Wishimay eyes her new keyboard suspiciously o.O by Wishimay

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Wishimay eyes her new keyboard suspiciously o.O

POSTED BY: WISHIMAY
UPDATED: Friday, November 1, 2013 19:53
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Thursday, October 31, 2013 9:17 PM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2480900/China-spying-KETTLE-Bu
gs-scan-wi-fi-devices-imported-kitchen-gadgets.html

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Friday, November 1, 2013 12:28 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Disable the WIFI on your PC and don't use it. WIFI is notoriously insecure, and it transmits well outside of your house where anyone can pick it up. Baby monitors and nannycams with wireless options are also suspect. AFA what an appliance can detect.... well, there are already "smart" appliances that you're supposed to be able to control remotely, but.... really??? Anything that can be controlled from a distance can be hijacked.... your TV, your laptop videocam, etc. Your keyboard is prolly wired (most ppl don't have remote keyboards) so the only way to spy on it is thru malware installed on your PC. The defense that Microsoft and Apple offer is useless against a determined hacker; the only package that offers strong encryption and a really robust firewall is Debian but you have to know what you're doing to take advantage of their software. Fortunately, most hackers are interested in using your PC to send spam, and their software is easily foiled. Someone who really wanted to get your bank account password or who really wanted to find out your true internet ID could prolly get it.

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Friday, November 1, 2013 1:22 PM

WISHIMAY

I'm pretty paranoid about using any kind of information on the internets, I even buy gift cards for use on Amazon. I don't pay bills online so there is no way to get my banking info really, unless you hack my bank or something... Plus, I like to think I help keep people in a job when I put a stamp on something.

I readily admit my computing ignorance, and I never play at games I don't have a chance of winning. When 12 year olds start doing hacking for anonymous, I know I am hopelessly outgunned...

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Friday, November 1, 2013 7:53 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Well the MAIN problem is all these databases lying around out there like low hanging fruit, often poorly secured, just chock full of information stolen, extorted or deceived from you, and then when some enterprising hacker swipes one the companies responsible go into full on blame-the-user mode, lie about it, and make excuses - all the while demanding MORE information to "protect" you... it's bullshit, is what it is.

No hacker worth the name is going to break into hundreds of individual user machines when cracking a mail or billing server will net them hundreds, thousands, at a sweep, and yet the FIRST thing a company does when one of the victims notices is accuse THEM of not protecting their machine or information.
And no one else seems inclined to call bullshit on this.

Back in 1993 before such was common I had some asshat pull some identity theft BS on me, complete with forged identification, and his dumb ass managed to ALSO coincidentally get into a nasty motorbike wreck and was not expected to survive the night - next thing *I* know about it is a panicked ex-girlfriend freaking out on me over the phone and a cop on my doorstep wondering who the hell the accident victim really was - and when the bastard capped it before word got to the hospital he wasn't me it caused no end of paperwork trouble - and some time after that some shithead pretending to be a probate lawyer got the internet service I was using to hand him my address and the sumbitch threw a goddamn molotov at my freakin apartment, thankfully it fell short and a neighbor had a garden hose handy but still....

After that I started rabidly "poisoning the well" by feeding all these databases false information by the pile back when they were just getting off the ground and had no defense against that tactic, and some of the "other" databases you're just now hearing about I kind of had access to at the time so that was a non-starter.

The real problem is that these databases EXIST in the first goddamn place, cause when you leave a fat, juicy target out like that, NOTHING will serve well enough to ensure its security against thousands, maybe millions, of hack attempts, it just isn't logically or logistically possible.

As for WiFi, truthfully most people lack tech knowledge and are lazy besides, simply changing from default settings will subvert a lot of hassle... the security cams I just installed here were running into interference so I swept the 2.4Ghz band and all the local wireless stuff is all but one (managers office, cause I configured it for her) still on default settings so moving to a different part of the band settled that well enough - I deliberately left the encryption off though for moral reasons, I figure since the residents LIVE here they're as entitled to look through the things as I am, I mean it is THEIR stuff the cameras are protecting.

Oh, and then there's all those government mandated/installed backdoors (originating legally with the CALEA act) which provide any hacker with half a brain a wide open door right into your system despite any security you might have and under the DMCA it's actually *illegal* for you to install workarounds or block them - which is why I use software from companies based outside of the US, particularly security or antivirus stuff.

And finally, one of my major nitpicks is that I use direct, physical connection for anything important, with a PHYSICAL component to its security as well, like a keylock which interrupts the cable wiring for example - and try as one might, without someone to come here and physically turn that key, you ain't gettin in, nope.

These days I am serving up a damn lot of crow to them who once called me paranoid and scoffed at me telling em about main core and all that mess.

-Frem

ETA: PS. I also avoid online/automatic billing, too damn many horror stories about folks being cleaned out by unscrupulous merchants (Ballys Fitness comes to mind) or by billing system glitches.

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