Internet security tutorial
This tutorial will help you stay safe when using the Internet, and avoid hackers, viruses, and accidentally giving out your private information to strangers. It is assumed that you're using Microsoft Windows (the most popular operating system for PCs).
Browser security
Main article: Browser security
All Windows versions newer than Windows 95 (including Windows NT 4.0 and Windows XP) ship with a web browser called Microsoft Internet Explorer (often called "IE"). This is the program you use to 'surf the web' and view web pages. As Windows is a popular operating system, a large percentage of web surfers (often estimated to around 90 %) use IE. But it doesn't mean that IE is the only Internet browser out there.
In fact, it is strongly advisable to use another web browser instead of IE. Here's why:
- IE is known for having many security holes that can be used by hackers and malicious code to gain entry to your computer. IE is also closely integrated with Windows, which means that security exploits in IE can easily be used to infect the entire operating system.
- IE is the most popular Internet browser on the web, which means that it is a big target for hackers and viruses out there.
Instead, it is recommended to use either Mozilla Firefox or Opera as the standard Internet browser. Firefox is based on open source code, while Opera is commercial but free software. Both are simple to download and install (visit the websites linked below). Firefox seems to be preferred by many.
Firewall/Anti-virus
A firewall is software that monitors your internet connection and allows you to only let through the programs you want and block out potential hackers. Windows comes with a built-in firewall turned on by default, unfortunately this will not warn you against insider threats, like a trojan already installed in your computer attempting to connect to an external server, Windows firewall only blocks incoming hacking attempts, to improve your security it would be best to install one of the many free firewalls, e.g. Comodo, ZoneAlarm.
Anti-virus software will prevent computer viruses from spreading to your computer monitoring the behaviour of downloaded files, your antivirus will only come into action when you execute or unrar a file, if the virus is just sitting down on the drive the antivirus will not detect it unless you select it and run a manual scan. Windows does not come with antivirus, there are various free ones that do a good job. e.g. Avast, AVG
To be secure you should be running both, an antivirus and a firewall, both programs are complementary and do different jobs, a firewall will not analyse files, it only looks into your Internet connection and blocks unauthorised requests to access the Internet.
Windows Update
Windows has a feature called Windows Update, which lets you easily update Windows with new security fixes, you should visit Windows Update regularly (there should be a shortcut in the Start Menu) or considering turning on automatic updates.
Encryption & live CD
The last and more important line of defense is encryption, numerous BLs have had their lives destroyed after their computers have been unexpectedly lost or stolen, privacy breaches can be easily stopped using full disk encryption. Full disk encryption will encrypt every single byte in your hard drive and will only make it accessible after you enter the correct password. Encryption software like Truecrypt has been known to be unbreakable by even law enforcement. There are many encryption programs out there, you should focus on those that can fully encrypt the drive, if you encrypt single files there is the risk that temporary files will still exist in your drive.
Some countries like the United Kingdom and Australia make it a criminal offense not to reveal your encryption password when required by law enforcement, in the United States there is no such law and you have no legal obligation to reveal your passwords to the authorities. If you were to live in a repressive country like China, and do no want to be found using encryption, then use a live CD like Tails, live CDs run in volatile RAM memory, when you switch off the computer after running a live CD, there will be nothing left to recover, not even tracks that you have used it.
Proxy
All computers that are connected to the Internet have their own identifiable IP address. It is visible to external web sites you connect to, and in the worst case can be used to identify you as an individual. A proxy can help you stay anonymous on the Internet by masking your IP address. The easiest proxies operate via a website, like Anonymouse (link below). Using a proxy is recommended when visiting boylover sites that use external hosting of images, like boylover.net.
If you're serious about Internet security, you should consider using Tor. It is an advanced proxy, and is better at protecting your privacy than web-based proxies. Tor is also considered more secure, as it is based on open source code and dynamic traffic routing, and doesn't have the possibilites for logging that a fixed web site has. It should be noted that Tor is still experimental software. Tor is a program that is installed on your computer. There are downloads and complete installation instructions available at Tor's home site (linked below).
Internet Security and Child Pornography
Remember that no matter how secure you can make your computer, it will never be 100 percent secure. There will always be ways law enforcement can use to bust you if you attempt downloading illegal materials on your computer. This tutorial should only be used to help you visit legal web sites safely without having to fear revealing your personal information or getting your computer hacked or infected by nasty code, not to help visiting illegal sites. There is only one waterproof advice to avoid being caught with child pornography: stay away from it!
