes down to experience. I don't use p2p sites, i always recognise a dodgy website and always have a virus scanner active. This is all I have needed. I have had my pc for 7 years now and have only ever had 1 virus on it. Plus if anyone ever hacked my compy, id kill them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev7 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 ^ And how would you kill them? How would you track them? So, you don't have any anti-virus programs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inyri Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 i always recognise a dodgy website and always have a virus scanner active. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev7 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 ^ I am officially embarrassed. Thanks Inyri for pointing that out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boba Rhett Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Has using a modified Hosts files become shabby? Am I old and busted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Gaarni Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Oo oo, is the answer Yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoiuyWired Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Has using a modified Hosts files become shabby? Am I old and busted? Its just that many site blocker does that automatically for you, changing your host file. Well, at least things like Spybot S&D did it. Oh, tor is your friend, just make sure you don't send personal date/information over it, cause its possable to hijack data from tor, just that you don't know where those data is from/to. For those who would like to deter virus, it would help if you unplug your internet connection cable and dip it in a bottle of listerine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hallucination Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 I personally use trial and error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabish Bini Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 CA Antivirus and some Firewall I forget the name of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommycat Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Lets see, I protect my computer by clicking on every pop-up that I see, going to pirate warez sites, opening every attachment I see in e-mail and running every script I see on Internet Exploder... hehe... Ok, I'm lieing. If I am going to surf around to dangerous sites, I use Firefox on Linux. Just not as many viruses built for Linux. Plus you have to be dumb enough to actually compile the program but smart enough to know how to compile it. Which usually tends to cancel things out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 AVG, Spybot, Windows Firewall and WILL OF GOD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentine Cougar Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Firefox, Adblocker, AVG Free Edition (though I hardly ever run the scan...), and ZoneAlarm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bee Hoon Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 I use Mozilla to surfing. McAfee, AdAware and Spybot help catch anything that slips through, but I've gotten less obsessive about scanning my computer nowadays:/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Jones Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 My router has a firewall that blocks every incoming attempt to connect, Debian OS all over, and an iptables firewall protecting the DMZ, rkhunter checking for rootkits, done. I have no AV program running to on-access-check my files on HDD, because there is virtually *no* virus for Linux out there anyway. However, mail traffic and files going on and off any removable storage media are checked, so I won't infect any other system (like those at work) despite my own immunity. I use ClamAV for that, which is open source, lightweight and gooooood (and comes with a Windows version as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Firstly, before any more Mac and Linux ppl get on saying "but we hardly get malware" it needs to be said: An operating systems(OS) respective cohort of malware is undeniably proportional to the mass market penetration of said OS. As a result, Linux and Mac have far less listed in their respective known threats categories. It has jack all to do with how fantastically written or not said OS is.....there are some **extremely** clever coders out there, if they thought they can boost their income or reputation by causing havoc on any given OS, they'd do it. Because windows is so prevalent, the chaos(and moreso fear) spread by windows targeted malware is astronomically higher that the other OSs, used by unfashionable nerds/businesses and riche creative types(Linux, Mac repsectively) I myself am throughly convinced that companies like symantec, Mcafee etc, have a horde of paid, independent coders around the world whose sole purpose is to come up with more threats so they can hawk their products on the fearful and less tech savvy. [/conspiracy theorist!] There are decent freeware AV apps out there, I dont know why people insist on paying yearly subscriptions to bloatware crap they dont need. * * * What I do... I'm far less avid on this stuff nowdays... I dont think it has much to do with vista or what apps I use, but moreso my surfing habits.... thus: No 1 thing >> watch where you surf! Things that can help: *FF + Adblock Plus and Filterset G update service *Avast Home(free) edition *Peer Guardian *Make sure your routers firewall is on. I dont even have Spybot or ad aware on atm..and havent had anything amiss happen in years mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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