The Czickness XXXV.....Masks masks masks....Arrgh

[MindfulMan]

Much more enthusiasm and I'll end up the Great Cornholio level of hyper

. The FGE ......where smiles are measured in miles !

 

[Ruger_Ronin]

. The FGE ......where smiles are measured in miles !

That's not a clipazine in my pocket

 

[MindfulMan]

 

[WebSnyper]

I use FIREFOX as primary.

granted Bing does come up sometimes, but I just negate it

I use Firefox for my personal use stuff. I have an FF account that lets me sync my bookmarks, etc to every machine where i have FF setup with that FF account. I'm sure there is some aspect to that which may be getting tracked, but Firefox is a pretty good browser for the many years I've been using it.

That said, as WTB said, browser and search engine are not the same thing. Just go into settings set your preferred search engine, and delete the others from the list or move around the preferences. By the way, the new Edge browser is now based on Chromium for those that are into that sort of thing. I use Edge for work, but not so much on the home side. Also, home page is a completely different thing than either search engine or browser and is also a setting that can be changed.

Unless something has changed, Bing is just a search provider. All that's needed is to change the search provider of the browser to either Google or DuckDuckGo. I recommend DuckDuckGo as they don't track you. Also, Chrome isn't as secure as using Firefox or Brave. I use AdBlock Plus with Firefox to block ads and Brave has settings you can enable to block ads by default with their built in blocker. Blocking ads is essential if you care about security and not getting malicious software on your system. Ads are not secure and malicious actors hijack them for their own purposes all the time.

Anyway, tech tips for the day...

Some people take it a step further and do the personal VPN thing. I haven't gone there yet. My son's been using one. He's gotten concerned with privacy lately which is not a bad thing.

You can also do some stuff with browser extensions that block various facebook tracking etc. Some of those can have some ill effects so just watch for it.
I know Firefox has some of these available, I'm sure the other browsers have similar or settings.

Also, when you setup a new PC, actually read what the various privacy settings are when presented. Choose as you feel appropriate for them, and revisit if you like.

That's a good question. Not really? I mean, you can find independent IT guys who could do it that would probably know what to do. Vinny comes to mind. Otherwise you're stuck with the Nerd Herd types, like Geek Squad, who aren't worth considering IMO. On the other hand there are major Information Security consulting firms, but I'm not sure they do consumer level consulting. The best thing is to research it for yourself. How best to secure your home network and devices. Using WPA 2 on your wireless, making sure the router password is changed from default, disable sharing on your computers, keep the patches up to date and use a browser like Brave or Firefox, with an ad blocker enabled. Those are the basics. Plus don't do anything financial on your phone if you can help it.

Yep, do the basics, and you should generally be good. Also, I'd add to this... don't reuse passwords (setup a vault and use generated passwords for different sites), protect your email account & bank accounts, etc for sure. If you reuse passwords you are relying on the least secure website you use that password on to protect all the rest. The criminals will get that password and then they will go to every site they can access and try and hit it with your account and that password. Guess what you reused it, and next thing you know they will have access to your more important accounts. Don't use phrases such as Colts#2020, etc. Password spray attacks use that stuff, even regional stuff to guess and crack passwords.

Often your email account is the way into everything else (via password resets, etc. Someone gets your email account, and it could be game over). Depending n who you use for email provider, most have various settings you can change to make the account more secure. Always have recovery information, such as phone number, etc associated with your consumer email account in case the account gets compromised and you need to get it back.

Protect what you care about with Multi Factor Authentication, preferably using an application such as Microsoft authenticator etc or I assume Google has one, I know there are others. Do not just use SMS text MFA. MFA will keep you from about 99% of the badness out there if you set it up correctly. SMS text message MFA can be spoofed.

Here is a pic showing the P07 and the Phantom SS guide rods. You can see the Phantom's protrudes out more. I think that I will probably shorten it.

Have you shot this gun yet? Just curious. I'm always hesitant to make a bunch of mods before I shoot something and see if it works before I make mods.

Knowing how computer companies get paid will tell you why they do the things they do. I've come to the conclusion that software sales are probably not their primary source of income, otherwise they would be more user friendly.

Always follow the money

Facebook and Google are primarily advertising and info sales driven. Amazon is trying to sell everything and be in every business along with being a cloud provider. Microsoft has been more on the forefront of privacy and security if you follow the industry, but of course does own Bing so there is some tracking associated with that, but Bing is small compared to Cloud subscriptions, etc for them. Of course, Microsoft uses a lot of telemetry from their services to trend and deal with bad guys out there (doing more than most people know they do). But yes, follow the money, and actively try and protect your privacy no matter which ecosystem you use.

 

[WebSnyper]

I forgot... Don't use your Admin account to be your standard use account. These days even on Win 10 when you setup the machine the account you first log in with and setup the account (on consumer machines not connected to a domain, etc) seems to get setup with Admin rights. You can setup another local Admin account and then set the rights down on your general use account, or just setup another account for general use. When Admin rights are needed thr machine will prompt you for them and you can use the other credential.

Definitely don't let everyone using the machine be an Admin.

And when the machine prompts tou to elevate rights or the user access control prompts you (even if you are already running with Admin rights)... Read it first. Don't just blindly click allow, etc. If you don't think you took an action that should have prompted that (such as installing something or changing an OS setting), then definitely don't allow it.

Too many people let their spouse or kids run around as Admin and surf anything on a machine and wonder why their machine is jacked up.

 

[Ruger_Ronin]

All in all, I feel much dumber now. I never really got overly concerned with digital security but am rethinking my entire situation now.

Too much in the noodle now. Once I finish a couple things on my plate, it's down the rabbit hole I go.

 

[wtburnette]

I forgot... Don't use your Admin account to be your standard use account. These days even on Win 10 the machine you first log in with and setup the account (on consumer machines not connected to a domain, etc) seems to get setup with Admin rights. You can setup another local Admin account and then set the rights down on your general use account, or just setup another account for general use. When Admin rights are needed thr machine will prompt you for them and you can use the other credential.

Definitely don't let everyone using the machine be an Admin.

And when the machine prompts tou to elevate rights or the user access control prompts you (even if you are already running with Admin rights)... Read it first. Don't just blindly click allow, etc. If you don't think you tool an action that should have prompted that (such as installing something or changing an OS setting), then definitely don't allow it.

Too many people let their spouse or kids run around as Admin and surf anything on a machine and wonder why their machine is jacked up.

I forgot that, but yes, what he said...

 

[Benp]

The SS guide rod that seems too long is on my Phantom, which has been shot a lot. I would just be shortening some of what is protruding out of the front. The problem is that there is so little clearance when installing the guide rod that it is extremely difficult.

 

[churchmouse]

OK you guys have given me a headache. I am going back to a modem and dial up.......

 

[wtburnette]

OK you guys have given me a headache. I am going back to a modem and dial up.......

That would give me a headache!

Not giving up my fiber connection!!!

 

[Ruger_Ronin]

I'm gonna skip it all and write you something nice on a typewriter

 

[Benp]

I'm so grateful that dial-up is gone.

 

[rkwhyte2]

I'm gonna skip it all and write you something nice on a typewriter

You still have a typewriter?

 

[rkwhyte2]

I'm so grateful that dial-up is gone.

I remember running a BBS with a US Robotics 2400 baud modem. It was the bad boy of it's day.

 

[Ruger_Ronin]

You still have a typewriter?

Chyea. Right next to my abacus. Lol.

 

[WebSnyper]

I remember running a BBS with a US Robotics 2400 baud modem. It was the bad boy of it's day.

I remember having a VT terminal and a 1200 baud modem to dial into work and do tech support. Nothing like having to wait for that to connect when you got called in the middle of the night.

 

[Hoosier45]

The SS guide rod that seems too long is on my Phantom, which has been shot a lot. I would just be shortening some of what is protruding out of the front. The problem is that there is so little clearance when installing the guide rod that it is extremely difficult.

Don’t touch anything on that phantom! It’s the best one in the group.

 

[rkwhyte2]

I want a phantom.

 

[Hoosier45]

I need a phantom.

FIFY

 

[rkwhyte2]