How to take care of yourself

[Viper]

As I had said, here is alittle info on how to take care of your belongings/self while on the ever dangerous internet:

:: Hiding Your IP ::

This is for those people who absolutely want their IP hidden at all costs.

1) Do not use any IRC related chats.

2) Do not use any services where your IP can be seen easily.

3) Do not use any peer-to-peer services.

4) While surfing, you can hide your IP by connecting through a proxy. Tools => Internet Options: "Connections" tab.

5) You can hide your IP in IRC by connecting through a BNC or vhost. You will need to buy a shell to do so. Visit: http://www.unixshells.org

:: General Info ::

1) Don't download and run any programs/software that you have no idea on what they do.

>> Usualy trojans/virii will come in a form of a compiled program without an icon except for the dos default, or when you run it, nothing happens but your hourglass shows for a while then returns to normal.

2) Get a virus scanner. Norton is a good one, but tends to eat up resources. McAfee is also good.

3) Get firewall, software protects against probing, but it's safer to buy hardware firewall.

4) If you are on IRC, and you get messaged saying to go to a webpage, don't. It is more than likely an Java imbedded mirc trojan, or you are asked to download a file wich contains the trojan itself.

:: Online Transactions ::

1) Look for any indication that they use 128-bit (or higher) encryption or SSL.

2) Make sure that the company you are using comes higly recommended.

3) Become familiar with the staff.

4) Visit the FAQ.

5) If you have questions, ask as many as you can to the support team.

6) Don't use your credit card ALL THE TIME.

:: Avoiding Spam ::

1) Uncheck all the boxes in your "Interests"

2) Read through all signup pages carefully and uncheck any boxed saying if you would like to "recieve any information".

3) Check the boxes that say that "You would NOT like to recieve any information".

4) Create a bulk email address: Create another email address using any email provider, and when you are in a signup page, use that email address in the "Email" field.

5) Note: .0001% of the time, providing your actual billing address will result in mail spam. It is very unlikely and I think illegal.



That's pretty much all I can think of right now.

[Lady HaxX0r]

Can I add to that a point I've observed, but I'm not sure if it can actually be substatiated, regarding avoiding spam: I sign up for a helluva lot of web-based mail accounts because for me that helps me stay organised, each one relates to different things. However, when they ask for your occupation etc, indicating affiliation with the government in whatever format that's offered as a choice seems to deter spamming because I have never been spammed in my web-based accounts apart from one once for which I *didn't* check 'government/military' - I figured maybe it was just because they try to send you career-related spam or something? Is this likely to be a valid precaution or is it just really flukey that no companies have my addresses?

[dev_ocean]

yeah i agree with that web-mail account thing .i have three web mail acccount each users i meet online filling forms on net. and i have protected me a lot of trouble as i delete them in no time instead of installing some software on my comp for filtering spam.
But still prevention is better.

[souleman]

This is for those people who absolutely want their IP hidden at all costs.

The only way to keep your IP absolutely hidden is to not connect to the net at all. If you don't have a modem or a network card, you have nothing to worry about as far as your ip is concerned.

[jethro]

I thought you were going to advise to go out and buy guns...
Nice post, possibly a little vague and basic though?

[Unleashed]

Originally posted here by Viper
2) Do not use any services where your IP can be seen easily.

So, you must not log into Internet and intranets, cause when ever you log and which site you go, your IP will appear.

My friend, Lets forget about IP hiding, and if you wish to do it, the only way is using secure proxies. This is the only way ! otherwise, don't use your modem at all.

[ntsa]

Given that people can be this stupid and the results can be this bad, I for one think that I can live with there being another tutorial on the do's and don'ts of online life, however basic.

I would probably add two rules:
1...NEVER give out your address online
2...See rule one.

It's a jungle out there - let's stay safe people .

[KissCool]

The problem is that if you do all your websurfing hiding your ip and protecting you like a paranoid, you will miss a lot of interesting things.
On internet, an equilibrium is necessary between security and pleasure.

[bello]

Dont even think about the internet, and u have nothing to worry about IP
No connection to the internet=no IP adress.

Bellon “HUMAN KNOWLEGDE BELONGS TO THE WORLD”