Internet Security: Prevent Script Kiddies: Anonymous Surfing

Posted by Ameya on December 13th, 2007 filed in Security, Tips & Trix, life, linux

Internet is so insecure these days. The script kiddies these days are so smart that can easily steal your browsing behavior and/or your confidential data like username/password of emails, community sites, banking login information, chats or financial statements and the list goes on. It was possible to hack the gmail accounts using the Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) techniques, fortunately the gmail bug is fixed now. Once there is a CSRF attack the cracker can forward all your emails to his inbox and you will never know about it. There are many other tricks and techniques being used to steal your data and track your confidential secrets.
Most of the people are still using pirated copies of Windows with IE to surf the web without using any firewall or security tool. I had a survey and ask some of my friends which OS / Browser / Security Tools they use. And I was surprised by the answers. Very few were actually aware of the ongoing Internet threats and attacks and very few were trying to protect their selves. These are my little efforts to help those who want to protect their privacy and to make others aware of the Internet attacks and its prevention.

These are very basic security measures for the dummies.

1. Choose the right web browser:
Firefox 2 will be wise choice of web browser. Firefox (FF) is better web browser when it comes to security. You can personalize this browser as your need and interest with the variety of available Add-ons. Click here to download your firefox now.

However only firefox is not sufficient to protect you. Firefox should be equipped with better arms which are freely available. Please only install the Addons from Mozilla’s secured repository. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse
Any other AddOn for firefox can actually be a malicious software and can be harmful.

2. Install the security AddOns:

• NoScripts: The very first thing you should have is NoScript addon. This will help you to block all those unwanted scripts running without your notice. You should block all the scripts by default and allow only those are very necessary. Click here to install it.

• AdBlock Plus: There are often these ads and banners on the internet that are annoying and eats your bandwidth and gives you nothing. You can use this smart addon to block such things. Click here to install it.

• Tor-proxy: When you use the Internet, you leave a trail of information that can be used to track your online activities. Tor-proxy is helps prevent this. It provides an easy and convenient way to browse the web using the anonymous and encrypted TOR network. This offers greater privacy compared to regular proxy services or extensions.

Now you will notice 3 new icons on your firefox browser.
“S” with red mark on it which is NoScript preference icon in the bottom right hand side of your Firefox , A red Icon on the right hand top corner mostly with ABP written on it. This is the AdBlock Plus preferences icon and you will notice an eye and an address bas next to it. This is the tor address bar.

3. Configure your new Addons:

• NoScripts: Click the “s” icon on the bottom right hand corner of firefox and go to options of NoScripts. You can check different options over here and customize as per your need. The important this here is ‘whitelist’. You should not whitelist any site unless you really are sure about it and trust it.
• AdBlock Plus: Open your firefox >> Go to Tools >> AdBlock Plus
  This will take you through to the Preference window of AdBlock. You can add different subscriptions and configure your AdBlocker.
• TorProxy: There is nothing much to configure about it. If you want security and anonymity while accessing any site you can use your TorProxy Network. You should type the url (e.g. www.orkut.com) in the addressbar which is next to the Eye. Once you hit enter you will notice that in the actual address bar its going through the SSL encrypted TOR network with yellow color. Now this browsing is 100% anonymous.
  Nothing is 100% secure.. but now you are more than enough secured than earlier.
  This is how u can use tor.

These are basic 3 addons that you must have. There are many other things with which you can arm your self. Please Feel free to comment and suggest more techniques that anyone can easily install to prevent such attacks and one’s privacy.