Safe Internet Browsing - Security Measures?

I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.

I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.

I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
(configured to Homeuser).

System details:

OS: WinXP Pro SP2

Acer TravelMate 3240 (LapTop)
Manufactured by: AcerSystem
Intel(R) Celeon(R) M CPU
430 @ 1.73GHz
1.73 GHz, 512 MB of RAM

IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE Channel

Network adapters
Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945BG Network Connection
PCMCIA adapters
Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller

Would appreciate advice what other security measures I should implement
to surf the net safely i.e. how can I prevent others from seeing my
browsing/computing activities?

TIA.

On Sep 22, 10:28*pm, Michael <M...@nowhere.net> wrote:
> I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
> I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.
>
> I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.
>
> I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
> and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
> (configured to Homeuser).
>
> System details:
>
> OS: WinXP Pro SP2
>
> Acer TravelMate 3240 (LapTop)
> Manufactured by: AcerSystem
> Intel(R) Celeon(R) M CPU
> 430 @ 1.73GHz
> 1.73 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
>
> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
> Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4
> Primary IDE Channel
> Secondary IDE Channel
>
> Network adapters
> Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
> Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945BG Network Connection
> PCMCIA adapters
> Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
>
> Would appreciate advice what other security measures I should implement
> to surf the net safely i.e. how can I prevent others from seeing my
> browsing/computing activities?
>
> TIA.

Tor

Tor (The Onion Router) is a free software implementation of second-
generation onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate
anonymously on the Internet. Originally sponsored by the US Naval
Research Laboratory, Tor became an Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF) project in late 2004, and the EFF supported Tor financially
until November 2005.[3] The Tor software is now developed by the Tor
Project, which since December 2006 is a 501(c)(3) research/education
non-profit organization based in the United States of America[1][4]
that receives a diverse base of financial support.[3]

Like all current low latency anonymity networks, Tor is vulnerable to
traffic analysis from observers who can watch both ends of a user's
connection.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)

http://www.cotse.com/

Web Proxy

Professional cpanel based web hosting, unrivaled private e-mail
service, SSH tunneling, web privacy proxies, anonymous remailer
interfaces, and more at one low price of just $5.95 per month. All
with your privacy protection and online security in mind.

On Sep 23, 3:55*pm, Michael Yardley <middle...@mail.org> wrote:
> On Sep 22, 10:28*pm, Michael <M...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
> > I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.
>
> > I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.
>
> > I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
> > and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
> > (configured to Homeuser).
>
> > System details:
>
> > OS: WinXP Pro SP2
>
> > Acer TravelMate 3240 (LapTop)
> > Manufactured by: AcerSystem
> > Intel(R) Celeon(R) M CPU
> > 430 @ 1.73GHz
> > 1.73 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
>
> > IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
> > Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4
> > Primary IDE Channel
> > Secondary IDE Channel
>
> > Network adapters
> > Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
> > Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945BG Network Connection
> > PCMCIA adapters
> > Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
>
> > Would appreciate advice what other security measures I should implement
> > to surf the net safely i.e. how can I prevent others from seeing my
> > browsing/computing activities?
>
> > TIA.
>
> Tor
>
> Tor (The Onion Router) is a free software implementation of second-
> generation onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate
> anonymously on the Internet. Originally sponsored by the US Naval
> Research Laboratory, Tor became an Electronic Frontier Foundation
> (EFF) project in late 2004, and the EFF supported Tor financially
> until November 2005.[3] The Tor software is now developed by the Tor
> Project, which since December 2006 is a 501(c)(3) research/education
> non-profit organization based in the United States of America[1][4]
> that receives a diverse base of financial support.[3]
>
> Like all current low latency anonymity networks, Tor is vulnerable to
> traffic analysis from observers who can watch both ends of a user's
> connection.[5]
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
>
> http://www.cotse.com/
>
> Web Proxy
>
> Professional cpanel based web hosting, unrivaled private e-mail
> service, SSH tunneling, web privacy proxies, anonymous remailer
> interfaces, and more at one low price of just $5.95 per month. All
> with your privacy protection and online security in mind.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


Mike,

Don't use WEP as your Security measure on your router!
Very easy to hack the password.
Use a made up password including lots of weird characters and make the
password big/long.
Harder to hack that way.

Pete

Knight wrote:
> On Sep 23, 3:55 pm, Michael Yardley <middle...@mail.org> wrote:
>> On Sep 22, 10:28 pm, Michael <M...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
>>> I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.
>>> I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.
>>> I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
>>> and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
>>> (configured to Homeuser).
>>> System details:
>>> OS: WinXP Pro SP2
>>> Acer TravelMate 3240 (LapTop)
>>> Manufactured by: AcerSystem
>>> Intel(R) Celeon(R) M CPU
>>> 430 @ 1.73GHz
>>> 1.73 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
>>> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
>>> Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4
>>> Primary IDE Channel
>>> Secondary IDE Channel
>>> Network adapters
>>> Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
>>> Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945BG Network Connection
>>> PCMCIA adapters
>>> Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
>>> Would appreciate advice what other security measures I should implement
>>> to surf the net safely i.e. how can I prevent others from seeing my
>>> browsing/computing activities?
>>> TIA.
>> Tor
>>
>> Tor (The Onion Router) is a free software implementation of second-
>> generation onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate
>> anonymously on the Internet. Originally sponsored by the US Naval
>> Research Laboratory, Tor became an Electronic Frontier Foundation
>> (EFF) project in late 2004, and the EFF supported Tor financially
>> until November 2005.[3] The Tor software is now developed by the Tor
>> Project, which since December 2006 is a 501(c)(3) research/education
>> non-profit organization based in the United States of America[1][4]
>> that receives a diverse base of financial support.[3]
>>
>> Like all current low latency anonymity networks, Tor is vulnerable to
>> traffic analysis from observers who can watch both ends of a user's
>> connection.[5]
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
>>
>> http://www.cotse.com/
>>
>> Web Proxy
>>
>> Professional cpanel based web hosting, unrivaled private e-mail
>> service, SSH tunneling, web privacy proxies, anonymous remailer
>> interfaces, and more at one low price of just $5.95 per month. All
>> with your privacy protection and online security in mind.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
>
> Mike,
>
> Don't use WEP as your Security measure on your router!
> Very easy to hack the password.
> Use a made up password including lots of weird characters and make the
> password big/long.
> Harder to hack that way.
>
> Pete

Thanks Pete,
As mentioned in my op, I am on a wireless (laptop) connection and have
no router. Based on my system, should I purchase a router?
And, when staying in hotels, do I have to carry the router with me?
Isn't there an alternative to routers?

Michael Yardley wrote:
> On Sep 22, 10:28 pm, Michael <M...@nowhere.net> wrote:
>> I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
>> I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.
>>
>> I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.
>>
>> I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
>> and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
>> (configured to Homeuser).
>>
>> System details:
>>
>> OS: WinXP Pro SP2
>>
>> Acer TravelMate 3240 (LapTop)
>> Manufactured by: AcerSystem
>> Intel(R) Celeon(R) M CPU
>> 430 @ 1.73GHz
>> 1.73 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
>>
>> IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
>> Intel(R) 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) Serial ATA Storage Controller - 27C4
>> Primary IDE Channel
>> Secondary IDE Channel
>>
>> Network adapters
>> Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
>> Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945BG Network Connection
>> PCMCIA adapters
>> Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
>>
>> Would appreciate advice what other security measures I should implement
>> to surf the net safely i.e. how can I prevent others from seeing my
>> browsing/computing activities?
>>
>> TIA.
>
> Tor
>
> Tor (The Onion Router) is a free software implementation of second-
> generation onion routing – a system enabling its users to communicate
> anonymously on the Internet. Originally sponsored by the US Naval
> Research Laboratory, Tor became an Electronic Frontier Foundation
> (EFF) project in late 2004, and the EFF supported Tor financially
> until November 2005.[3] The Tor software is now developed by the Tor
> Project, which since December 2006 is a 501(c)(3) research/education
> non-profit organization based in the United States of America[1][4]
> that receives a diverse base of financial support.[3]
>
> Like all current low latency anonymity networks, Tor is vulnerable to
> traffic analysis from observers who can watch both ends of a user's
> connection.[5]
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)
>
> http://www.cotse.com/
>
> Web Proxy
>
> Professional cpanel based web hosting, unrivaled private e-mail
> service, SSH tunneling, web privacy proxies, anonymous remailer
> interfaces, and more at one low price of just $5.95 per month. All
> with your privacy protection and online security in mind.
>

Thanks for the advice.

On Sep 23, 1:28*am, Michael <M...@nowhere.net> wrote:
> I am an average homeuser with limited technical abilities.
> I just changed from dial-up connection to wireless.
>
> I access my personal bank accounts and do banking etc.
>
> I practise safe-hex, the in-built firewall is enabled and use AntiVir
> and SpywareTerminator as my AV/A-S programs. I also utilise SeconfigXP
> (configured to Homeuser).
>
> System details:
>
> OS: WinXP Pro SP2

That all sounds fine. As already said, you want to be using WPA
encryption for your wireless, not WEP.

As for banking, the main important thing is to make sure that they are
using SSL encryption even at the login page -- which more than likely
they are.

Only other thing I would add is to use a different web browser than
Microsoft Internet Explorer, if you aren't already. Firefox is much
more secure than MSIE.

(Towards your other post)

Re: routers. You didn't say what your wireless source is. Do you
have cable internet that is going wireless? If so, you already have a
wireless router that you are "leasing". If that is the case, have
them just provide you with a cable modem and buy your own wireless
router. It is cheaper in the long run and you will have a much better
router with more features.

Re: hotels. No, you don't need a router to use wireless at hotels.
You simply just use their routers and/or access points. All you need
is your laptop to use hotspots. I carry a small wireless access point
(that has a DHCP server) in my laptop bag though. I use it at hotels
that don't have wireless so coworkers and I can setup a quick wireless
LAN for gaming. Sometimes, if it is compatible, I use it as a
repeater at a hotel with wireless if their signal is weak. That is
rare though.

When out in public, just be conscious of "honeypots". These are
people running hardware, usually laptops but can even be PDA's, that
masquerade to look like legit access points -- usually having some
scheme asking for a CC number. I've been using wireless for over
seven years and haven't come across any yet, but they are out there,
especially around airports and shopping malls.