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Old 02-20-2018, 01:15 PM   #1
aem123
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i dont know much about internet security - if i want to be as secure as possible so i can do banking etc online what do i need? i assume:

1.) some sort of paid antivirus like norton

2.) something like the paid version of malwarebytes

3.) is there anything else?

4.) do people still use firewalls or would norton and malwarebytes cover that?

5.) what is VPN? - do i need that?

any help would be appreciated
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Old 02-20-2018, 01:20 PM   #2
Hockeyguy15
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Open browser, go to bank website and log in?

Don't make your password "password".
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Looks like you'll need one long before I will. May I suggest deflection king?
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Old 02-20-2018, 02:31 PM   #3
Mazrim
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Hockeyguy's response may sound a bit cheeky, but he's not far off. Browsers are generally pretty safe on secure sites like banks, and that only changes when you click on things that take your information.

Can antivirus and antimalware programs help with the cases where you mistakenly click on something? Yes, but they can't stop all attempts to phish you.

- If you get an email from someone that looks suspicious, don't click on anything in the email and delete it.
- If you weren't expecting an email asking for important information, then don't respond to it.
- If the site doesn't look legit, take a minute to make sure it's okay. Hover over links and see where they actually go.

Personally, I use the built in virus scanning with Windows 10 (Windows Defender or whatever they call it now), and I already had Malwarebytes paid for before I had Windows 10 and have no issues continuing to use it.

As long as you're smart about your use of the internet, you won't have to worry. Things like VPNs are only for the hardcore.
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Old 02-20-2018, 02:32 PM   #4
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Make your passwords as long as possible. The longer the better. You don't need to go crazy with special characters. Just make them long and change them periodically. When possible, you should use two factor authentication.

Never log in using any open wifi. Ideally, don't use any wifi for banking, but that's not always possible.

Other than that, you should clear your hard drive once ever year or two. This isn't strictly necessary, but I'd you're not great around the computer it can be hard to find the problems. Easier to just wipe the whole thing.

Paid anti-virus is, in my opinion, a useless scam. Norton has been milking that cash cow for years.
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Old 02-20-2018, 04:25 PM   #5
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I switched to using Dashlane to managing all my passwords after relying on my own system in my head for years. It generates strong passwords and stores them, encrypted, as your login credentials for sites.

For anti-virus and anti-malware stuff, I use the free version of Malwarebytes along with Immunet.

I use VPN Unlimited as a VPN for my PC and Android devices because I'm a weirdo.
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Old 02-20-2018, 04:26 PM   #6
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Open browser, go to bank website and log in?

Don't make your password "password".
Pfft! Why not? Nobody ever guesses 'password' anymore. Thats so 2012.
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Old 02-20-2018, 04:30 PM   #7
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So we had to get very, very tough on cyber and cyber warfare. It is a huge problem. I have a son—he’s 10 years old. He has computers. He is so good with these computers. It’s unbelievable. The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough. And maybe, it's hardly doable. But I will say, we are not doing the job we should be doing. But that’s true throughout our whole governmental society. We have so many things that we have to do better, aem123. And certainly cyber is one of them.
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Old 02-20-2018, 07:22 PM   #8
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Build a security stack.

Buy OpenDNS Home VIP. $20/year/user. You get protection here beyond your normal anti-virus, anti-malware protection. You can do filtering as well which you can use to blacklist every URL from China, Russia, etc.

https://www.opendns.com/home-internet-security/

Get a good malware protection like Malwarebytes. Either use the free one to scan, or buy the paid one. $50 per year. I personally just use the free one but you have to remember to scan.


Get a decent anti-virus. I just downloaded the free version of Bit Defender. The paid version is like $30/year and gets consistent good reviews.

Use Lastpass or Dashlane to manage your passwords. This is huge, and its cheap and easy to do.

The stack gives you layers of protection and hopefully protects against someone clicking on that stupid email or JPEG(yes I watched the latest episode of Homeland).
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Old 02-21-2018, 08:52 AM   #9
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IT guy here. I use Avast for A/V. That's all I do and I've never had an issue. Occasionally I'll run a malware scan (like once a year or maybe more) and I always come up clean. The computer is shared with my wife and three kids.

The only time I had a problem was when my nephew used the computer and wanted to put some cool minecraft mods on the computer for my kids. But I don't worry about him because he's not welcome at my house anymore (for reasons completely unrelated to malware and viruses).
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Old 02-21-2018, 07:53 PM   #10
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The problem is that by just covering the bare minimum you put yourself at higher risk of some idiot on your network(friends, family) getting ransomware.

That is why OpenDNS VIP is worth it for me because you can force it on your network.
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