Internet Privacy (Chat room access issues)

Anyone know a good place to download a good internet privacy program? I checked the archives for some but either some of the links dont work or are in different languages. I have windows me if that makes a difference at all. Any input would be greatly appreciated(been gettin kinda paranoid lately). Thanks

First off... ME sucks, no security what-so-ever..

As far as Internet Security... I've found that Norton Internet Security works VERY well, especially for the non-savvy user. Just note that software firewalls have their drawbacks, if not setup properly it can affect your surfing and access to some sites.

(Message edited by zen on August 10, 2004)

heres a question, if someone is linked up to online using a router, will people get the comps ip address or the router ip address ,..

resp

[nugget]

thats an interesting question , teqnically your splitting 1 ip adress but ive heard or read routers have thier own ip adress , i would like to know how that works as well.

[nugget]

gotta crash cya all tomorrow
if i had to guess since your isp provides your ip id think someone trying to trace you would just be able to ping through your router and see your true ip unless you use an anonymous proxy server .. or 16
just a guess

(Message edited by nugget on August 10, 2004)

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

heres a question, if someone is linked up to online using a router, will people get the comps ip address or the router ip address ,.. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>Your ISP supplies you, typically, with 1 Internet IP. This IP can be used on the Internet. Any IP that you're going to use behind a router is not something that can be used or seen from the Internet.

The router acts somewhat like a computer sitting directly on the Internet. I holds two sides... the external (Internet) side and the internal (Intranet) side. It routes between the two making communication possible.

If someone traces your IP they would be tracing your Internet IP, the one provided from your ISP, and only that IP. 99.999% of the websites you visit on the net log who accesses what and when. Nothing is really done with this information except to collect statistical data for the site. (i.e. how many hits by month, how many hits by day/hour, what people are accessing, etc)

If you use an anonymous proxy then the logging will be logging their IP and not yours. Tracing is still possible though more difficult.

Your IP gives a lot of information if traced, however, you need to use the right programs to do it. Your IP will give your ISP name, type of connection (usually... i.e. dialup, DSL, or Cable), and your physical geographical location.

This is also used for security on the servers you access as well... If you go and SPAM a bunch of crap, mis-use the servers resources, abuse policy, or whatever... You IP can be used to contact your ISP so that they may take the appropriate actions against you. The reason they can do this is because by doing any of the above mentioned, you're probably violating their TOS and may have corrective actions taken against you, including losing your service with them.

In more severe cases it can be used to determine who you are in order to press legal action. Your ISP also knows what customer has what IP and can determine from their logs, even if you're dialup and your IP changes each time, who had what and when. So this can also be called upon. The ISP will not give any information about any customer, however, without a court order to do so. This is standard privacy policy stuff.

The best way for you to secure your internal network is to run a hardware firewall that blocks all incoming traffic unless specifically requested from the inside. This will also allow you to connect multiple systems to use one internet connection. This is also advisable for people on broadband connections because those connections are always active.

It's also a good idea to run a virus scanner and Norton Internet Security. I know there are a lot of software firewalls but this one does something specific. You're protecting yourself from viruses by the virus scanner... and the NIS is to provide spyware blocking.

I'm personally opposed to software firewalls because if not setup correctly can cause issues accessing things. NIS though will block scripts, ads, and spyware from accessing your system. It's also very handy in many other things besides being a software firewall. Very good for the non-savvy type. Personally I don't use software firewalls, but I know what I'm doing and if I get spyware I know how to remove it...

That's a quick lesson is Internet Security. Any other questions?

wow, what an answer, thanks a lot zen.

speaking of spyware, i use two programs on top of each other to get rid of it:
first is called spybot : http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index. html

and the second is called ad aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
(i dont know if this is the same version i have)

they get all kinds of stuff like gator corp and all them darn bastids

a friend of mine told me about them a while ago and now im telling my new friends now. i run them like once a week or two. youd be surprised how many things you catch. i also use norton system works,,,thats a GREAT program. you can clean cookies and all that good stuff.
ok kids....have fun

resp

resp

Yea, those are good programs. I use those in cojunction with hijackThis. It helps to run those from safe mode because some spyware is resident in memory and cannot be cleaned. Safe mode only runs what's necessary to run the system.

When trying to remove spyware, always boot to safe mode. The go to your add/remove programs and try to remove any you can find in there first. After that then run your spyware removal tools such as ad-aware and spybot.

By doing this you should be able to get rid of 99.99% of the spyware out there. If you find there's something you can't get rid of post it on yahoo and you should be able to find something on it.

Another good program is CWS Shredder. It's only used to get rid of the Cool Web Search (CWS) spyware, which is very common... This program is required to get rid of that specifically. Again, run from safe mode.

im not sure what SAFE MODE is, is that on my pc or from those programs themselves?

resp

um, hit F8 when your system boots... you should get a menu to boot to safe mode.

ooooooooooohh!!!! ive seen that ..they give you like a few seconds...

now the diff between safe mode and reg mode is ....?

resp

safe mode only loads what is necessary to run the system. so any spyware that would be resident is never loaded... i.e. you can remove it without error.

great info, mycotopia never seizes to not let me down.

(Message edited by northernlit024 on August 10, 2004)

zen you think there is a way you can try to help me troubleshoot my comp to get me access to chat, i really am at a loss now,,ive tried everything that i can think of to tweak my accessibility to java chat and just cant figure it out. thanks man. shoot me a pm saying yay or nay

ironresp: Please post OS, Browser, Browser version, Security settings, Privacy settings, anti-virus program, software firewall, etc.

windows 2000, internet explorer (i think ie6)

security from ie options: ok...privacy: accept first party cookies, accept third party cookies, java permissions medium level, scripting of java enable. (there is a whole bunch of other options, i dont know which ones you need to know that apply to this}

antivirus: norton system works (norton antivirus)

no software firewall that i am aware of running, i do use ad aware and all them ad stop things but i dont think they are proactive in stopping me from going places.

really that is all i use to protect my comp, i keep my virus def up to date and frequent familiar sites.

any other things you need to know just point it out and ill find out

resp

On the security tab... what's the level set to? or is it custom?

On the privacy tab... what's the level set to? Is there anything set in the "advanced" section?

well on the security end, it is all custom , man when i open it there are tons of things that i can click on or off...but it has a general setting of MEDIUM....on the privacy tab again its advanced, but the only thing that it allows me to tinker with is cookie control, and as far as that is concerned i ALLOW cookies from first and third party sites....

guess its gonna be like turning over one rock at a time

set both to medium and see if that helps, make sure to close IE completely before trying again. Also, list any errors that you get in either popup form or in the status bar at the bottom.

both set to medium, and then even low,
houston we have a problem, its a no go, there are no error messages or prompts other than it looping me back to the screen and its saying in red. you must register before chatting. thats all it says. very frustrating

You do know your name for the chat isn't the same as your posting name right? You have to re-register to the chat....

for the love of god........{lowers head in disbelief)

ok im in, ill see all of you in chat everynight now, because i have NO NIGHTLIFEEEEEE!!!!

yay
i_am_me

yea, I was gonna say that, but didn't catch this post... lol, you DO have to register for a seperate account, even though you can make them the same.

ok, re-read the guidelines above... I've highlighted in bold an important portion that would have been useful in this situation.

i was just thinking in terms of yahoo or aim when you have a password and screename and its universal for gaining access to games and chat and so on. thanks for all the help everyone, im in and i gotta say...its fun

resp

yea, these two particular systems are not integrated. It's almost impossible to integrate this discussion board with anything else because it's antiquated for one, and two it uses a different password encryption scheme than anything else out there today.

[sleepwalker]

HEYYYYYYYY.do this trust me youll thank me go to zonelabs.com and dowload there free firewall.youll get the delux package for a 15 free day trial and then after the 15 days you get the firewall forever free.its a good firewall.then you go to historykill.com and download that.itll kill all traces that are on your computer so that no one and i mean no one can see your steps on there.everyone knows if you delete something its still there and no matter what yuou do they could find it. but with history kill they cant find it it deletes all browser temp files and its good for helping your computers speed it clears alot of space.or you can go to any kind of place where they have computer software and buy window washer by webroot.thats a good program that cleans your tracks.hope this helps.with a firewall and window cleaner youll be ok.peace.

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

it uses a different password encryption scheme than anything else out there today<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>
which does have security advantages
as not even the admin can access anyone's password