Rhyme and Punishment Forums

Hey friends,

Due to popular demand, I bring you the safe PC usage guide.
Everything you needed to know in order to actually be able to browse the net safely.
This guide shall be divided into three categories:
I. Light user - Occasional google search, mostly mail usage
II. Moderate user - Browsing the web more extensively, staying in known sites
III. Extreme user / Developer / Technician - browsing the web, charting unknown websites, entering random links
IV. Definitions

I. light users

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a free antivirus (Avast / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. Unless you know and trust a website (such as ebay.com or amazon.com / co.uk) NEVER write down your credit card information
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible

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II.Moderate users guide

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a free antivirus (Avast / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. Unless you know and trust a website (such as ebay.com or amazon.com / co.uk) NEVER write down your credit card information
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible
9. Run the malwarebytes anti malware every time before you enter a website which requires your personal information and / or payment information (including Paypal)
10. If you enter a websites that asks you to fill your account information unrelated to the website such as your google information on amazon or google information on your news website, it's probably a scam, most probably someone hacked that page or there is some malvertising going on on the advertising network.
11. If in doubt, leave! If a deal's too good to be true, it is! If you get an email from a friend that has nothing to do with what you ever talked to him/her about and has a link or tells you to do something that doesn't sound like your friend would ask you to do, call him/her and make sure it was truly him/her.

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III.extreme user / Developer

1. after you install windows or have windows installed for you, install a good paid or an excellent free antivirus (Kaspersky / Bitdefender)
2. Install the free version of Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit
3. When you surf the web and search for a term always look at the web address of the destination on google, If that website name sounds suspicious you might wish to avoid those websites.
4. Most chances are that those websites which rank first on google are relatively safe (they still might have a virus or such)
5. When accessing a bank website, access the website directly and NOT through a link on an email or such.
6. If you do receive an email regarding your bank account on your email, NEVER phone the number or access the links on the email. Telephone your bank using the number you know is theirs and web address you directly insert into the web browser.
7. If you trust a website, don't, due to your more extreme web surfing habits you have more likelihood to be infected by malware / viruses, before you access your personal accounts on the net run a malwarebytes check (if you have the paid version you won't have to run this check every time)
8. Use Paypal for your online purchases if possible
9. Run the antivirus sandboxed environment browser when accessing banks and / or payment sites so your information can't be logged somewhere.
10. If you enter a websites that asks you to fill your account information unrelated to the website such as your google information on amazon or google information on your news website, it's probably a scam, most probably someone hacked that page or there is some malvertising going on on the advertising network.
11. If in doubt, leave! If a deal's too good to be true, it is! If you get an email from a friend that has nothing to do with what you ever talked to him/her about and has a link or tells you to do something that doesn't sound like your friend would ask you to do, call him/her and make sure it was truly him/her.

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IV. Definitions:

Malvertising - Is an advertisement which leads to a scam / Malware / exploit
Malware - any program which may steal information, log your every action or harm your computer such as encrypting all your data and demanding ransom and / or just delete all your personal files
Exploit - a software tool designed to take advantage of a flaw in a computer system, typically for malicious purposes such as installing malware.

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Double post merged on 05 May 2015 11:14

Post has been completed, Might add more information as time passes by

Extreme web surfing sounds exciting.

By extreme I mean someone who surfs the web as if it was his place.
Entering links to shady websites, installing doubtful programs from the web.

Passwords

• Use upper case, lower case, numbers and symbols in your passwords
• Make them long
• Use pass-phrases rather than words

Which of the following two passwords is stronger,
more secure, and more difficult to crack?

D0g.....................

PrXyc.N(n4k77#L!eVdAfp9

The answer is the top one. Read more at https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm

Watch this video, it explains the value of pass phrases

Never use the same password in different websites. Never ever use one single password absolutely everywhere. Password safes such as KeePass / KeePassX, LastPass etc etc can help you generate, remember and autotype a different, long, secure password for each and every website you use.

You could argue that you only use your password on trusted websites, but:

• Even high profile companies and their websites can be compromised, thus leaking your password.
• HTTPS traffic can possibly be compromised when new and interesting security issues are found.
• Some websites do not even use HTTPS (including this very forum). Whenever you submit your password using a webform or browser-based Basic authentication method, it is essentially flying on the wire as plain text.

One more thing to add to this guide is:

When installing your router or when a company comes to install your home router, make sure they change the admin password on the router from it's default, Most people leave it on the default allowing hackers easy access
bad ideas for router passwords are simple words, use a secure password you can remember.

the best option would be to turn off the ability for WAN sided connections to the router interface. (though you still should place a secure password on your router)

Tormeron wrote:One more thing to add to this guide is:

When installing your router or when a company comes to install your home router, make sure they change the admin password on the router from it's default, Most people leave it on the default allowing hackers easy access
bad ideas for router passwords are simple words, use a secure password you can remember.

the best option would be to turn off the ability for WAN sided connections to the router interface. (though you still should place a secure password on your router)

Yeah ... cannot stress that enough.

There's a website dedicated entirely to people that left their IP CCTV password to factory defaults, and is open for the world to see, just to prove a point. Kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms; you name it.

Creepy and morally very incorrect, but does prove a very valid point.

Even if you don't have a CCTV, your router can be used to track your movement on the internet, find out your accounts information and even if they themselves don't use it, they sell it on the black market.

Once upon a time people connected to the internet using only a modem. These days it is normal to use a modem/router, a device where a modem and a router are built into the same box. A modem/router is a much safer way to connect to the internet than just a modem, but in the UK cable operators such as NTL and Virgin Media (before they adopted the Virgin Media super hub as standard) used to supply the Ambit-100 cable modem to their customers. In the remote chance anyone is still using a cable modem, I would advise contacting the isp to ask about a replacement.

As stated in the posts above, the default admin password should be changed and the use of pass-phrases instead or passwords is advised.

Another change that can be made is the use of a 3rd party DNS servers. Apart from claims of increased relaiblilty and stability, 3rd part DNS servers offer protection against phishing. If this change can be made on the router any device conntected to the router will use these server settings. Two possible free 3rd party DNS server providers are OpenDNS and Norten ConnectSafe. Configuring the router is not difficult and can be completed in a few minutes. Virgin Media super hub users will have to configure the individual devices as this change cannot be made on the super hub.

Falcores Safe PC Usage Guide

Don't do stupid shit.

The End.