Ask Leo!: Privacy

Ultrasurf and anonymous browsing

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:06:21 -08:00

I have a difficult time using Ultrasurf; whenever it's on, I can't surf webpages. What should I do? Should I use another program?

]]> Ultrasurf is an anonymization service that in all likelihood requires some configuration to your system and/or browser.

There are alternative services, but they all share one characteristic: To varying degrees, they will impact the speed of your browsing experience.

In this video from an Ask Leo! webinar, I'll discuss anonymous browsing.

Why did you tell people you weren't going to be home?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:35:46 -08:00

In your past few newsletters you mentioned that you were on a trip to down under. I wonder whether this is good practice. Lately there has been some rumor here about an internet site that mentions who is at home and who is not, based on public information they gather from the internet. They do this just to show how volatile people make themselves for burglary, just by tweeting around where they hang out. And although this site does it just to show and warn people (or at least they say so), others do the same thing for less altruistic reasons. And you helped them a great deal: shouting aloud "I'm not home!" Wouldn't it be worth to spend an article about this?

]]> I've actually had a couple of people ask me this since I returned from my three week trip to Australia and New Zealand.

It is something I considered before I left, so it was indeed a decision I made rather than an accident.

I'll share some of my thoughts.

Does just looking at a file leave a trail?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:16:53 -08:00

If I open and view, but do not ever save a file on my hard drive - in other words it is opened from and only stored on other media like CD or flash drive - can such a file be recovered, opened, viewed or otherwise identified?

]]> Maybe.

This is another of those cases where it really, really, really depends on the characteristics of the file, the system, and the program used to view it.

More often than you might think the answer to at least some of the scenarios you raise is yes.

Can hackers see data going to and from my computer?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:00:00 -08:00

I've heard that instant messages through AOL/Yahoo/MSN can be read by hackers that "sniff" the messages leaving my network. Is this true?

]]> Yes.

It's actually true for all the data that comes and goes on your internet connection: web pages, emails, instant messaging conversations and more.

Most of the time it simply doesn't matter. Honest.

On the other hand, there are definitely times and situations when you really do need to be careful.

Does locking my computer keep it safe?

leo@pugetsoundsoftware (Leo A. Notenboom) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 11:30:00 -08:00

My college says to lock your computer - will that make it safe? For example in Windows, pressing the Windows Key + L locks the computer. It seems to me if you do lock it there are still a few folks know how to unlock it and help themselves. So should I feel safe locking the computer?

]]> Not really.

Of course it depends on the situation, but locking your computer is a very mild form of security. It'll help keep honest people honest, but the rest? Not so much.

I'll show you why and how and what you really need to be doing instead.