Five ways to avoid being tracked on the Web | Security - CNET News

 

Web spies are getting stealthier and stealthier. Recently they've been caught peering into our browser histories to determine the sites we've visited, even in so-called privacy mode with cookies disabled, as Dan Goodin described earlier this month on The Register.

Many of the companies whose sites were discovered using the technique claimed to have had no idea and immediately decried the spying. Julia Angwin reported on many of these surprise responses on the Wall Street Journal's Technology site.

If the owners of the spying sites aren't even aware of the activity, what are unsuspecting visitors to do? Well, you could wait for the government to take action, as CNET's Declan McCullogh reports in the Privacy Inc. blog.

Or you could rely on the online advertising industry to police itself, despite the marketers' inability to determine which spying practices violate their own guidelines, which Julia Angwin describes on the WSJ's Digits blog.

Personally, I'd rather take matters into my own hands. Here are five ways to reduce the chances that your browsing habits are being recorded.

Five ways to avoid being tracked on the Web | Security - CNET News

Google's Search Engine Now Sniffs Out Malware | PCWorld

 

Google's search engine is now fighting against a strain of malware that secretly intercepts Web browser activity on Windows PCs.

Infected users will see a big yellow box at the top of search results, directing them to a Google Web page that explains how to remove the malware. That page urges users to download or update their antivirus software, and also provides manual instructions for removing the malware from Windows computers. (To see if you're infected, run any search on Google.com and look for the yellow box.)

Infected users will see this box at the top of their search results.

Google doesn't explain the threat in detail, saying only that the malware routes Internet traffic through intermediary servers called proxies, and that the search engine is able to detect when traffic is coming from those servers.

Google's Search Engine Now Sniffs Out Malware | PCWorld

Free AntiMalware Software – And More – For Senior Computer Users | Bill Mullins' Weblog – Tech Thoughts

Like the rest of us, Senior users are susceptible to cybercrime, and like the rest of us, need to protect their computers against the ever increasing exposure we all face to Trojans, Spyware, Viruses, Phishing Scams, and Identity Theft, while connected to the Internet.

Free AntiMalware Software – And More – For Senior Computer Users | Bill Mullins' Weblog – Tech Thoughts

Probably the Best Free Security List in the World

 

The products are almost exclusively free with some exceptions: products where there is no free alternative,  good products that offer a lifelong license, and exceptional products. In some cases the links point to executables. In such cases replace [dot] with . and the link will work.

Probably the Best Free Security List in the World

Not Even Security Managers Immune to FakeAV Infection | PCWorld

Can you believe it? As I sat down this morning to write this column, I got hit by a drive-by download of FakeAV.

My computer is infected with pop-up warnings and file scans telling me I have security problems, and Internet Explorer has been hijacked to keep sending me to a website where I can "purchase the software." Pop-ups are coming from my taskbar, showing up in the middle of the screen, and rifling through my files with a fake scan. My computer is being held for ransom.

How did this happen? And what am I going to do about it? I mean really, as a security manager you'd think I would be immune to this kind of problem. My antivirus software is up to date and actively scanning, and my system is fully patched. That's more than most people are doing.

Not Even Security Managers Immune to FakeAV Infection | PCWorld

VirusTotal delivers the collective wisdom of 32 viruskillers on-demand | freewaregenius.com

 

Virustotal is a web service that provides on-demand scanning of your local files for worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware detected by antivirus engines. It allows you to upload any local file up to 10 megs in size and will perform a scan across 30+ different virus scanning engines (which include all of the leading heavy-hitter virus killer engines on the market).

VirusTotal delivers the collective wisdom of 32 viruskillers on-demand | freewaregenius.com

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.1

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) is an easy-to-use tool that helps small- and medium-sized businesses determine their security state in accordance with Microsoft security recommendations and offers specific remediation guidance. Improve your security management process by using MBSA to detect common security misconfigurations and missing security updates on your computer systems.

Wi-Fi Surfing Safety

1. If your company has a VPN that you can use for Web browsing, use it.
2. If you can't use a company VPN, give HotSpot Shield a try.
3. Don't equate subscription (paid-for) Wi-Fi Internet with secure browsing.
4. On unencrypted wireless networks, everyone can see where you are surfing (except on HTTPS Websites).
5. On encrypted wireless networks, everyone with the password can see where you are surfing (this could be a handful of people in your house, or hundreds of people in an airport).
6. If you must use a Wi-Fi hotspot without any form of VPN, imagine that your laptop is connected to a stadium Jumbotron. Don't visit any sites you wouldn't visit with 80,000 people looking over your shoulder.