I just read a really great blog post. It's actually an article reprinted on one of my favorite blogs, that isn't mine ;) In short the article written by Martin Eberhard, a co-founder of Tesla Motors, details some very useful tips on protecting your privacy online. Some of the comments after the article are quite thought provoking as well. Follow the link at the bottom of this post to the Blog of Tim Ferriss, author of my current favorite book The 4 Hour Work Week.
Click here for Martin Eberhard's article on privacy!
Showing posts with label anonynous surfing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anonynous surfing. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Fake Spyware Detectors and Government Traps
Who do you trust?
According to some people, everyone is in on "it". Is that software really deleting that file? Are proxy servers really anonymous or did the government publish that website?
Good question and I wish I had a convincingly definitive answer. Many businesses and law enforcement agencies employ what are known as "honey pots" - websites, servers or other computers intentionally left with weaknesses in their security in the hope of luring hackers and others of nefarious intent into trying to break in and then the website can glean intelligence on who's been trying to sneak in. This practice is legal and probably necessary in the fight against the criminal element. However, sometimes a hiker might step in the bear trap, so to speak. If you find yourself in a situation where you think you might run afoul of "The Man", get the hell outa there QUICK! Follow the tips elsewhere in this blog to clear your cache and wipe your file slack and swap/page file.
It is relatively well known that there is now spyware out there disguised as privacyware, so it's not too big of a stretch to think that, just maybe, that the proxy server you are using is actually some government shadow operation tricking people into giving them easy access to their comings and goings on the net. What better way to catch people trying to hide something than to offer them a free or easy way to hide it?
I don't necessarily subscribe to this theory but it is reason for pause. So you ask...
Who can you trust?
Since there are so many people out there concerned with their privacy these days it's hard to believe that any "spy" sites could last for very long on the net before somebody "outs" it, and spyware programs disguised as anti-spyware are exposed pretty quickly. Try to keep up to date on Usenet postings, bulletin boards, and blogs. Don't take any ONE persons word for something. If you want to surf anonymously use a proxy server such as Anonymizer, AND a free or pre-paid ISP.
I would be very suspicious of any website that sells privacyware and spyware at the same time. Look for companies that have been around for awhile. If you suddenly see a popup window screaming that you have spyware and it's not from a program that you installed yourself, DO NOT click any of the buttons on the popup. Use Windows Task Manager to close your browser. To do this in Windows 9X and XP, simultaneously hold and release the "Ctrl" "Alt' and "Delete" keys. Select the "Applications" tab, select the program to close and click the "End Task" button. Next scan your computer with a spyware detector that you do trust, you do have one installed already, don't you? My favorites are always the free versions, I like Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware Personal. Sometimes it's too late for a spyware detector, or worse, you didn't install one until it's too late... ouch!
Unfortunately if that's the case it's beyond the scope of this article but there are a LOT of people that post instructions for getting rid of these atrocities. Just Google the name of the offending program or call a tech.
There are many blogs and forums dedicated to these topics and the privacy community is a generous bunch. The real die-hards still frequent privacy newsgroups and bulletin boards, and you can ask the folks there what they think of a particular solution. There's always someone out there willing to help, just to further the cause of our privacy. But remember not to take any ONE
person's word on a subject, even mine. After someone posts a reply to your query check back again in a day or so to see if anyone else has something to say. And if it sounds too go to be true........
According to some people, everyone is in on "it". Is that software really deleting that file? Are proxy servers really anonymous or did the government publish that website?
Good question and I wish I had a convincingly definitive answer. Many businesses and law enforcement agencies employ what are known as "honey pots" - websites, servers or other computers intentionally left with weaknesses in their security in the hope of luring hackers and others of nefarious intent into trying to break in and then the website can glean intelligence on who's been trying to sneak in. This practice is legal and probably necessary in the fight against the criminal element. However, sometimes a hiker might step in the bear trap, so to speak. If you find yourself in a situation where you think you might run afoul of "The Man", get the hell outa there QUICK! Follow the tips elsewhere in this blog to clear your cache and wipe your file slack and swap/page file.
It is relatively well known that there is now spyware out there disguised as privacyware, so it's not too big of a stretch to think that, just maybe, that the proxy server you are using is actually some government shadow operation tricking people into giving them easy access to their comings and goings on the net. What better way to catch people trying to hide something than to offer them a free or easy way to hide it?
I don't necessarily subscribe to this theory but it is reason for pause. So you ask...
Who can you trust?
Since there are so many people out there concerned with their privacy these days it's hard to believe that any "spy" sites could last for very long on the net before somebody "outs" it, and spyware programs disguised as anti-spyware are exposed pretty quickly. Try to keep up to date on Usenet postings, bulletin boards, and blogs. Don't take any ONE persons word for something. If you want to surf anonymously use a proxy server such as Anonymizer, AND a free or pre-paid ISP.
I would be very suspicious of any website that sells privacyware and spyware at the same time. Look for companies that have been around for awhile. If you suddenly see a popup window screaming that you have spyware and it's not from a program that you installed yourself, DO NOT click any of the buttons on the popup. Use Windows Task Manager to close your browser. To do this in Windows 9X and XP, simultaneously hold and release the "Ctrl" "Alt' and "Delete" keys. Select the "Applications" tab, select the program to close and click the "End Task" button. Next scan your computer with a spyware detector that you do trust, you do have one installed already, don't you? My favorites are always the free versions, I like Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware Personal. Sometimes it's too late for a spyware detector, or worse, you didn't install one until it's too late... ouch!
Unfortunately if that's the case it's beyond the scope of this article but there are a LOT of people that post instructions for getting rid of these atrocities. Just Google the name of the offending program or call a tech.
There are many blogs and forums dedicated to these topics and the privacy community is a generous bunch. The real die-hards still frequent privacy newsgroups and bulletin boards, and you can ask the folks there what they think of a particular solution. There's always someone out there willing to help, just to further the cause of our privacy. But remember not to take any ONE
person's word on a subject, even mine. After someone posts a reply to your query check back again in a day or so to see if anyone else has something to say. And if it sounds too go to be true........
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Managing cookies and temporary internet files
Some of the following information applies to Windows 9X/ME versions but is very similar to XP. I included it because there are a ton of users still using the older OS's. If you would like me to answer a specific question or cover something for a specific OS please write.
Surf Anonymously
Whenever you go online through an ISP the computers on the 'net that you connect to can see your IP Address. If someone wanted information about you they could go to your ISP to obtain it, of course they would theoretically have to have a legal right to the information and a search warrent, but who wants to take chances? There are a few ways to defeat this.
1. Use a proxy server such as Anonymizer .
2. Use a free ISP such as NetZero. You could give them an alias instead of your real info.
3. Use a prepaid ISP like prepaid phone cards you can get these at places like Staples, I haven't tried these but the one I looked at said you didn't have to register it.
If you choose one of the latter two options I suggest you still you a proxy! Be twice as safe!
Clear History
Internet Explorers History feature not only keeps track of what websites you've visited but also what folders and files you have accessed from you machine.
Open Internet Explorer, click the Tools Menu, and select Internet Options. On the General tab of the resulting window look for the History section, here you can select how many days to keep files in your History folder, there is also a button to clear you any files that are currently in you history folder. Installing Tweak UI (below) will allow you to automatically remove any history files when you log off.Clear typed URL history
Any time you type a command in the Run dialogue box from the Start Menu, type an URL in Internet Explorer, or open a document, Windows logs it and will display it in the appropriate dialogue box / text area, whenever someone types in any part of the previously typed information. This can really save you time by making it necessary to type only a partial command or Url, and making recently opened documents readily available from the Start Menu. The downside is that anyone can see what documents you've opened lately, even if you thought you had them buried deep inside some obscure folder. Also they could open I.E. and see what Urls you've recently typed. I'm not sure how you can manually overcome this problem but there is great news. if you have Windows 98 then you already have a free application that will clear these items every time you log off of / shut down your computer. It's called TweakUI and here's what you do to use it.
Put your Windows 98 setup disk in your CDROM drive. Wait for a window to pop up, select Browse this CD, and another window will pop up. In this window double click on the Tools folder, next double click the Reskit folder, do the same for the Powertoy folder. Now look for a file named tweakui.inf, right click this file and select Install from the pop up menu. You are now ready to use your new program, go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and double click on TweakUI, now you have a lot of options for customizing your Windows experience. The one we're most interested in here is on the Paranoia tab, where you can select to have TweakUI dump your history files including your Internet History.
Clear Cache
Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and select Disc Cleanup. This will delete the files stored in your Cache folders, but not necesarilly your cookies, nor does it permanently remove the files. Frequently wype your hard drive to keep these files from being recovered.. You can get a program that will manage these for you or you can delete them manually.
The following instructions are for a typical Windows 98 installation, the location of your folders may vary, but this should get you close.
Open Start, Programs, Windows Explorer. In the left hand pane look for the Windows folder, click the plus sign (+) next to the folder to show it's contents. Now look for a folder called Temporary Internet Files, click the plus sign next to it. Inside this folder is one called Content.IE5 or something similar. Expand this folder and you will see several folders with random names such as 25ffssd6565w. Inside these randomly named folders are your cookies. Browse them and delete any files you don't want. Be careful though there mey be some cookies you want to keep.
Cookies
Cookies are very small text files that are placed on your computer by many websites. There is much debate as to the value and risk of cookies. Cookies many times contain personal information that you have entered at websites, this information can usually only be read by the site that places it on your machine. However some sites use a seperate company to generate and monitor their cookies and this does pose a security risk, because conceivably your information from one site could get compiled with information from a nother site, thus elliminating anonymity.
There are a few things you can do.
1. You can disable cookies all together, completely removing any risk from cookies. The downside of this is many websites won't let you in if you disable cookies.
2. Use cookie managing software. There are many programs available on the web, the free ones usually end up making you look at adds or send you commercial emails.
3. Manage your own cookies.
Open Windows Explorer, go to Windows/Cookies and delete any cookies you want. Be careful though not to delete any cookies you want to keep. Be sure to empty your Recycle Bin, and wype your hard drive when you're done.
4. Use a proxy server such as Anonymizer. A proxy server acts as a buffer between the web and your ISP to fool website into thinking that you are surfing from a different server and mask your IP address. The better proxys also store your cookies on their hard drives for you and let you set different settings for what information you want to give to which sites. You may have to pay for the more advanced features
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