Security and Privacy Tips for the Paranoid

Turn off Java and Flash in your Web browsers

Java and Adobe Flash Player plug-ins are common points of vulnerability for many browsers. The two software platforms are useful and power a lot of interactive content on the Internet, but Justin Cappos, a professor of computer science at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, says each platform is just too much of a risk.
Cover your computer’s webcam and microphone

Cappos noted that it’s very easy to take control of a computer or its webcam. He uses the simple, low-tech expedient of a piece of black tape to cover the camera lens on his laptop.

It’s harder to do that with a microphone, Cappos said, though something to muffle sound wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Kill your Facebook account

Almost any piece of information you post on a social-networking site could later be used hurt you. Cappos avoids all social networks except for the professional-networking site LinkedIn, and even there, he doesn’t post much information that an identity thief might use.

If you have to have a social network account, use two-step verification, said David Kennedy, CEO of TrustedSec in Strongsville, Ohio, and founder of the annual Louisville, Ky., security conference DerbyCon.

A password by itself, Kennedy said, is just not secure enough anymore.
Cover one hand with the other while using ATMs

The latest ATM-fraud devices use a tiny, almost invisible camera to record your keystrokes as you enter your PIN, while a “skimmer” in the card slot reads the card information.

Crooks combine the video feed with the skimmer data to match PINs to cards. Bingo! They’ve got access to your bank account — unless you covered one hand with the other while entering the PIN so the hidden camera couldn’t see it.
Get an iPhone

The open nature of the Android platform, and the minimal vetting of apps in the Google Play app store, means it’s much easier to end up with an infected Android phone than an infected iPhone. (Six years old, the iOS platform remains malware-free.)

Furthermore, the permissions that Google grants Android apps are greater than what Apple gives iOS apps. Android apps are more likely to read your personal data than iOS apps are, because Apple won’t let its app developers access the guts of iOS
Run Internet services in a virtual machine

A virtual machine is essentially a separate, software-based computer within your physical computer.

Using a virtual machine to run Web browsers and email clients is sound practice. To an extent, it will protect your real machine from Internet-based malware, and will mitigate the damage if attacks do get through.
Run all Internet connections through Tor

The Tor network is a sophisticated proxy system that bounces your network traffic from one hidden server to another. Your Internet traffic, or at the least the traffic that passes through Tor, will be untraceable, in theory.
Isolate sensitive information

It might be best to use an “isolated” computer, Sportsman said, when doing anything financially or personally sensitive, such as online banking.

In other words, a separate computer for only online banking — no Web surfing, emailing or social networking.

Such practices minimize the machine’s exposure to malware, such as banking Trojans, which are designed to break into online bank accounts and often install with a single click on a corrupted website.

If you don’t have a spare computer, then isolate your Web browsers. Chris Weber, co-founder of Casaba Security in Redmond, Wash., recommends using separate browsers for different purposes — for example, one browser for banking, another for social media (a prime target for identity thieves) and a third for general Web surfing.

Isolating browsers may be inconvenient, but it limits the damage any single browser attack (such as from a keylogger) can do.
Don’t click on unsolicited links

Much of the malware lurking on the Internet infects computers when users click on links emailed by people they don’t know.

Don’t do it. You don’t know where the link really leads. Does it go to a regular website, or to one rigged to attack your Web browser?

This counts doubly for Twitter, where the common practice of URL shortening only hides a link’s true address.
Use cash whenever possible

It’s better to use the ATM more often and carry a lot of cash than to use credit cards for meals and casual purchases, Cappos said. Save the plastic for big-ticket items. Promiscuous use of credit cards only creates more opportunity for thieves.

Remember, whenever your credit card is out of your sight — for example, when the smiling waiter takes it to the back room, or when the surly cashier dips it below the checkout counter for a brief moment — it is available to skimmers and other forms of information theft.
Encrypt everything

Weber said that whole-disk encryption of computers isn’t a bad idea. If your laptop is lost or stolen, it’s nearly impossible for anyone else to get into your data without your password.

Also, the latest versions of Apple’s iOS automatically encrypt the entire smartphone or tablet if a passcode is enabled. On Android devices, encryption is an easy option in the Settings menu.

But what if you’ve forgotten your password?

“Have a key-recovery plan for all master keys (e.g. splitting keys up and sharing among trusted family members or friends)” Weber said in an email.