How to be Secure & Anonymous Online for FREE!

• Update your operating system & all software installed, most of the time the updates include security patches.
• Go for Open source software over closed source ones, these tend to be more secure since they're community driven & get audited & patched way quicker than the rest.(plus it's always free)
• Use a firewall, the ones that comes with windows aren't bad, if you are not sure what's on the allow list you can always reset the rules & let through what you trust from scratch.
• Use peerblock to further strengthen your firewall by blocking suspicious/bad networks, you can add more lists to it by using iblocklist recommended ones are: level1, level2, level3, spam, spyware, badpeers, hijacked, dshield, Primary threats, spider, & malicious lists.
• Use tor & a VPN when connecting to websites & with instant messaging clients if you want your chats to stay private (like skype or windows live messenger)
• NEVER install bundled software such as toolbars that comes with something else(most of the time they're adware/spyware & wont help you at all)
• Store your sensitive data in an encrypted folder or drive, you can do that by using something like truecrypt
• Have an antivirus running with scheduled weekly automatic scans, recommended ones are Microsoft Security Essentials, CLAMAV, & Avast! antivirus Free edition & always update it.
• Install anti adware/spyware/malware tools like Spybot Search & destroy & Antimalware from malwarebytes or windows defender to immunize & clean your system.
• Always use a new blank browser TAB/Window when visiting another website, web servers know where you came from & where you left to!
• Use HTTPS over HTTP, HTTPS is encrypted, HTTP traffic can be easily monitored since its sent & received in clear text.
• Securely Erase content/free space by using tools such as Ccleaner.
• Keep a sledgehammer handy incase all fails.

• BetterPrivacy (Super-Cookie Safeguard)
• FoxyProxy (allows you to set predefined proxy settings using tor for certain websites/patterns)
• Ghostery (prevents tracking)
• HTTPS-Everywhere (automatically use HTTPS encryption on sites that support it)
• Adblock Plus & adblock plus pop-up add-on. (some ads are bad for you!)

just a few things off the top of my head
- there are websites like VirusTotal, Jotti's VirusScan etc where you can upload a file to have it scanned by dozens of different antivirus engines simultaneously. Free.
- use a strings viewer program to look for suspicious text in executable files, or a hex editor for more advanced users. Pretty much all Strings viewers are free cos theyre so simple, and theres plenty of free hex editors.
- use utilities such as NoScript that disable scripts at websites by default until you allow them. Free.

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• ScriptNo: "Regain control of the web and surf more securely."
• No History: "Stop Chrome from recording your browsing history."
• Keep My Opt-Outs: "Permanently opts your browser out of online ad personalization via cookies."
• HTTPS Everywhere: "Encrypt the Web! Automatically use HTTPS security on many sites."
• Ghostery: "Protect your privacy. See who's tracking your web browsing with Ghostery."
• FoxyProxy Standard: "FoxyProxy simplifies configuring browsers to access proxy-servers, offering more features than other proxy-plugins"
• Flag for Chrome: "This extension displays country or region name, Geo, Google PageRank, Alexa Rank and WOT info for the websites you're visiting."
• Click&Clean: "Deletes your browsing history, typed URLs, Flash cookies, all traces of your online activity to protect your privacy." <-- used to delete LSO cookies, you have to disable background apps when Google Chrome is closed for this to work, the option is under chrome's advanced settings.
• Adblock Plus: "Ads were yesterday! The successful extension Adblock Plus is now available for Google Chrome™."
• Referer Control: "Control the HTTP Referer on a per-site basis."

oldone said:

Those are all excellent points hisser, but I can add a few suggestions;

For the completely paranoid run your "grow" computer as virtual machine. You can download free "virtual appliances" from VMWare like a complete Ubuntu install ready to go. Run it in the (also) free VMWare player.

This leaves your real computer (called the host) with no incriminating evidence at all. The Virtual Machine can be stored on and run from a USB stick.

I can provide more complete instructions if anyone wants it.

Good thread, thanks,
OO

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oldone said:

Those are all excellent points hisser, but I can add a few suggestions;

For the completely paranoid run your "grow" computer as virtual machine. You can download free "virtual appliances" from VMWare like a complete Ubuntu install ready to go. Run it in the (also) free VMWare player.

This leaves your real computer (called the host) with no incriminating evidence at all. The Virtual Machine can be stored on and run from a USB stick.

I can provide more complete instructions if anyone wants it.

Good thread, thanks,
OO

Click to expand...

krunchbubble said:

This is the news, and what I do....

Grab the USB stick and do my shit, pull it out when im done, cant find out what im doing!!!

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EverLast said:

I want it mate

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The Exif format has standard tags for location information. As of 2012 a few cameras and a growing number of mobile phones have a built-in GPS receiver that stores the location information in the Exif header when a picture is taken. Some other cameras have a separate GPS receiver that fits into the flash connector or hot shoe. Recorded GPS data can also be added to any digital photograph on a computer, either by correlating the time stamps of the photographs with a GPS record from a hand-held GPS receiver or manually by using a map or mapping software. The process of adding geographic information to a photograph is known as geocoding. Photo-sharing communities like Panoramio, locr or Flickr equally allow their users to upload geocoded pictures or to add geolocation information online.

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