How to craft a well protected browser:

Practically  speaking, anonymity is very difficult to achieve on the web, but with some small effort, you can increase your privacy significantly.

Here is the recipe:

• the latest version of the Firefox browser (if you can keep up with their fast-track version cycle!)
• Always make sure that Adobe Flash is updated to the latest version.
• Firefox plugins

1. Better Privacy
2. Ghostery
3. NoScript
4. Https-Everywhere
5. Adblock Plus

Then set the browser options to:

1. Set the cashe to a relative small size, say 10 MB.
2. Delete cashe on exit (temporary files)
3. Delete history on exit.
4. Delete cookies on exit. Note: also set Better Privacy to delete ‘super cookies’ (flash cookies) on exit.
5. Select the “do not track” option (under the privacy tab)
6. Use a password manager such as RoboForm

Don’t forget!  You are still not private or anonymous. So be nice.

Remember “Practice Safe Computing”

Opera?  No

Chrome? No

Firefox? No

Safari?  No

Internet Explorer 9?  Yes

As per the following source article, Internet Explorer is by far the best browser at keeping Malware off our computer. (But you do need to listen to it)

In this competition, IE9 was effective at preventing 92% of malware infections.  IE8 blocked 90%.

The nearest competitor only blocked 13%.

Note: SmartScreen Filter must be ON.

(this is about stock, off-the-shelf browsers, not security enhanced browsers such as Dragon, or add-ons and security and privacy plugins, etc.)

Source

A couple of the most notorious SVO’s  [Security Vulnerability Offenders] are back again with ‘critical’ updates.

If you have Java or Flash on your computer [Who doesn't?], please make sure you update to the latest versions.

At this writing, for Java, that would be version 6 update 24.

http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Flash is more complicated as there are multiple versions depending on your browser.  As of this writing, Flash for 32 bit Internet Explorer would be version 10.2.152.26.  For 64 bit IE, it would be version 10.2.161.23.

(by the way, these new versions also provide enhanced performance.)

http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

Generally speaking, if you visit the above addresses with the browser of your choice, you will be offered the correct version.

[After all, what could possibly go wrong?]

From a security standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to move to Windows 7 ASAP.  Windows 7 will have a small fraction of the security vulnerabilities and requisite update fixes as did Windows XP.  Why? Windows 7 was built from the ground up with security in mind, which was only an afterthought with Windows XP.  No doubt, there will be vulnerabilities to fix.  But in the long run, it should prove to be a very good move for the average user.  We have been running Windows 7 on a test machine since the Beta was first available, and are quite pleased with its performance and functionality.  Not totally pleased, mind you, but pleased enough to be recommending it to all our customers and readers.  Let us know what you think.

Key loggers can be some of the most dangerous spyware one can have have on a computer.  They can capture every stroke you type, and that includes passwords and user names, account numbers and  credit card numbers.  Many of the creators of this nasty spyware claim that there software is undetectable.  Well, we don’t know if that is true, but true or not, there is a solution that may well save you from ID theft, bank account theft and many other potentially very serious problems caused by key loggers.

Give yourself some piece of mind and install KeyScrambler from http://www.qfxsoftware.com/.   The free version protects Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Paid versions are available that protect much more software, including Microsoft Office and numerous other programs.  We have been testing it for a couple of weeks and have found no problems.  We have not tested its ability to foil key loggers, but it comes with some good recommendations.   And we are going to give it ours also.  Check it out.

A visit to the following web site would be advisable to anyone interested in computer security and Internet security:  http://www.stophcommerce.com

And send a link to anyone you know who may be vulnerable to being scammed or hacked.

The site is sponsored by McAfee, and will be posting a series of short videos about Internet security.

This video may give you a good idea as to why updating is important.

It is incredibly important to keep *all* the software on your computer updated on a very regular basis.  Do not leave this to chance.  Do not rely on programs to update themselves. 

Do use tools like Secunia PSI.  Secunia PSI can help you keep a lot of these programs up to date.  We highly recommend this tool, found at: http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

 Do insure that you have the latest anti-virus software and  keep it updated with current definitions.

There is a list of software that *must* be updated on a regular basis (if installed):

• Sun Java Runtime
• Adobe Flash
• Adobe Reader
• Your computers operating system, be it XP, Vista, MAC OS, Linux or whatever.
• Your browser, be it IE, Firefox, Opera or whatever
• QuickTime
• Spybot Search and Destroy Immunization definitions
• Spyware Blaster
• Your antivirus software
• Your firewall softwares
• Your Security suite, it that is what you use
• CCleaner or whatever temp file and registry cleaner you may use
• Any other anti-spyware software you may use
• WordPress, or any server based blogging  or similar tools you may use

Jeremiah Grossman is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of WhiteHat Security.  His blog site is a good resource for security related knowledge, therefore we are adding his blog to our official Blogroll.

To see why it is  so very important to secure your wireless network with WPA security, as well as taking some other simple precautions, such as naming your network in a way that is not personally identifiable, check out this YouTube video:

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88XB7_Jz7s