What else do I need to be secure and prevent tracking?

[Berryracer]

Here is what I suggest, I don't want any form of tracking on my PC:

- Firefox FTW
- MVPS Hosts file
- Ad-Block Plus with the Easy List subscription
- Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013 FTW
-SUPERAntiSpyware (on-demand) just to ensure there are no tracking cookies on my PC every now and then although it NEVER finds any probably due to the use of MVPS hosts and Ad-Block Plus?
- MBAM (on-demand) every weeek which also never finds anything but I run it just for the heck of it


anything I am missing or you would recommend that wouldn't make my net usability bad? I tried No Script once and most the sites that I visited stopped working properly so I didn't like that

 

[Ketchup]

I started using add-ons for FF and they seem to be doing pretty well, DoNotTrackMe being one of them.

 

[maria-tomic]

I suggest using a VPN when browsing. There's a number of free VPN service providers that are cheap. The same on a smartphone.

 

[Ken g6]

I tried No Script once and most the sites that I visited stopped working properly so I didn't like that

Yes, you have to configure each site you visit in NoScript until you get it working. Which can be a pain, but I think it's worth it. If you don't want to do that, leave NoScript installed, but allow all scripts. It will still block things like XSS attacks.

I like CookieSafe Lite, but you have to do the same kind of per-site configuration with it.

 

[lxskllr]

Yes, you have to configure each site you visit in NoScript until you get it working. Which can be a pain, but I think it's worth it.

NoScript makes a good sanity check. It's a PITA, but sometimes I just don't view a page if they have tons of scripts. It's improved the quality of my web browsing. I'll get on a site to view a stupid linked video, and the script list takes up my whole window. I then decide the stupid video isn't worth it, and close the tab. It not like HuffingtonPost has anything of value anyway. With their huge number of scripts, I can just avoid the site.

 

[Berryracer]

I started using add-ons for FF and they seem to be doing pretty well, DoNotTrackMe being one of them.

I thought Firefox has a do not track me built into its options, what's the difference betweeh the DoNotTrackMe addon and the built in option? Worth it?

Oh I forgot to mention that I do use StrongVPN which is a paid VPN service

 

[MontyAC]

Add the DonNotTrackMe add-on to your FF. It'll show you what each site is doing and how much the add-on blocked if they track.

 

[Ketchup]

I thought Firefox has a do not track me built into its options, what's the difference betweeh the DoNotTrackMe addon and the built in option? Worth it?

Oh I forgot to mention that I do use StrongVPN which is a paid VPN service

It says it does, but I have no idea what it is doing. DoNotTrack me is stopping a lot of things. I am still testing a few out to see which I like best.

 

[Berryracer]

thanks for the suggestions guys! y'all rock

 

[manko]

NoScript is a must if you're serious. Malicious scripts are the cause of a lot of compromised systems. Once you see how much extraneous junk sites are attempting to load into your browser, you'll find the extra hassle worth it.

A few more addons you might try:

BetterPrivacy
Cookie Monster
Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus
Flashblock
Ghostery
HTTPS-Everywhere
RequestPolicy

Some of these take a similar amount of effort to NoScript. Sites may appear broken on your first visit, but once you get your regular sites configured and whitelisted it's not that bad.

 

[Berryracer]

NoScript is a must if you're serious. Malicious scripts are the cause of a lot of compromised systems. Once you see how much extraneous junk sites are attempting to load into your browser, you'll find the extra hassle worth it.

A few more addons you might try:

BetterPrivacy
Cookie Monster
Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus
Flashblock
Ghostery
HTTPS-Everywhere
RequestPolicy

Some of these take a similar amount of effort to NoScript. Sites may appear broken on your first visit, but once you get your regular sites configured and whitelisted it's not that bad.

Sorry to bother you man, can you login to my PC via TeamViewer and help me configure a site or two so I can get the hangs of it?

thanks

 

[manko]

Sorry to bother you man, can you login to my PC via TeamViewer and help me configure a site or two so I can get the hangs of it?

Sorry no, but there's not much to it. You just have to go to a site, then allow legitimate scripts and third party sites and deny or disallow the others. At first, you'll have to make educated guesses or look up each third party site, but after a while you'll get the hang of it. I just allow the minimum permissions that will let me read and navigate a site. If you want to log in, you'll need to allow more.

Read the descriptions of each addon and try them one at a time, if they sound useful. Read the help pages and Google for more detailed tutorials if you need them.

It can be a hassle sometimes, but you just have to find your own balance between convenience and control over your browser.

 

[colonelciller]

I suggest using a VPN when browsing. There's a number of free VPN service providers that are cheap. The same on a smartphone.

look up DNS leaks... they can be fixed but they erase privacy even when connected to VPN.

 

[colonelciller]

it's time everyone started using encrypted email with very long passwords and strong encryption... and VERY long passwords... anyone know of any good programs?

also, is there an easy way to send email directly person
to person without an intermediary such as gmail, etc?

 

[lxskllr]

it's time everyone started using encrypted email with very long passwords and strong encryption... and VERY long passwords... anyone know of any good programs?

I use KeePass V1.24 portable. I like that because it works in Wine on GNU/Linux, and can be used on Windows machines if need be.

also, is there an easy way to send email directly person
to person without an intermediary such as gmail, etc?

That wouldn't exactly be email. I guess you could roll your own solution, but everyone you communicate with would have to use the same system.

 

[user25745]

NoScript is a must if you're serious. Malicious scripts are the cause of a lot of compromised systems. Once you see how much extraneous junk sites are attempting to load into your browser, you'll find the extra hassle worth it.

A few more addons you might try:

BetterPrivacy
Cookie Monster
Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus
Flashblock
Ghostery
HTTPS-Everywhere
RequestPolicy

Some of these take a similar amount of effort to NoScript. Sites may appear broken on your first visit, but once you get your regular sites configured and whitelisted it's not that bad.

Are any of those redundant if used with Adblock Plus and something like Fanboy's Ultimate list?

My memory might be faulty but I think I tried a couple of them several months back and one seemed more like it overruled Adblock Plus in order to allow some things so it could then say it blocked them (Ghostery or Donottrackme.. think it was one of those).

With just Adblock Plus + filter things like social icons were blocked and not viewable but then when I added one of the other add-ons they became viewable with that add-on saying it blocked them.

Not understanding them, I reverted back to just Adblock Plus + Ultimate and NoScript but wondered if I should be using more than that.

 

[jkroeder]

Are any of those redundant if used with Adblock Plus and something like Fanboy's Ultimate list?

My memory might be faulty but I think I tried a couple of them several months back and one seemed more like it overruled Adblock Plus in order to allow some things so it could then say it blocked them (Ghostery or Donottrackme.. think it was one of those).

With just Adblock Plus + filter things like social icons were blocked and not viewable but then when I added one of the other add-ons they became viewable with that add-on saying it blocked them.

Not understanding them, I reverted back to just Adblock Plus + Ultimate and NoScript but wondered if I should be using more than that.

Extensions like Ghostery inject surrogate scripts so that some functionality isn't broken when certain things are blocked. Adblock Plus doesn't do this.

But if all you care is that the tracker is blocked then ABP and the ultimate list will work fine.

 

[Ken g6]

Sorry to bother you man, can you login to my PC via TeamViewer and help me configure a site or two so I can get the hangs of it?

I'll just leave this here:

Also, a few guidelines on NoScript. If you disable scripts on the site you're on, all other sites' scripts are disabled on that site as well. Generally, you want to allow APIs and CDNs. NoScript does that surrogate script injection thing for Google Analytics and some other things, so you don't have to enable them. Marking a site as "untrusted" just means NoScript won't ask you about enabling it again unless you mark it as trusted.

Oh, NoScript also acts as a Flash blocker. You can see blocked objects in the pop-up list with a yellow star, I believe.

 

[user25745]

Extensions like Ghostery inject surrogate scripts so that some functionality isn't broken when certain things are blocked. Adblock Plus doesn't do this.

But if all you care is that the tracker is blocked then ABP and the ultimate list will work fine.

Thank you.

Are there any other extensions other than ABP + Ultimate and NoScript that might offer something in addition to what that combo does?

 

[mikeymikec]

Ghostery broke Crucial.com's functionality (it wasn't an extremely temporary issue either, it took some time to track down as I assumed initially that the site redesign was faulty) so I stopped using it.

 

[colonelciller]

I use KeePass V1.24 portable. I like that because it works in Wine on GNU/Linux, and can be used on Windows machines if need be.

Thanks for that tip! I'll look into it