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OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 4:46:17 AM   
pinkpleasures


Posts: 1114
Status: offline
This Op post will point out some things i have learned to stay safe online. Hopefully, other suggestions will be added by people with greater expertise than i.

Let me begin by saying i was "hacked" by a man who was on this site. It was frightening -- lasted about 3 months -- and plently of people helped me. In the end i think he just lost interest in me, Thank Gawd.

So here are some basic safety precautions: if your phone number is listed, never give your home phone number to anyone over the net. Use a cell phone or a Yahoo IM microphone for voice communications.

Never accept a file through a Yahoo IM; this is how my hacker "got in". Tell people to email you the item. In the new Yahoo IM; under "preferences" you can set the IM to refuse files.

Use a good firewall; or two. People are probably acquainted with the major providers....and many firewalls can be downloaded for free and used for brief periods of time. i suppose an enterprising person could keep up the free offers indefinately.

Use a good spyware tool. i use ad-aware and spybot; both free. Run your tools about once a week; and after you have been on any adult site; or have been suffering slow d/l's, etc. Spyware can really mess up your pc and gives someone very personal information about you.

Go to "History" on your browser and delete cookies and temporary files about once a week; set History very low. Mine is set at zero; i bookmark or note any site i want to return to.

Do not send email from your personal account to a collarme member. Collarme email is perfectly adequate. Your "personal" email, such as Yahoo, contains a great deal of information in the header once you send it. This includes your real first and last names.

Take a look at your Yahoo Personals profile and remove any information which is too personal; such as your real name. i am not sure how but it seems some people on collarme can find your Yahoo profile even though the nicks are different.

i hope other people can add to this list. Since this is an electronic community, it makes sense to prevent anyone from using it for bad purposes.

Report any threats or such to "support" here; the site does take action, maybe not as fact as you want, but they are on top of things. A threat to actually harm you is a crime (actually more than one crime) and should be reported to your local sherrif's office. A credible threat would be something like "i'm gonna burn your house down" accompanied by a photo of your house.

With a proper set up and some solid information, people can relax and enjoy the site.

p.s. Yes, i know i already spoke about preventing harm on another thread i started, but this is different.

pinkpleasures

< Message edited by pinkpleasures -- 8/18/2005 4:50:01 AM >

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RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:31:21 AM   
MsIncognito


Posts: 742
Joined: 5/24/2005
Status: offline 		A good (and last time I checked FREE) firewall is Zone Alarm. I used it for years before getting a more sophisticated internet security setup. It was easy to use and very effective. There is a "Pro" version that costs money, but the free one was quite effective for a basic home user such as myself. The one down side is that initially it is a PITA - every time you visit a site it will ask you if you want to allow or deny access, however, once you've got all your settings (took me a week or two of regular internet usage) it basically runs in the background without interrupting.

BTW, if anyone would like a GMail address to use for online correspondence feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will send you an invite. I have 50 to give out. BTW, internet emails do not show your real first and last name unless you give that information when signing up. I suggest to anyone to lie, lie, lie when signing up for internet email. As far as Gmail and Hotmail are concerned I'm a 52 year old male named Howard Jones living in the 90210 area code.

< Message edited by MsIncognito -- 8/18/2005 6:33:29 AM >

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 2
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:36:06 AM   
ElektraUkM


Posts: 309
Joined: 2/19/2005
Status: offline 		Good idea to set up a suggestions thread, pinkpleasures.

Do you know if its possible for people to hack through MSN as well as Yahoo?

What do you think of this site for file transfers? http://www.yousendit.com/

~ Elektra

(in reply to MsIncognito)
Profile   Post #: 3
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:41:19 AM   
MsIncognito


Posts: 742
Joined: 5/24/2005
Status: offline 		Yes, people can hack through MSN as well. Any online chat client is vulnerable.

(in reply to ElektraUkM)
Profile   Post #: 4
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:50:31 AM   
IronBear


Posts: 9008
Joined: 6/19/2005
From: Beenleigh, Qld, Australia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: ElektraUkM

Good idea to set up a suggestions thread, pinkpleasures.

Do you know if its possible for people to hack through MSN as well as Yahoo?

What do you think of this site for file transfers? http://www.yousendit.com/

~ Elektra


"Do you know if its possible for people to hack through MSN as well as Yahoo?" the short answer is YES. Some time ago when i was with MSN Gor we had a 14year old Girl calling herself "Surf-Kitten" who was trying to hack every Gorean Site till they were destroyed. I know a couple of CM members were there and may remember her. Anyway she was also stealing MSN Communities as well . I know of 7 people who she hacked, destroying their computers. Last I heard was that The FBI were looking for her on 18 hacking charges which if found guilty and the sentences served concurrently, she was facing half of her life in jail. So yes hackers can do dammage. The real geeks can do more damage than you can immaging especially if your computer holds your personal details, drivers licence and back details... It can be another method of ID Theft.


_____________________________

Iron Bear

Master of Bruin Cottage

http://www.bruincottage.org

Your attitude, words & actions are yours. Take responsibility for them and the consequences they incur.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

(in reply to ElektraUkM)
Profile   Post #: 5
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:53:02 AM   
MistressFire70


Posts: 378
Joined: 7/25/2004
From: North Carolina
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: pinkpleasures
So here are some basic safety precautions: if your phone number is listed, never give your home phone number to anyone over the net. Use a cell phone or a Yahoo IM microphone for voice communications.


Also go and google your telphone number. If your number is public, it will list your address as well as give a link to a map to get to your home. On the page that lists all this is an option to remove your listing.

quote:


Do not send email from your personal account to a collarme member. Collarme email is perfectly adequate. Your "personal" email, such as Yahoo, contains a great deal of information in the header once you send it. This includes your real first and last names.


When you put in your info into yahoo, there is a place where you can put a "fake" name. For example, mine says Master Fire, NOT my real name. You can change this by going into "my account", clicking on Edit/Create Profiles, choosing the profile you want to edit (you can have multiple), and changing the "Real Name". Yahoo does keep track of the name you used to create the account, but technically, that can be private info.

quote:


Take a look at your Yahoo Personals profile and remove any information which is too personal; such as your real name. i am not sure how but it seems some people on collarme can find your Yahoo profile even though the nicks are different.


They can do an advanced search with your collarme name, city, state and such. Even if your handle is different, they'll get hits based on the other info. It's especially helpful to them if you use the same picture. Who knows if they're emailing 10 different people in order to bother you.

Fire

_____________________________

you have come to a great chasm. Jump. It's not as wide as you think.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 6
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 6:59:22 AM   
OscarHargraves


Posts: 693
Joined: 8/9/2005
Status: offline 		Here's another one (maybe this should be a seperate thread). What can you do to insure your safety when you are going to meet someone for the first time?

I always tell Subs that I'm interviewing to have a safety call set-up. Leave all the relevenat information with a friend and tell that friend to call the cops if they don't hear from her by a certain time. I also invite them to bring a friend along if they wish. The best way is to meet in a public restaurant or coffee shop where the friend can wait at a table across the room while we talk.

Any other ideas?

_____________________________

Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly ! !

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 7
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 8:10:43 AM   
pollux


Posts: 657
Joined: 7/26/2005
Status: offline 		Good thread.

Having just spent way too much time recently trying to puzzle out exactly how Yahoo handles IDs and names, etc. I'll share what I've learned.

Yahoo actually has (at least) THREE separate areas where it asks for and stores information about you such as your name. You need to be aware of all three and make sure that they all reflect the information you've decided to share. Anyone can see this info (or potentially hack it), so it's a good idea to check it to make sure you're not revealing more than you want to.

The first is the name you give when you first establish your *Yahoo ID* -- the ID you use when you sign into Yahoo (either at my.yahoo.com, mail.yahoo.com, or whatever). To view/change this information, do the following:

1. Go to my.yahoo.com
2. If you're not already signed in with your Yahoo ID, do so.
3. In the upper left, next to the My Yahoo! logo, it will say "Welcome, <your Yahoo ID>"
4. Below that is a link that says "My Account" -- click it. Yahoo will ask you to confirm your password.
5. You'll be taken to a page titled "Yahoo! ID Card"
6. Near the bottom of the page, at the top of the section titled "Address/Contact Information", is a link that says "Edit" -- click it.
7. Make sure all of the fields (name, address, etc.) reflect info you're comfortable sharing, then click "Finished"

The second area is the name you've associated with the Yahoo "public profiles" that you get when you sign up for a Yahoo ID. You can have up to 5. These represent the different "personas" that are available to you when you use Yahoo Messenger (their IM client).

1. You should be back at the Yahoo! ID Card screen after having clicked "Finished" in the last step.
2. Over to the right is a section titled, "Public Information" and a subsection titled "Public profiles". Beneath that is a link that says "Edit/Create Profiles" -- click it.
3. You will see all of your available public profiles, along with a link titled "Edit" next to each one -- click it.
4. You'll be taken to a page titled "Basics" that shows the public info for this profile.
5. Above this is a link that says "Edit Profile Information" -- click it.
6. Make sure all of the fields reflect info you're comfortable sharing (pay special attention to the section titled "Display Options")
7. When you're done, click "Save Changes"

The third area is the name that appears in your email headers whenever you send Yahoo email to someone.

1. You should be back at the "Public Profiles for <your Yahoo ID>" page after having clicked "Save Changes"
2. Click the link at the top of the page that says "Yahoo!" to get back to the Yahoo home page.
3. Click the link at the top of the page that says "Mail" to go to the Yahoo email page.
4. Click the link in the upper right that says "Mail Options"
5. Click the link in the center that says "General Preferences"
6. In the section at the top titled "Name and Email", there is a field called "From name:" -- make sure this reflects only the info you want to share.
7. In the very bottom left corner of the page, click "Save".

You're done.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 8
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 8:13:46 AM   
Padriag


Posts: 2633
Joined: 3/30/2005
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: OscarHargraves

Here's another one (maybe this should be a seperate thread). What can you do to insure your safety when you are going to meet someone for the first time?

It should be in another thread... meetings are offline, Pink is discussing online. Another thread already discussing offline meetings can be found here.
First Meeting


_____________________________

Padriag

A stern discipline pervades all nature, which is a little cruel so that it may be very kind - Edmund Spencer

(in reply to OscarHargraves)
Profile   Post #: 9
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 8:19:13 AM   
perverseangelic


Posts: 2625
Joined: 2/2/2004
From: Davis, Ca
Status: offline 		In regards to recieving files--

I no longer accept file transfers at all from people that aren't realtime friends. It's easy and cheap to get hosting space (angelfire for anything, photobucket etc for images). I tell the person I'd prefer they host it and let me go veiw it online.

Also, zone alarm is great.

_____________________________

~in the begining it is always dark~

(in reply to Padriag)
Profile   Post #: 10
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 8:47:38 AM   
stormsfate


Posts: 849
Joined: 2/1/2005
Status: offline 		I think you are forgetting the most fundamental thing if you don't want others to know who you really are. Don't give them personal information. Pink, you for example, have given enough personal information about yourself and your past history on these boards that anyone could locate you if they wanted to spend a half hour or hour or so to do it. People seem to feel the internet is anonymous, but in my opinion, that gives a false sense of security. There are few people online, imo, who can't be located if someone really wanted to locate them.

I don't worry about it overly much. If I want to talk to someone on the phone, I don't have any problem in sharing my telephone number, which of course, will easily lead to where I live. If someone wants to pop in for a visit, one would hope they would have the courtesy to call first


best regards,
fate


(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 11
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 9:32:34 AM   
Mercnbeth


Posts: 11766
Status: offline 		the only thing that will guarantee--100%-- the safety of your personal information is for it NOT to be there. take all the precautions you want, there is still the chance that a hacker will get in, take personal information and/or leave a virus behind.

same thing with real life. the only thing that will guarantee you will not get abused or taken advantage of by another human being is for you to NOT be alive. this slave has thrown caution to the wind numerous times, coupled it with an overabundance of faith and been richly rewarded beyond my wildest imaginations. this slave has also planned, researched, even made it legally binding and have gotten hurt, healed and learned from the experience.

for the evils of this world to be unavoidable if we just follow the right advice or take the right precautions is just as illogical as the belief in the existence of God. it requires faith. a quick study of the many common threads that religions have is faith in the unknown and faith in ones self, either as a living being or as a part of a special group of "chosen ones".

sorry this slave has never been an online victim of evil, only real time and this slave can tell you with great certainty: the asshole that didn't kill this slave only made her stronger. he passed all the "tests" initially, the background check, intelligent, highly skilled, owned his own legitimate business, wasn't cruel to animals, came from a nice family living in a "good" neighborhood. 3 years later, after his true self was revealed, he said "no one will ever want you after what i've done to you". logically, he was right. this slave was in shock, among other things, that she could have been fooled so well. it took a huge amount of faith in this slave's self and in God and in the unknown that we would prove him wrong. and we have.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 12
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 10:27:32 AM   
Veav


Posts: 150
Joined: 8/1/2005
Status: offline 		If you're worried about security, something that may also help is using alternate clients. What do I mean by that? Well, I don't use the Yahoo IM software - I use Trillian, which handles ICQ/AIM/YIM/MSN (and technically IRC, but it's crap there), without the spam and much more conveniently. Because it's a different software client, the same exploits won't work. There are Trillian exploits too, I'm sure, but it's all relative and I haven't had problems yet.

I also don't use Internet Explorer anymore, I use Opera; not only is it just plain better, with tabbed windows and no chance of crashing the OS, but with IE I have used all the precautions named above and still been infected with a virus for the crime of visiting the wrong website. I didn't download anything or accept any certificates, mind you. I just loaded the page. So I switched to Opera and I've never had another spot of trouble.

But, yes, I've successfully stalked people before (per their request, I have fun friends!) and I've never resorted to being a mad hax0r. The only security exploit I used was google. Use common sense, ladies and gentlemen - the internet is a public bulletin board, and anyone can find what you've written if they have enough patience.

_____________________________

Yes, I am Gordon Freeman. Accept this, and move on with your life.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 13
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 12:00:33 PM   
IronBear


Posts: 9008
Joined: 6/19/2005
From: Beenleigh, Qld, Australia
Status: offline 		Its not the most practical route to take but I keep all my secure information on a separate computer which is not attached to the internet in any way. I can and do bring files or single documents to this beast via a cd or floppy. Most of my personal details which is already public any way is available and I too don’t mind if some one wants to contact me (I’ll usually have my mobile phone number posted) can do so or call in for a coffee as long as I’m pre-warned. I do run over the top home security which is added and abetted by a bloody good neighbour watch. What I do though when I get off the net is to disable my modem including unplugging it. I hate internal modems because even when you are off the net, the phone line is still connected and the smart people can still get into your system and/or use it to bug your room for physical conversations.

Hey security is my paranoia. Everone should have one pet paranoia to stay sane.....

_____________________________

Iron Bear

Master of Bruin Cottage

http://www.bruincottage.org

Your attitude, words & actions are yours. Take responsibility for them and the consequences they incur.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

(in reply to Veav)
Profile   Post #: 14
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 5:16:41 PM   
TNstepsout


Posts: 1558
Joined: 8/3/2005
Status: offline 		Oh! finally a subject I know something about and can offer advice! (even though I had to learn it the hard way)

Never follow links sent to you in Yahoo or MSN that ask you to enter your password. My Yahoo nic was hacked that way. The invitation came from a friend, so I thought it was OK, but it turns out his nic had been hijacked first, and the message sent to everyone on his list.

From entering my password at the webiste the hacker was able to get it, then log into my account and change the password so I could no longer access my own account. He then used my list to send the same message to everyone on it.

Fortunately I'd not used my real name in setting up my Yahoo account and all the email and contact info was very outdated so there was no real harm done. It was just frustrating because I lost contact with some people I considered online friends because I couldn't remember their nics.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 15
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 9:05:26 PM   
FangsNfeet


Posts: 3758
Joined: 12/3/2004
Status: offline 		When online, it never hurts to wear rubber gloves.

_____________________________

I'm Godzilla and you're Japan

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 16
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 9:36:22 PM   
MissDiandSirHugh


Posts: 1158
Joined: 8/11/2005
From: Goondiwindi ( Qld )
Status: offline 		There is a program that is free called Spyware Doctor that you can get and will remove cokkies as often as you set it to also runs at all times your computer is on as well as update its date each time needed.
We alos have set up a seperate email account that is not conected to us in any way other thna being able to retreive mail from it and reply through there

(in reply to FangsNfeet)
Profile   Post #: 17
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/18/2005 11:26:55 PM   
Gauge


Posts: 5689
Joined: 6/17/2005
Status: offline 		Funny thing is that no one has yet to mention good, reliable Anti-virus software. Be sure to keep your Anti-virus software up to date and use some online scans as well. Trend Microsystems Housecall is a very good online Anti-virus scan and it is free, but I only suggest it in addition to protection that you already have on your PC. There are a few free Anti-virus programs out there but I have yet to find one that is worth the space it takes up on the hard drive... of course I haven't tried them all either so your results may vary.

Another issue is passwords. Never, ever store a password on your computer. If you are hacked, it takes no effort to find your password for access to your Internet account. Most people use a common word for their password, this is not a good idea because almost every password cracking software out there will have no trouble breaking it. It is best to use both numbers and letters in your password and mix them up e.g. 1b2a5d3e This type of password is harder to guess or crack with software. Also, change your password about once a month. If you don't want to do that, use four or five passwords and rotate them.

If you want to see how effectively your PC is protected I suggest a site called Gibson Research http://www.grc.com/default.htm if you scroll down the page, go to the ShieldsUp area and test your computer. It will open your eyes and give suggestions to minimize your online threats.

Nothing is 100% safe unless it is a stand alone PC with no programs loaded on it and no Internet connection... now... wouldn't that be fun?

_____________________________

"For there is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men." Herman Melville - Moby Dick

I'm wearing my chicken suit and humming La Marseillaise.

(in reply to pinkpleasures)
Profile   Post #: 18
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/19/2005 2:41:25 AM   
IronBear


Posts: 9008
Joined: 6/19/2005
From: Beenleigh, Qld, Australia
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: FangsNfeet

When online, it never hurts to wear rubber gloves.


Fangs, would you also reccoment we don caps, gowns, booties and masks as well?

<Makes a valient attempt to look innocent>


_____________________________

Iron Bear

Master of Bruin Cottage

http://www.bruincottage.org

Your attitude, words & actions are yours. Take responsibility for them and the consequences they incur.

D.I.L.L.I.G.A.F.

(in reply to FangsNfeet)
Profile   Post #: 19
RE: OnlineSafety - 8/19/2005 3:43:34 AM   
lovingmaster45


Posts: 261
Joined: 9/16/2004
Status: offline 		Here is a different approach. I am not afraid of anyone. You can google me. You can get my address, phone #, place of work; in fact, most of that is in my yahoo profile. I don't give a damn; but mess with me and you will pay dearly for it. Mess with one of mine and it will cost you even more. I could give examples, but the statute of limitations has not yet expired on some.
I have a PhD; but thank goodness my redneck roots are still here with me, and it is those early lessons in dealing with people who tried to mess with me or my family that continue to protect me and mine.
The best protection is strength. If you lack it, find a friend who has it.

_____________________________

Master Jerry


(in reply to IronBear)
Profile   Post #: 20
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