Editorial: How to Safely Use the Internet
 

Latest editorial: Hackers/Malware vs. How to Safely Use the Internet

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Use of two browsers - one for safe sites, one for all else?
 

I just read the informative article about avoiding malware by using more than one browser, one for trusted sites, & one for all else.

I mostly use Firefox, & since I use a mac, sometimes safari if I am having trouble with Firefox.

I have been having some trouble with Firefox, running slow, or snagging, from running unresponsive scripts. I also have trouble opening up .pdf files from links on Firefox, it just opens to a new blank page or tab, so I have had to go to safari for this.

which would be good for which? safari for safe sites? & Firefox for all else? or safari for safe sites, & safari or what browser for all else?

i would prefer to use well known cross platform browsers that run well on both windows & mac os.

Is chrome a good browser? what about opera?

I'd use Safari for safe sites, since it lacks other security.

Then Firefox + FlashBlock + NoScript for safe browsing. It's hard to hang up scripts when the browser rejects them.

I actually prefer Firefox and Seamonkey on Mac and Windows both. Chrome and Opera aren't as user-friendly.

Chrome has some issues blocking scripts, and it does really have anything like NoScript.

Great editorial, look forward to part 2.

I personally use FF for the bulk of my browsing, I find it the most comfortable and stable. Opera for secondary. Chrome got itself uninstalled, had too many hiccups and ran too many background processes.

Can't say I've ever followed the "two browser" policy for safe and unsafe, but it makes sense to adopt it now. I also have the bad habit of being a speed/power user. As I do so much research online, it'd be a hard one to break. Which heavy safety measures could you recommend to me? Thanks.

PS: Can we also expect a part on phone browsing safety?

what about when I am on a windows box? firefox for bulk, & safari for safe? what 2 would be best to use on all platforms?

edit; I see the suggestion seamonkey, would that be better on both mac & windows over safari? for safe sites? & firefox for bulk?

where in firefox settings do I block scripts, flashblock?

We just had a discussion on this. We're going to make it a 4-parter. :)

- Browser habits
- Antivirus, anti-malware, firewall software for desktops/laptops
- VMs
- Server security tools

JMP is taking middle two. LS had the first one. KP is taking the last one.

Same here. But oddly enough, I prefer Chrome on an iPad.

NoScript + FlashBlock on the browwers.
Run a small list of known junk in a HOSTS file, too, but it is very easy to overdo it. Most lists are too aggressive.

Not right now -- mostly because none of us use smart phones. LS is proud of his "dumb phone". :smack:

Firefox and Seamonkey -- skip Safari. Yeah, it comes with MacOS, but that doesn't make it good. ;)

Install the plugins.

• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/fir...on/flashblock/
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/fir...ddon/noscript/

Both Seamonkey and Firefox are "Mozilla" browsers. The links above are for both, not just the "official" Mozilla browser Firefox.

With Flash, you see this:

Attachment 3263

That's an ad. The same thing shows up for YouTube, etc. You have to give it permissions to load by clicking on it.

With scripts, you see this:

Attachment 3264

Those are all safe -- please enable them all here for this site. On other sites, use your best judgment. You can always re-disable someething if it loads crap (nuisance ads that have sound, for example).

That's it. :)

After reading the article, I am wondering how you were able to tell there was something on your computer.
Did it start out like you knew something wasn't quite right or do you have a battery of scanners that are
good at detecting these various malwares?

Three of them tried to overtake the system. It was obvious when it started to shut down software with fake antivirus software (extortion software). These are the nuisance virus/malware that really screw up the system, even deleting software and putting crap in the registry to disallow EXE files from running. It required an F-Secure Linux boot disk to remove, and lots of manual registry edits. The guys that did it have been caught by Interpol, and the servers shut down.

Three times. :rage:

One was a Google redirect -- that one was hard to see unless you watch URLs. This was a bootkit. It would steal ad revenue from other sites by injecting its own ads. It was the least harmful, but the worst to remove.

The last one was blocking anti-malware sites and even MS.com -- semi hard to tell that one was there. It didn't really do much. This is the Conficker worm.

Awesome, especially interested in the AV and Firewall part. I've been wanting to change my setup, but the amount of conflicting info is intolerable, and I'm not keen on testing it all myself. I'm hoping for some lightweight freeware solutions - happy to wait till the editorial, but would appreciate a mention of viable options, if you wouldn't mind.

I don't blame him. The old phones were indeed better at their most basic purpose, which seems more of an afterthought on today's tech. At least from my experience.

- MalwareBytes Pro - $15
- Comodo Firewall - free
- Avast! - free
- Microsoft Security Essentials - free

But not all together. There's trade-offs. It depends on what OS, the age of the system, etc.

There's also stuff like HostsMan and PeerBlock that do some good.

Need the editorial, methinks. :)