[ExI] Fwd: [ZS] Project RES: #cryptoparties

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Mon Aug 27 10:41:22 UTC 2012


On Sun, Aug 26, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Anders Sandberg wrote:
> I recommend reading Bruce Schneier for a start. His sensible take on
> security and privacy is a good foundation for figuring out what protections
> you really want to take. Starting with tools is the wrong way around: first
> figure out what you want to protect yourself from.
>

Yes, I read Schneier, but then I'm a security nerd!  :)
Your more average computer user would quickly get bored. A lot of what
he talks about has little relevance to day-to-day web browsing.


> For example, my personal threat profile is largely 1) drive-by-hacking from
> automated scripts and trojans, interested in using my computer as part of a
> botnet or steal credit card information, 2) crazies obsessed with
> transhumanism (I do have a few people who think i am part of the giant
> CIA-Sweden-Transhumanist mindcontrol project). The fact that various ISPs
> and data aggregation companies can guess my taste in pornography is not a
> problem unless they tell the crazies. That governments can mine my data is
> not much of a problem since I do my subversion in the open, often by talking
> at government agency functions. So that suggests that I should focus on
> making sure I don't gobble up trojans, and ensure I have a safely
> uncorrelated set of passwords for online services.
>
>

That view is the wrong way round for non-techy users. For them you
need security systems that are invisible and will work in spite of all
their daft behaviour.
(Useful even for experts, as everybody makes mistakes sometimes)  :)


That's why I recommend such people get an Apple computer. At a stroke
all the millions of Windows attacks disappear. No viruses, trojans,
drive-by hacks, etc.
(Yes, I know that a few Apple viruses do exist, but in practice they
are still extremely rare).

Apple computers are more expensive, so if price is a problem, then I
install a user-friendly Linux system such as Linux Mint. If they want
a really cheap old computer then there are versions of Linux such as
Puppy Linux which will run fast on old computers.  Windows viruses
have no effect on Linux computers.
(Although Linux and Apple pcs can pass Windows viruses on to Windows
users via infected files).

For a small business, they should have an old diskless computer
dedicated for online banking *only* and boot it from a Linux CD. The
CD cannot be infected. If any infection does get in the computer it
will be wiped clean by a reboot.

There are many extensions that can be added to Firefox and Chrome to
improve privacy and security, but some require user training. So I
don't automatically recommend installing everything as for some people
it would make their browser too difficult to use. As users learn more,
security can gradually be increased if they show interest.

There are many web sites providing security and privacy information.
<http://bypass-censorship.org/>
<https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-stay-safe-while-online.htm-0>
<https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-protect-your-online-privacy.htm>
<https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-harden-your-browser-against-malware-and-privacy-concerns.htm>
<http://www.digitizd.com/2012/07/27/10-firefox-extensions-for-security-anonymous-browsing/>

BillK



More information about the extropy-chat mailing list