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A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

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Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#11

Post by fffimem »

ploggingdev wrote: post #5

> Do use antivirus I think the standard advice from the security community is to not use any antivirus at all and maybe only Windows Defender if you're on windows. The advice to use Tor browser is also terrible. The Tor browser is based on an older version of Firefox ( currently version 52 vs 57 for upstream Firefox ) and so might contain known bugs. On a side note what does the security community think about Qubes O…

Not true. It’s based on the long-term-support version of firefox, called ESR. The ESR branch typically eschews new features for stability but certainly receives any security bug fixes alongside evergreen firefox.

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#12

Post by kuschku »

ploggingdev wrote: post #5

> Do use antivirus I think the standard advice from the security community is to not use any antivirus at all and maybe only Windows Defender if you're on windows. The advice to use Tor browser is also terrible. The Tor browser is based on an older version of Firefox ( currently version 52 vs 57 for upstream Firefox ) and so might contain known bugs. On a side note what does the security community think about Qubes O…

> The advice to use Tor browser is also terrible.

Mozilla uses tracking scripts in Firefox, which in some versions (such as Firefox Beta, Developer Edition, and Nightly) can not even be disabled (If you go to about:config, you’ll notice that toolkit.telemetry.enabled is "locked:true").

So Mozilla themselves suggests that if you do not trust Google Analytics to hold up their agreements with Mozilla, you should instead use another browser (e.g. Tor Browser).

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#15

Post by JepZ »

> Mac users can install Adium, PC (and Linux) users will have to install Pidgin and the OTR plugin.

No word about OMEMO[1] or Conversations[2]. I think running your own XMPP Server with end-to-end encryption should be pretty safe (if needs to be safer run it within a VPN). After that the unsafest part is probably to device you use your app with (closed source firmwares nobody has ever seen).

https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0384.html https://conversations.im

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#17

Post by ryanlol »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #16
ryanlol wrote: post #3

This is overwhelmingly terrible advice. It even tells you to install a mobile antivirus !

Why else is it terrible?

It also recommends running an antivirus on desktop, using a VPN, using tor browser, pidgin and goes as far as discussing android as a viable option.

The “lock up your SIM” part is simply ridiculous too, this has never ever stopped anyone.

This article is terrible because it has clearly been written by non-experts who should not be writing any security guides.

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#18

Post by davidscolgan »

I've lately only been using Linux on my laptop and desktop, but my grandparents recently asked me about advice on a new computer. Is the current best practice to avoid all antivirus software and assume Windows 10 is secure with whatever is built in?

Grandpa thinks Avast makes his computer secure and is using their custom browser for his banking. Is my great distrust in all antivirus systems as worse than the viruses they theoretically find still valid?

Re: A Guide to Not Getting Hacked

#20

Post by polote »

ploggingdev wrote: post #5

> Do use antivirus I think the standard advice from the security community is to not use any antivirus at all and maybe only Windows Defender if you're on windows. The advice to use Tor browser is also terrible. The Tor browser is based on an older version of Firefox ( currently version 52 vs 57 for upstream Firefox ) and so might contain known bugs. On a side note what does the security community think about Qubes O…

Why not use antivirus ? they are a good protection against downloaded content (email attachements, downloaded file) no ?
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