Protecting your personal information!

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People will steal your information in a heartbeat!

If you have had your head in the ground lately, you would let people see your information without you even knowing it.  If your one of those people who use your Ipad, kindle Fire (Affiliate link), or some really good Android device to check your emails or browsing the web, then your information is vulnerable to people reading or getting your information.

There are several ways to get your information, I've already talk about one way that someone hacked an account on one of my favorite science fiction site.   I actually had to help solve the problem and get the site running without redirecting visitors to another site.   This isn't always about scaring people but to help them do what is needed.

Security starts with simple stuff!

To protect your personal information is a simple as one, two, and three.   Nothing in this article is going to be very hard but I intent to help you make it even easier to for those who are untrained.   Having to help a couple of my customers with this, I've pretty much come up with a way to safely browse the web without leaving footprints for those really hard to find viruses.

Portable Apps -- This is a great little tool that you can customize and install Lastpass.   I thoroughly recommended it in the past and still do, it is a great deterrent for key loggers and phishing attacks.  Lastpass even has a portable(Mobile) application so you don't have to install anything on the computer in questions.

Create a Live CD -- Making a Pen Drive can go a long way to prevent from getting a virus or even someone getting your personal information, but that won't help if your using a wireless hotspot.

Install Ubuntu -- This the easiest way to have a Linux system on your computer.   Now I am not going to say Linux is worry free from viruses, but that does make it less likely to get them.   I really think Linux is OS is something that will stand the test of time because of it being an Open Source and not a closed projects like Apple and Windows.

Create a Virtual Machine --  this is like creating a live CD but not having to reboot.   You can create a virtual machine and run the live cd in the virtual machine.  This is however not as secure as rebooting because some program could be watching the network and logging everything.   I don't recommend this as much but it is something useful if you are worried about getting a virus.

Don't forget to use a VPN(Virtual Private Network)!

Now I already talked about some VPN's for Ubuntu/Kubuntu but that doesn't work with Windows or Macintosh, but I will talk about some alternatives for those who want to use Windows or Macintosh!

PublicVPN -- This works with Macintosh and Windows but have not tried this so I am only showing alternatives and thus you will need to determine if this is right for your situation.

Hotspot Shield -- This is one of the ones that I have used in the past and still recommend it and it now seems to work with Ipads and Apple products.

Android VPN -- The Android Market Place has some great choices for several different VPN's that may work well with your situation but I have yet to test them out and see which one is the best but yet this is something that may require some testing on your Android Device.

 Do you use a VPN?

This is something that I thought I would ask and thought I would ask it as a poll.   I would love to hear if you use a VPN and how much.   I encourage everyone to use a VPN when ever you are at a open wireless hotspot.

 

Paul Sylvester

Need Glasses? Try GlassesUSA!

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Get Thunderbird to launch Firefox/Chrome browsers in Linux!

This isn't like Windows!

If your like me you probably clicked a link in Thunderbird and thought you would be taken to your favorite browser but that isn't the case with Linux. The pop up screen asking you which application to launch is quite similar to Windows but there is a problem. If you have had no experience with Linux then you might ask yourself "Where's the program files?" It seems that Windows and Linux differs from each other in that aspect. I did have to do some things to get Thunderbird to get it to launch a browser. This quick tutorial will help those new to Linux to do what they have always done on Windows. I will warn people that clicking on links in your emails is the first way to get a virus or a credit card stolen but that is for another topic and discussion!

Some Preparations are in order!

For some of use this is something that should already be included, but it seems that Mozilla didn't add some important config scripts into the Thunderbird application for Linux. Thanks to Google, I found the answers and I thought I would also share them with people so it would be much easier for others to enable launching the browser in Thunderbird.

You will need to add these strings in Thunderbird:

In Thunderbird: edit > Preferences > Advanced > Config Editor

Right click anywhere in the list and click ADD > String. Then add these strings with values!

• String: network.protocol-handler.app.http Value: x-www-browser


• String: network.protocol-handler.app.https Value: x-www-browser


• String: network.protocol-handler.app.ftps Value: x-www-browser

Once that is done, your ready for the next step of the process.

Where Do I find these files?

Most cases you will find these files in only one place and that is almost like a C: Drive. In order to find the right program, you first need to go:

1. /usr/bin/firefox.sh (shell script)


2. /usr/bin/chromium-browser.sh (shell script)


3. /usr/bin/rekonq.ex (Executable)

These are the two files you will need to tell Thunderbird to launch the right application when you click on a link. You should only need to do this once for each type of link from http, https, and the last one is the file transfer protocol but if you do this, I see no reason why you would be able to launch your favorite browser. Depending on which browser you have installed, it should be easily found in the the bin directory and you should be able to launch your browser even if it is not a well known browser. .

Let's Rock Linux

Paul Sylvester

The Pen is mightier than the megabyte!

Do you have to many Pen drives or USB flash drives? I discuss how you can minimize having to have them with some very good software. Maximize how you use your Pen drive. This basically talks about tools for the technician but it can be useful for almost anybody!

Click to read more ...