[Safety Tips]: The Internet Is Just As Dangerous For Us, As We Let It Be

To understand how dangerous the internet can be for us, we must first understand What is the internet?
Internet is "That»Where we navigate for much of the day, an area / space where hundreds of thousands, millions of people navigate equally. With millions of people in the same place or area, there are millions of possible enemies that we have.

This tutorial will provide you with several tips or advice to keep in mind:

1. What data to disclose and which not on the internet?
2. Our passwords are our keys. Use of secure passwords.
3. Use of firewalls.
4. An OS that is as reliable and secure as possible.
5. What to use to move on the internet? … VPN?

When I explain something I like to use metaphors, because by explaining X matter with everyday tasks, in a less technical and more common way… this is how users understand it better.

What data to disclose and which not on the internet?

What the Internet is most similar to is our city ... that city where we live with millions of other people, all kinds of people ... good, bad, enemies, friends, etc.
How do we walk through our city?

1. We take care of cars when crossing the street.
2. We try not to walk through bad neighborhoods, neighborhoods where criminals abound.
3. We do not reveal personal information such as bank accounts, first and last names, etc ... not to any stranger.

And so we must be on the internet.

1. Take care of cars on the internet? Yes ... by this I mean to be careful with any mechanism that may interact with us on the internet. I mean website forms, malicious scripts, etc. In other words, we must always ensure our physical security, as well as our virtual security.
2. This point is closely linked to the previous one. Specifically to the sites or types of sites that we visit. In our real life, we don't normally visit certain unsafe places, right? On the internet we must do in a similar way, not visit certain sites where malicious software abounds (viruses, malware, etc), and ... if we must access a site like this, at least have an adequate level of security / protection (see the links of more above for tips)
3. This is I think, the most important of the aspects that I am mentioning. We must not reveal our personal data to anyone. In our real life we ​​do not reveal our name and surname, DNI and etc to any stranger, likewise we do not reveal data from our bank account or similar ... at least, we do not do it if it is not completely necessary. Even though it is necessary ... we do it only in banks or official stores, don't we take out our wallet and show money in a seedy store, in any bad neighborhood, right?

The same should be on the internet. Our data should not be disclosed, our bank account data should not be disclosed unless it is strictly necessary, and ... if we do, always be careful what type of sites we put them on. For example, if we buy a computer at HP there should be no problem in entering our bank account number, but if we enter (for example): http://www.lacomprastabuenamipana.net ... site that no one has recommended to us, with bad appearance or etc ... Do you think it is really sensible to leave our data there? O_O

This I have mentioned is the most important, because we ourselves are enough to harm ourselves. It is not enough to do well everything else that I will mention, it is of no use to us if what I have just advised you do not take into account.

Our passwords are our keys. Use of secure passwords.

Who lends your house key to a stranger? … Or the car key?
Just an insane right? 😀
Well friends, our internet passwords is the same as our house or car key, it is what differentiates us between "I, the owner or owner of the car" ... and "he, one who is not authorized to drive it." Our password for (for example) the email account, is the same ... well, it differentiates us between «I, the owner of the email and the only one who can use it» and «him, anyone there ...»

So, first tip… NO… NEVER !! For no reason, give your password to a stranger, in fact I advise you not to give it to anyone, parents, friends, girlfriend, acquaintances, in-laws, etc 😉
Why? ... simply because, what certainty do they have that they will not use against you the information they acquire by taking advantage of that password? … Who of you has the gift of guessing the future?

Now, let's move on to the aspect of how secure a password should be.
If the key to our house is similar or identical to the neighbor's, or to the pizza boy, or to several hundred more to our city, can't several other people enter our house?
Similar with our password, if we have the password:

• asdasdasd
• 123456
• I love you
• imthebest
• … And a long ETC

This is not security, this is just suicide.

Our password must be fairly secure, really difficult to guess. For this I recommend mixing numbers and letters, substituting letters for numbers ... the typical thing 🙂
For example, suppose we use password:

• imthebest

We replace the i by the number 1 ... the t by 7 and the e by 3. We would have:

• 1m7h3b3s7

If you want, you can substitute i for 1, s for 5:

• 1mthebe5t

Inclusive, also change the e to 3:

• 1etc3b35t

This is more complex to guess because ... as you can see, there are multiple combinations. If you add to that that our password can be ANYTHING, there I guarantee that you will sleep better 🙂

Personally I go a little further, I use a software that generates passwords for me, visit the post:

How to use / generate super secure passwords

Use of firewalls

A firewall is like the door of our house. Being our home, our computer.
No one should enter our house that we do not want, by means of a really secure key (password) we make sure that they do not open our door, but ... what if they try to enter through a window?
I am talking about this type of security, to protect ourselves from any unauthorized entry attempt.

I have already left a post regarding iptables:

iptables for newbies, curious, interested

There I explain VERY well what a firewall is, how to configure it, etc.
Is the 1st part of the tutorial on iptables, and don't worry ... I promise to continue the tutorial 😉

In addition, very recently another writer left another link about FWBuilder (FirewallBuilder), specifically its installation:

FW Builder, the best!

I know this is a pro-Linux blog, but that doesn't mean that this kind of advice is denied to Windows users, I mean security advice.
When I was a Windows user I had good experiences using ZoneAlarm, a security suite that is proprietary and private, for a fee, yes ... but to be honest, it made me feel safe.
I will not provide download + crack links for this one because… we do not support piracy 😉

In fact, they have a FreeWare version (free) that is just firewall (not like the Security Suite, which is Firewall + AntiSpyware + AntiVirus + SoftwareControl + etc), is I leave a link to this:
ZoneAlarm Free Downloads

Like I said, I used this when I had Windows… several years ago.

An OS that is as reliable and secure as possible

Now the question: What good is it to us that the firewall is really good, if the Operating System (OS) on which it is installed lacks security.
It would be like protecting our doors and windows of the house, but thieves can enter through the ceiling or floor ... (a bit crazy yes, but VERY possible)

I don't want to get into the typical "Windows VS Linux" debate
I'll just talk to you a little bit and leave some links 😉

First of all, Windows is created by Microsoft, a COMPANY based in the UNITED STATES, do you understand where I'm going?
A company or company that was founded in the US, a company that responds to the interests / wishes of the government of that country, since its offices are on American soil, its owners are American citizens, do I need to keep talking? … I think not.

Much has been said and mentioned about how insecure Windows is, and I won't talk much about it… why not? Simple, because the huge list of millions and millions of viruses, malware and other code that violates the security of this OS speaks for itself, a really immense list of flaws and malicious code that attacks and destroys the basic functions of Windows, this speaks itself.

If we add to that, the possible backdoors that Windows has, it is already committing suicide.
In other words, a backdoor is that secret entry that exists (or may exist) in Windows, an entry that the manufacturer can use whenever it pleases, without even notifying us. It would be similar to the fact that the company that built our house had left a secret entrance to the house, an entrance that they (those who built the house) can use whenever they want, access our house, take whatever they want ... without even asking us for permission or let us know.
This, from my point of view… is very, VERY wrong.

As I said before, this backdoor thing may or may not exist ... but is it really worth the risk?

My recommendation is simple, use linux.
That in Linux there are viruses and bugs? … Yes, they exist, but only in theory or to exploit these flaws many conditions need to be met. I leave the link to an article where we explain a lot about virus on Linux:

Viruses in GNU / Linux: Fact or Myth?

Also, for those who want to learn something new, those who really want to experience freedom, I want to leave you some tutorials for novices, for inexperienced users, for those who are curious about «what they call linux»😉

Would you like to try Linux? Guide for the curious and newcomers.

Would you like to try Linux? Guide for curious and newcomers (Part 2).

What should a Windows user know about GNU / Linux?

Permissions and rights in Linux

What to use to move on the internet?

This is already something more specific, and not everyone (I think) will think it necessary.
Earlier I talked about "a certain kind of security" that you should be aware of when accessing dangerous, guarded, or something like sites. And I was referring to precisely what I will talk about next.

I like many others recommend using one VPN when you are going to access these types of sites. I will take fragments of the Anonymous Security Manual to explain this:

Internet security:
Every online device has an IP address. An IP can be used to help physically locate an individual. For this reason, it is important to hide your IP.

A Virtual Private Network or VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a method of securing information that is transmitted over the internet. When choosing a VPN service, try to have it provided by a country that will not share your private information easily. For example, services from Iceland or Switzerland are more secure than a service from the United States. Also try to find a service that does not save user information or payment information (if using a payment service).

Guides to install OpenVPN server:
- Windows: http://www.vpntunnel.se/howto/installationguideVPNtunnelclient.pdf
- Linux (Based on Debian): http://www.vpntunnel.se/howto/linux.pdf
- Mac: http://www.vpntunnel.se/howto/mac.txt

Free VPN services [Not recommended]:
- http://cyberghostvpn.com
- http://hotspotshield.com
- http://proxpn.com
- http://anonymityonline.org

Commercial VPN Services [Recommended]:
- http://www.swissvpn.net
- http://perfect-privacy.com
- http://www.ipredator.se
- http://www.anonine.se
- http://www.vpntunnel.se

This obviously, not everyone will need it ... but, better that there are more tips to be missed

Conclusions

That's all for now.

I will try to address other aspects in more detail in future tutorials ... for example, give continuity to iptables, talk about how to configure firewalls in Linux without much complications (Firestarter, etc.), use of other applications to improve the security of our passwods, etc.

I don't consider myself an expert in this at all, I'm just another user who has learned little by little (out of obligation and also for personal taste) about security, networks and all this world.

Any complaint or suggestion will always be well received 😀

regards