Tech tips , Trends and news.

[Ram]

Not all of us are as computer and technology snazzy. This could be said particularly of the people belonging to the previous generation . There is even paranoia about handling technology , devices sometimes. So I though it would be worthwhile to start a thread on technology and its products, so that people who know things can explain it in manner easily understandable to others. Besides , not all of us know everything. So , if you feel you know certain aspects of a technology that is relevant to everyday life of others , you could post it here. It could be on anything , from the latest tech news , to the useful gadgets , to tips on software , to freeware and where it could be found, to links to e-books. Just about anything to do with the world of internet that could be of use to the posters is welcomed in this thread. As a starter , i am listing 10 easy ways to stay safe while using the internet. 10 Ways To Stay Safe Online 1. Be a responsible cyber citizen. If you use the Internet, you're a citizen of a global community-a cyber citizen. Just like being a citizen of your local community, being a cyber citizen has responsibilities. Use the Internet to share knowledge that makes people's lives better. Keep safe, use good manners and respect the laws. 2. Use anti-virus software. A computer virus is a program that can invade your computer and damage or destroy information. Anti-virus software is designed to protect you and your computer against known viruses. But with new viruses emerging daily, anti-virus programs need to be updated regularly. Check with the web site of your anti-virus software company to see some sample descriptions of viruses and to get regular updates for your software. Stop viruses in their tracks! 3. Do not open email from unknown sources. Delete email from unknown sources. Watch out for files attached to e-mails, particularly those with an "exe" extension-even if people you know sent them to you. Some files transport and distribute viruses and other programs that can permanently destroy files and damage computers and Web sites. Do not forward e-mail if you are not completely sure that any attached files are safe. 4. Use hard-to-guess passwords and keep them private. Do not write passwords down on small pieces of paper taped to your computer. You would be surprised how many people are sloppy about keeping their passwords private. Passwords that are easy to-guess are a bad choice. In other words, if your name is "Dan" do not make your password "Dan." Change your passwords regularly and don't give your passwords to anyone! Tell your family that combinations of letters, numbers and symbols are harder to crack than just words. 5. Protect computers with firewalls. Install firewalls for your family-it is not difficult. A firewall helps prevent hackers from breaking into your computer or the computers that belong to your family. Firewalls help prevent thieves from stealing and using private information including your phone number and credit card numbers, which may be stored on a family computer. 6. Do not share access to your computers with strangers. Learn about file sharing risks. Your computer operating system may allow other computers on a network, including the Internet, to access the hard-drive of your computer in order to "share files". This ability to share files can be used to infect your computer with a virus or look at the files on your computer if you do not pay close attention. Check your operating system and other program help files to learn how to disable file sharing. Do not share access to your computer with strangers! 7. Disconnect from the Internet when not in use. The Internet is a two-way road. You get information and also send information. Turning off the Internet makes sure that someone else on the Internet can't enter your computer and cause harm. Disconnecting your computer from the Internet when you are not online lessens the chance that someone will be able to access your computer. 8. Back-up your computer regularly. Help your family back up all household computers onto external media such as CD's or diskettes. 9. Regularly download security protection update "patches". Security flaws are regularly found in operating systems and application software. Companies that make software release quick fixes called "patches" that you should install to correct the latest software flaw. It is a good idea to check for security updates on the publisher's Web site for all the software you own. 10. Help your family to check computer security on a regular basis. Evaluate computer security at least twice a year. To help remember, do it when you change the clocks for daylight-savings time! Check for all of the items listed previously.

[Gaurav]

10 tips ke bache I give you 44 more tips :finger::heart::two_thumbs_up: The Fight Against Phishing: 44 Ways to Protect Yourself Simple, but effective… 1. Never trust strangers: The same rules you were taught as a child come into play here; DO NOT open emails that are from people you don’t know. Set your junk and spam mail filter to deliver only content from those in your address book. 2. Sidestep those links: What happens if your spam filter is fooled into delivering junk mail to your inbox, and you happen to open it? Simple – NEVER click on links embedded in your email. 3. Guard your privacy: Your mouse just happened to move over the link and lo and behold, you’re transported to another website where you’re asked to provide sensitive information like user names, account numbers, password and credit card and social security numbers. Just one word for you - DON’T. 4. Fear Not: More often than not, these phony websites come with threats or warnings that your account is in danger of being deactivated if you don’t confirm your user information, or that the IRS is due to pay you a visit if you don’t comply with what’s written on the page. Just IGNORE them. 5. Pick up the phone and call: If you are in doubt that it just may be a legitimate request, and that your bank is actually asking you to reveal sensitive information online, CALL your customer service representative before you do anything foolhardy. 6. Use the keypad, not the mouse: TYPE in URLs instead of clicking on links to online shopping and banking sites that typically ask for credit card and account numbers. 7. Look for the lock: Valid sites that use encryption to securely transfer sensitive information are characterized by a lock on the bottom right of your browser window, NOT your web page. They also have addresses that begin with https:// rather than the usual http://. 8. Spot the difference: Sometimes, just the presence of the lock alone is proof enough that the site is authentic. To verify its genuineness, double-click the lock to display the site’s security certificate, and CHECK if the name on the certificate and the address bar match. If they don’t you’re on a problem site, so get the hell out of there. 9. Second time right: If you’re worried that you’ve reached a phishing site that’s masquerading as your banking page, sometimes the easiest way to check is to enter a WRONG password. The fake site will accept it, and then you’re usually redirected to a page that says they’re having technical difficulties, so could you please check back later? Your original banking site will not allow you entry. 10. Different is the keyword here: Use DIFFERENT passwords for different sites; I know it’s a tough ask these days when most functions of the brain are being passed on to technology, but this is a good way to prevent phishers from getting at all your sensitive transactions, even if they’ve managed to compromise one. 11. Keep your eyes open: A spam email is littered with grammatical errors, is generally not personalized, and usually has either some link or a suspicious attachment. RECOGNIZE and report them as spam. 12. Familiarity breeds contempt: Not sure that you can spot a phisher’s email when you receive one? Well, take a LOOK at these and you’ll know how they’re generally framed. By and by, you’ll learn how to spot the fake ones. 13. Greed doesn’t pay: NEVER be taken in by offers of money for participating in surveys that ask for sensitive information. These are always fraudulent attempts to get hold of your personal details. You may get the $20 that’s promised, but there’s also a high probability that you may find your account cleaned out. 14. No stepping out: Do not leave your computer UNATTENDED when logged into your bank account or when you’ve provided credit card information on a shopping site. 15. Proper exits count: Once you’ve finished your business, LOG OUT properly instead of just closing the browser window, especially if you’re using a public terminal. 16. You can never be too careful: LOG INTO your bank account on a regular basis and keep tabs on your money. You don’t want to wake up one fine day and find that a phisher’s been siphoning off a few hundred dollars every now and then. 17. A little knowledge is not dangerous: Keep yourself up to date with the latest news and INFORMATION on phishing. 18. Hard evidence: Be very careful when disposing of old computers and hard disks. Recycled computers have been found to retain confidential information pertaining to Internet banking. Use software to ERASE and over-write data on your hard disk to ensure that it is not recoverable. For business as usual… 19. I know him, or do I? Beware of SPEAR PHISHING – when your corporate account is compromised and emails soliciting private information reportedly come from your colleagues or higher-ups, it’s better to call the person concerned and verify the authenticity of the email. 20. Peruse those records: As part of a business organization, there’s much you can do to prevent phishers from compromising your firm’s security. Set up firewalls and get you’re your anti-virus systems in place. MONITOR the logs from your DNS and proxy servers, firewalls and other intrusion detection systems on a regular basis to check if you’ve been infected. 21. Policy is the best policy: Set strict POLICIES for the creation of passwords for your clients, servers and routers, and ensure that your personnel follow them diligently. 22. No intruding: Establish intrusion detection and protection systems that protect your network content and prevent the sending and receipt of phishing emails. Protect your GATEWAY with anti-phishing and anti-virus tools and firewalls. 23. Watch the company you keep: Maintain a list of approved DEVICES that are allowed to connect to your firm’s network. Taking technology on your side… 24. It’s a matter of trust: An important question is, can you trust the site’s certificate to be authentic? Verisign was guilty of issuing security certificates to sites that claimed to be part of Microsoft not so long ago. The latest versions of browsers, IE 7 and Opera 9 will soon be able to provide users with EV SSL (Extended Validation SSL) certificates that assure them of being on a genuine site. The address bar shows green for the good guys and red for the doubtful ones. 25. From phishers with greed: Emails can also be spoofed. The only way you can be sure they are not, is to use clients that support S/MIME digital signatures. First check if the sender’s address is correct, and then look for the digital signature. This is a pretty effective anti-phishing tactic as the signature is generated by the client after the mail has been opened and authenticated, and because it’s based on robust cryptographic techniques. 26. Keep up or else: Make sure your operating system and browsers are UPDATED regularly. Check for the latest patches and apply them immediately. 27. Build that fence: PROTECT your computer with effective anti-virus and anti-spam software, and set up firewalls to keep those sneaky Trojan horses out. They are capable of the worst kind of phishing – installing surreptitious key-logging software on your system that captures all your keystrokes and transports them to the crooks in some unknown location. What’s worse is that the infection spreads from your PC to other systems on your network, till all the computers are compromised. 28. Two are better than one: Use two-factor authentication to log on to sensitive sites. The COMBINATION of a software token like a password and a hardware device like an ATM card make it doubly hard to crack open an account with just one or none of the two verification factors. 29. Step by step: It’s harder for phishers to gain access to your password if you SPLIT the login process into two phases – entering your user ID in the first and other credentials in the second. The process is even more secure when you enter identification details in the second phase only if the input window is personalized in some way, for example, if an image explicitly selected by you is displayed. 30. Not just a token: Consider using an ID Vault USB TOKEN that encrypts all your user ids and passwords and stores them on a flash drive, which can then be used to securely log onto websites. Most tokens come with a list of legitimate sites and also prevent key-logging software from working effectively. The device itself is password-protected, so thieves have an added layer of encryption to tackle. 31. Hashing to confuse: Software plug-ins are joining in the fight against phishing, an example being the PwdHash, or password HASH tool developed by two Stanford professors that scrambles any password you type, and creates a unique sign-on for each site you visit. Even if phishers are given a password, it’s the wrong one. 32. I spy no spies: Another application developed along the lines of PwdHash, and also created by the same two Stanford professors, the SPYBLOCK tool prevents Trojan horse key-logging programs from stealing your passwords. 33. Extending protection: Browser extensions like Antiphish used as a plug-in by Mozilla’s Firefox offer protection against phishing attacks by maintaining LISTS of passwords and other sensitive information, and issuing warnings when users type this information on fishy sites. 34. Framing policies: Banks and online business houses would do well to use the open-source SPF (Sender Policy Framework) standard which prevents email addresses from being spoofed by listing servers that are allowed to send mail. 35. Taking on trust: As an alternative, they could use a TRUST SERVICE like GeoTrust’s True Site that allows customers to verify a website’s authenticity. Prospective protection against phishing… 36. Sending positive signals: New technologies like the Sender ID Framework (SIDF) are joining in the fight against spoofing websites by verifying the source of each email. In the pipeline from Microsoft and CipherTrust. 37. Not barring trust: TrustBars, which are secure and tamper-proof components of browsers, allow VISUALIZATION of information related to sites. Users are alerted by visible warnings when there is a discrepancy in the visualization on the bar. 38. Slow down those attacks: Another technique, the Delayed Password Disclosure (DPD), protests against pop-up windows that ask for sensitive details (aptly termed doppelganger window attacks) works against phishing attacks when users enter passwords letter by letter, one following the other only after a corresponding image is recognized. 39. Proof positive: Websites that wish to prove they are authentic can use HTML extensions called PROOFLETS to enhance a server’s contents. These are verified by browsers through the use of special web services. Alternative approaches… 40. Mobility in scams: As consumers are wising up to their scams, phishers are moving on to newer media to launch their scams. Mobile phones, a necessity in today’s world, are the latest targets. Text messages purporting to originate from your bank warn you that unless you confirm your account information, it will be deactivated. IGNORE these messages, they are always spam. 41. Voicing doubts: Another hot sphere of activity, the VoIP technology, is being harnessed as a phishing tool with alarming regularity. The crooks find it COST-EFFECTIVE to make numerous calls and earn a sum well above the incurred expenses. This is doubly dangerous because people, who would look at an email in with suspicion, generally tend to believe phone calls. Make a difference… 42. Join the fight: If you come across a phishing scam, REPORT it at once to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the FBI through the Internet Fraud Complaint Center, both of whom work to shut down phishing sites and catch those responsible. 43. Say goodbye: If any of your accounts have been compromised, CLOSE them at once. 44. Change is good: If you even suspect that your any one of your passwords has gone to the wrong hands, CHANGE all your passwords and pin numbers on online accounts immediately. Phishing is one sphere of activity where ignorance is never bliss. As long as there are gullible people around, there will be crooks to take advantage of human vulnerabilities like carelessness, laziness, greed, and ignorance. Aided and abetted by technology, these attacks are increasing by the day. A little alertness will go a long way in fighting these cyber criminals.

[Ram]

GKD bhai , this thread is not a thesis defence , to overload people with information . The key is to give concise information which the posters will find useful and easy to implement. No point confusing people with hi-tech jargon. Who will have the patience to read through 44 tips ? :P

[Gaurav]

:regular_smile:

[King]

Good on ya Sriram

[Rajiv]

Try to use Trusted Sites feature in IE

[ludhianvi]

There is also an equivalent, called McAfee Site Advisor extension for firefox users

[Holysmoke]

stop going to shady (porn) sites :D

[Ram]

Here is some for those of us who do frequent online banking. You may know most of these already , but it wont hurt to have a refresher.

• Whenever you visit the sites of Banks to do online transaction , make sure the site looks proper and as it does all the time. Scammers spoof bank sites with sites which look similar and have similar sounding/spelling URLs. So , if you login with your user name and password, you are in essence giving away this information to outside sources.

• Always restrict your online banking from your home computer. Avoid accessing online accounts from outside computers such as labs, friend's computers etc.

• Check if the security image/question is what you had selected originally.

• Never reply to unsolicited mails claiming to come from banks and asking you for you login information to verify your account. Bank ids can easily be created so as to fool you. If the actual id of the bank was Citibank@Customercare.com , you might get mails from Citybank@customercare.com. That is a spoof. Also , NEVER click on links that ask you to go to that link and verify your username and password information.

• Use separate browsers for casual browsing and banking activities. This way , spyware that could be installed in one browser due to visiting spurious websites wont attack your stored passwords in the other browser.

• Have unique passwords for online banking. Keep changing it frequently.

• Lastly , keep checking your online activity once in 2-3 days to see if you find something suspicious. If you do , report it to the bank immediately.