Security Info for Newbies

[Toker]

Hi all, just thought i'd start a topic that may help out newbies along the road to securing there online activities.

1) Get yourself a safe and secure email provider. (Protonmail is MY preferred choice)

2) Get yourself a decent VPN. (Trust.Zone is MY preferred choice)

3) Use a decent up to date browser. (Firefox is MY preferred choice)

Now, some explanation. Protonmail is a Secure email provider that sends only encrypted mail which can not be read by any "Man in the Middle" attacks. I.E. When the mail leaves your device it's transferred in a mumbo jumbo of code until it reaches the recipient.

A decent VPN like Trust.Zone will protect all your online activities as it creates a secure encrypted connection to a server in a country of your choice.

A decent browser like Firefox lets you use a "Private Window" meaning no data like Browsing history, Cookies, Logins etc are kept on your device.

Don't use g@@gle to do your searching, use something like DuckDuckGo which has No tracking, no ad targeting and no Data collection policy's

There are many VPN's on the market, have a look here - Simple-VPN-Comparison-Chart

In my mind these are just three of the Starting steps that people should practice to keep there online activities safe and secure from prying eyes.

There is more that i could go into like using PGP and so forth, but for your average person the 3 points above will suffice.

Other members please feel free to add any additional information you feel may be of use to others.

Regards,  T

 

[wait4it]

Said simply ... Thanks, Toker.

 

[Kalsima]

@Toker I agree excellent advice I wish you were here before me and I read this! Thank God for my college age son making me more hip to all of this I knew nothing about a little late but it's all done now.

 

[Toker]

Following on from a convo in the chat box..

Everyone here has / has use of a Smartphone these days.

Here's some info on how to Secure your online activities.

Install a Secure Safe & Trusted private messaging app like Signal  LINK

If your not using a VPN you should be if you value your privacy  VPN Comparison Chart  (Please be Patient it May take time to load!)

Most VPN providers also offer a Mobile version for Android & to a lesser extent IOS. 

If you have a VPN on your PC, then you should have one on your phone too. (Makes sense right?)

Wickr  -  LINK  is seen as some as the go to private messaging app, but it has proven problems *Ref Needed*

Signal  -  LINK  on the other hand is more secure and if it's good enough for Edward Snowden, it's good enough for me!

Stay Safe,  Regards  T.

 

[aarons]

Okay so I followed the steps recommended in this thread and I'm going to back and getting rid of any bookmarks or any evidence from before becoming more secure. So now my question is what about secure payments? I have read a few people getting banned from moneygram from paying online, this is my preferred method because I would rather use debit or cc and I hate bitcoin. So any suggestions?

 

[Toker]

Okay so I followed the steps recommended in this thread and I'm going to back and getting rid of any bookmarks or any evidence from before becoming more secure. So now my question is what about secure payments? I have read a few people getting banned from moneygram from paying online, this is my preferred method because I would rather use debit or cc and I hate bitcoin. So any suggestions?

Hi there,

Depending on where your based you can get a Pre Paid Credit Card which you top up like a pre pay mobile phone. Look Here

I personally don't use money-gram, but if i have to then do it in person in a store, never online.

Bitcoin aint really as hard to get your head around as you think..

Hope this helps.

Regards,  T.

 

[aarons]

Hi there,

Depending on where your based you can get a Pre Paid Credit Card which you top up like a pre pay mobile phone. Look Here

I personally don't use money-gram, but if i have to then do it in person in a store, never online.

Bitcoin aint really as hard to get your head around as you think..

Hope this helps.

Regards,  T.

for me with bitcoin it's just the added cost, I used the site recommeded by the moderator and paid $25 for $ 16. I donated $10 to the cause but then instead of having $6 left I only had $2 So I got charged to buy it and charged to use it, it all adds up to a lot of extra money. Unless I'm doing it wrong.

 

[aarons]

Hi all, just thought i'd start a topic that may help out newbies along the road to securing there online activities.

1) Get yourself a safe and secure email provider. (Protonmail is MY preferred choice)

2) Get yourself a decent VPN. (Trust.Zone is MY preferred choice)

3) Use a decent up to date browser. (Firefox is MY preferred choice)

Now, some explanation. Protonmail is a Secure email provider that sends only encrypted mail which can not be read by any "Man in the Middle" attacks. I.E. When the mail leaves your device it's transferred in a mumbo jumbo of code until it reaches the recipient.

A decent VPN like Trust.Zone will protect all your online activities as it creates a secure encrypted connection to a server in a country of your choice.

A decent browser like Firefox lets you use a "Private Window" meaning no data like Browsing history, Cookies, Logins etc are kept on your device.

Don't use g@@gle to do your searching, use something like DuckDuckGo which has No tracking, no ad targeting and no Data collection policy's

There are many VPN's on the market, have a look here - Simple-VPN-Comparison-Chart

In my mind these are just three of the Starting steps that people should practice to keep there online activities safe and secure from prying eyes.

There is more that i could go into like using PGP and so forth, but for your average person the 3 points above will suffice.

Other members please feel free to add any additional information you feel may be of use to others.

Regards,  T

Followed your example and I feel much more secure, thanks for the advice.

 

[aarons]

It was very inexpensive also, the only cost was $4 a month for the vpn. well worth the money for the security and I had been looking for a vpn anyway. Now I can watch movies without worrying about johnny law, lol.

 

[RedGypsy]

Thanks so much for the advice Toker.  I use Protonmail as well, it's good to get the word out about it, because I don't think a lot of people know about it.  I have even recommended it to some of my vendors that have gmail accounts LOL. I didn't know that duckduckgo had no tracking, I have been being dumb and using google. ugh!  Now I need to get a VPN, I will check out trust.zone.  Thanks again for the info friend!

RG

 

[aarons]

Trustzone is a great VPN, and it is really easy to use. Click downloand and go.

 

[Toker]

Trustzone is a great VPN, and it is really easy to use. Click downloand and go.

Yea @arrons you are right, it has about the simplest User Interface of all the clients i have used.

I'm jumping between Trust.Zone and AirVpn at the moment. Air also has a friendly U.I. and so far

is working well for me & has passed all my security tests..

Regards,  T.

 

[JL123]

Hi all, just thought i'd start a topic that may help out newbies along the road to securing there online activities.

1) Get yourself a safe and secure email provider. (Protonmail is MY preferred choice)

2) Get yourself a decent VPN. (Trust.Zone is MY preferred choice)

3) Use a decent up to date browser. (Firefox is MY preferred choice)

-Email - signed up for Protonmail

-VPN - signed up for trust.zone

-Browser - using Firefox private browsing

-Search engine - implemented DuckDuckGo

If anyone wants to use a 4098k encrypted email service that is stored on local servers (NOT cloud based) 1,000 ft. underground in an armored bunker underneath the Swiss Alps **protonmail** is the way to go!

I do analytical and OCD-related activities for a living, so by nature, now that ye all have started me on this new search for security features I have been combing the inter-vebs for the BEST secure email, best VPN (the link above I did not find that helpful, given the mass of pages of VPN's. So I found some review 'top 10' articles instead), best browser, and best secure search engine.

Email: I looked at Hushmail, Tutanota, and Protonmail. Almost dropped $$ on Hush mail before discovering 1) it had been breached several years ago, 2) better, free/cheaper competitors existed. Tutanota and Protonmail are really neck and neck in almost every way. Both are exceedingly secure and encrypted. Both encrypt your sent email as well as offer options for encryption of RETURN email from your recipient. Apparently, at this time Tutanota offers encryption of the "meta-data" as well, which refers to encrypted subject line, and encryption of attachments. I asked Protonmail and they responded they are about researching/rolling out a similar feature. So, both are very close. They mainly differ on User Interface, and what I consider to be non-essential functions (how many folders, can I name the folders, make sorting rules, etc). What is essential to me is that both can securely encrypt, send, receive, and are very protected.

I went with Protonmail because the free version is, although still paired down, very nicely functional and sufficient for my personal send/receive communication needs of any sensitive nature.

VPN - good grief, so many VPNs. Basically I learned a good summary in this advice: if you want to use a VPN, you should probably be on a paid one. Free VPN's are mostly either selling your browsing data in aggregated form to researchers and marketers, or giving you a paltry amount of data transfer every month. Either way, a basic rule of thumb is that a free VPN will not protect your privacy in any meaningful way. I did go with trust.zone. Very easy to use, decent price, compared to a lot of other paid VPN's which are >$60-100.

Browser - Firefox private browsing is working for me OK for now... ***Question/Help*** I downloaded Tor, but can't for the life of me seem to get it to work well.. I was able to go to a common site like realclearpolitics.com, but, it displayed an error message / failure to connect to DBG for example. So for now, I hope Firefox Private browsing is sufficient.
My concern would be that Firefox private browsing may not record history, cookies, etc.. but can't a third party (i.e. Public Network IT department?? or i.e. bloated government!) theoretically monitor / watch our activity anyway?

Search engine: I didn't even think of this until you brought it up. So thank you! I am now using Duck Duck Go.
 

Thanks to the above posters for their helpful contributions!

Hope this helps people!

 

[Toker]

@JL123   Never rely on a subsidiary site that "ranks" VPN's because in my years of experience they nearly ALL get bucks for clicks,

or are paid a percentage of the amount of clicks that come from there sites. That's the reason i posted a link to the chart!

Main points on choosing a VPN -

1) Are they under the jurisdiction of any of the "Fourteen Eyes" country's?

2) Do they log Any collectable data outside of timestamps?

3) Are All there servers there own Physical Servers and not Virtual Servers?

3) Do they take BTC or any other form of anonymous payment?

5) A Little research goes a long way!

As to your question about FF's Private Browsing, put simply i don't know the answer, but look at the pic below.

PS, Here's some reading when you have time  -  http://communicrossings.com/book/export/html/221

Best Regards,  T.

 

[JL123]

@Toker Thanks for the feedback I appreciate it. In the end, I didn't end up going with their "Top 10" recommendations because they all seemed over-inflated in price, without clear benefit, so I can definitely see what you mean.

Do you know anything about Trust.Zone? Seems to be recommended rather positively. I pulled the trigger on it and am pretty pleased with it. Which ones have you liked?

Thx

 

[2earls]

Great topic @Toker, but I had a lot of trouble using the forum with Firefox.  The lag was driving me insane and since I switched to Chrome it works fine. Most of the time I'm using my phone; sometimes a tablet and rarely a laptop. Is there a difference between which browser works best for each device? 

Excuse me if it's a stupid question, but I am pretty stupid when it comes to any of this stuff. 

 

[Toker]

@JL123  No problem friend.   RE: Trust.Zone,  all i know about them is that they are a relativity newish company (3+yrs old)  They are very responsive on social media and will bend over back-ways to accommodate / address any issues there customers may have.There infrastructure seems pretty solid and there growing bigger and better all the time.  I've been using them on and off for the last two years with very little problems whatsoever.

Hope that helps you some..

@2earls  Hi there, that's strange! It's actually something i've not come across before and i use FireFox on all my devices / platforms.

Silly question, but you are downloading from Mozilla and not some third party site like Cnet or somewhere because some of these sites bundle there own "crapware" with the browser so always download from Mozilla and nowhere else.

Sorry i could not shed any more light on your problem my friend..

Regards,  T. 

 

[2earls]

@Toker it was downloaded from Mozilla and it worked fine for the first couple years, then we did one of our system upgrades and my Firefox didn't seem to like the improvements. 

I still would try it as a first choice for browsing and if members are having problems  (I have had a few who complained about the same problem ) then switching to a different browser should solve it.

 

[Shadowinside2020]

@Toker thank you for all this information. I followed each step you’ve suggested and I feel much more at ease now. Truly appreciate the info!

kindly, 

jstew318