Category: Internet Explorer

How to: Anonymous Browsing, Internet Privacy

Last Updated: 2/20/2022

Gold Baldwin Door Lock

Check out our Facebook Settings How To Privacy Page

Why should I be concerned about Internet privacy?

  • Do you like online ads following you around from site to site?
  • Can you discuss your health problems online without fear of losing insurance?
  • Do you worry about publishing private information that could lead to stalking, surveillance, or identity theft?
  • Does your work place monitor your Facebook or Twitter? Could you be fired over a post?
  • Do you live in a country where you could be arrested or tortured based on what you post online?
  • Did you know that third-parties collect information the government is not allowed to collect? The government has purchased this information too.
  • Companies such as FinFisher are selling hacking software to countries and corporations to break into people’s computers and monitor them.
  • Visit the EFF’s Panopticlick site to see what you are telling the world right now, before using the tools below.
  • Tactical Technology Collective has tips for journalists and activists on how to increase their privacy.

60% of people polled by the WSJ.com were tremendously worried about the loss of online privacy.

The Internet appears to facilitate privacy and anonymity, but in recent years has been a battleground that pits advertisers on one side and users on the other. It has become increasingly difficult to maintain privacy on the Internet because money has gotten into the game. As online advertising has grown, companies have sprouted up, attempting to optimize Internet advertising performance by combining advertising with profiling. While individual users may not be known by name, they have become ghost profiles that are increasingly matched up with appropriate advertising. If you have found Internet ads following you from site to site, you have been profiled and are seeing the results. In this article, we will examine many methods to enhance our Internet privacy and perform operations anonymously.

One of the main goals of Internet privacy is to make that people have the ability to make informed decisions about how they act online. Users should be told ahead of time how their personal information is used and shared.

The Real Cost of Free Content

While many users assume that most content sites are free, there is a hidden price being paid, the users private information. Most online advertising companies are tracking web browsing activity across many websites in order to build profiles of users. They cross-reference and trade information to generate revenue and better target online advertising and promotions.

Hide your phone number

Once a cybercriminal gets your phone number, they can wreak all sorts of havoc including SIM Swap your phone and take over many accounts.  Hide your number or at least used a VoIP number such as Google Voice. Do not allow Google Voice to forwards Texts/Calls to your main number.

  • Google
    • Remove your phone number from myaccount.google.com – Personal information
  • Microsoft
    • Remove your phone number from account.live.com
  • Facebook
    • Select Settings under the drop-down arrow at the top right. First, click on Mobile in the right-side menu, and remove your phone number
  • Twitter
    • Click your avatar, go to Settings and Privacy, and navigate to Mobile on the right hand menu. Remove your number and use an authenticator app

Android

Turn off your advertising ID.  This is attached to all you apps, search history, purchases, recent locations and much more.

  • Settings > Privacy > Ads > Delete Advertising ID

Older Android versions may have Opt Out of Ads Personalization

Chrome

Turn off 3rd party cookie tracking on both Chrome for computers and Chrome App

Settings > Security & Privacy > Block third-party cookies

Privacy Oriented Browser

brave is a browser from a mozilla co-founder, which is focused on privacy.

Internet Browser Cookies

Continue reading “How to: Anonymous Browsing, Internet Privacy”

Facebook Privacy Settings to Limit Sharing

Last Updated: 10/18/2018

Note: Facebook has committed to making these settings easier to find, so there may be some variance in what we depict below.

A September 2018 security hole in Facebook allowed 50 Million accounts to be accessed by hackers.  Check to see if you were affected.

Facebook reached a new low in March 2018. A massive data compromise was exposed that allowed Cambridge Analytica to obtain extensive psychographic information about 50 million Facebook users in 2014. This data was probably used to manipulate the 2016 Presidential elections.

Let’s be honest, in exchange for using this FREE service, you upload text, pictures, videos for Facebook to learn more about you. They then use this personal information to sell ads and more.  There is no free lunch. Facebook is a money making machine, not your friend.

Short of deleting Facebook and Facebook messenger, This is how you can adjust your Facebook Privacy Settings to protect yourself.

Two Factor Authentication

In September 2018 it became know that Facebook uses your second factor authentication for advertising purposes!  Do not use your phone number or another email address, instead use the option of employing Google Authenticator.

Continue reading “Facebook Privacy Settings to Limit Sharing”

How to: Safe Online Shopping

Last Update: 1/22/2020

PC, desktop computer

Online shopping has been gaining market share every year. Security breaches make headlines almost daily. With more and more shoppers going online, consumers are worried more than ever about keeping their online shopping safe and secure. In this article, we will help you shop more securely.

Secure your computer, web browser, Internet connection

Follow our guides to secure your Windows PC or secure your Macintosh by installing the right software, firewall, antivirus software, etc. Secure your mobile devices: iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet, iPad. Configure the settings and add plug-ins to you web browser so that it is more secure. Consult our tutorials for: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Secure your Internet Connection: Wireless Network, Public Wi-Fi.

1. Configure your wireless router for optimal security. Consult our article How to set up a secure wireless router for details. For maximum security, do your online shopping when connected by a hardwired connection such as Ethernet.

2. Ensure that your operating system is set up securely. Consult our computer security guides for Windows and Macintosh. For maximum security, you could start off a Linux boot CD or USB key.

Burning Linux Live CD to a write only media such as a CD/DVD or a USB drive with Write protect switch, helps prevent any changes to a virgin Linux distribution. Keep in mind that no bookmarks, password managers, etc would be accessible.

The CD versions do take many minutes to boot up and ask you if you want to try Linux, so the USB route is definitely preferred.

Continue reading “How to: Safe Online Shopping”

How to use Wi-Fi securely in Hotels, Airports, and Beyond

Last Update: June 18, 2019

Free wireless Internet, Wi-fi, sign

While SafeGadget has several tutorials geared towards using Wi-Fi securely, we still realize that this is a major problem area. On our recent trip, we encountered insecure Wi-Fi at several airports, hotels, and restaurants. This tutorial is designed to help all users utilize Wi-Fi safely and securely.

Free Wi-Fi is available in many locations, from airports, hotels, local café, Starbucks to McDonald’s and many other restaurants. Using these mostly unsecured, public wireless networks puts your information at risk. It is important to employ several safeguards when surfing at a public hotspot. If you are using a cybercafe’s shared computer, we would only use it to view information, not to even get your e-mail. Chance are high that it is compromised.

Many public wireless networks are completely unencrypted so that users can log on to them easily. Anytime you login to a free Wi-Fi hotspot that does not require a password, assume that a hacker can ease drop and see all information that is being sent and received.

Some Wi-Fi hotspots from vendors like AT&T and Comcast require you to log in with your username and password before you can get access. You need to understand that this is just access restriction and will not create a secure wireless connection.

This opens up a huge security hole as any hacker or sophisticated computer user could easily see all the sensitive data being transmitted. Passwords to online stores or email accounts can be easily captured by increasingly easy to use tools. In this article, we will help you access public wireless networks safely. Settings within your operating system may need to be optimized, additional software installed, and third party services may need to be subscribed to.

McDonalds Free Wi-Fi

Finding Free Wi-Fi Continue reading “How to use Wi-Fi securely in Hotels, Airports, and Beyond”

How to use Wireless Networks or Wi-Fi securely in Public

Last Update: June 18, 2019

Free wireless Internet, Wi-fi, sign

Free Wi-Fi is available in many locations, from your local café or Starbucks to McDonald’s and many other restaurants. Using these mostly unsecured, public wireless networks puts your information at risk. It is important to employ several safeguards when surfing at a public hotspot. If you are using a cybercafe’s shared computer, we would only use it to view information, not to even get your e-mail. Chance are high that it is compromised.

Many public wireless networks are completely unencrypted so that users can log on to them easily. This opens up a huge security hole as any hacker or sophisticated computer user could easily see all the sensitive data being transmitted. Passwords to online stores or email accounts can be easily captured by increasingly easy to use tools. In this article, we will help you access public wireless networks safely. Settings within your operating system may need to be optimized, additional software installed, and third party services may need to be subscribed to.

McDonalds Free Wi-Fi

Finding Free Wi-Fi

  • Boingo has a Wi-Fi locator. The Starbucks and McDonald’s entries are free.
  • There are several free apps that help you find Wi-Fi – search the app stores for Wi-Fi

Secure your computer, web browser, Internet connection

Follow our guides to secure your Windows PC or secure your Macintosh by installing the right software, firewall, antivirus software, etc. Secure your mobile devices: iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet, iPad. Configure the settings and add plug-ins to you web browser so that it is more secure. Consult our tutorials for: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Secure your Internet Connection: Wireless Network, Public Wi-Fi.

Continue reading “How to use Wireless Networks or Wi-Fi securely in Public”

How to Secure Windows 10

Last Updated: 11/1/2017

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 is the latest and greatest operating system from Microsoft.  It still need help to become more secure.

Windows 10 controlled folder access anti-ransomeware is part of the Fall Creators Update.  It works well and should be used by all Windows 10 users.

Securing the Boot up Process

Windows 10 Secure Boot prevents rootkit attacks, where malicious code attempts to tamper with Windows before it boots, before antivirus and other system defenses load. Microsoft introduced features to protect the Windows kernel and privileged drivers in previous versions, but Secure Boot enhances those measures to prevent system tampering.

If your PC is a recent one, you will have what is known as UEFI Firmware that support Secure Boot. This allows the PC to check the signature of each piece of boot software to ensure they are not compromised.  Make sure you enable this.

Secure boot is supported by Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

Set Windows Defender Built in Antivirus blocking to High

Windows Defender Antivirus ships with all versions of the Windows 10 operating system. Versions included with the Windows 10 Creator Update version 1703 or newer  in 2017 allow you to set the blocking level to high.  Be sure to do this.

Continue reading “How to Secure Windows 10”

How to: Safe and Secure E-mail

Last Update: 8/26/2017

Spam, can of spam less sodium

Every computer user uses e-mail. Security breaches make headlines almost daily. With more and more people going online, consumers are worried more than ever about keeping their e-mail safe and secure.

E-mail is the major way most malware is transmitted across the Internet. E-mail is the largest attack vector against large companies, as it is far more difficult to physically infiltrate a company. In this article, we will help you use e-mail more securely.

A recent experiment of 150,000 test emails sent by Verizon Enterprise Solutions found that 23% of recipients opened the email, 11% click on the attachment. One person clicking on the attachment would have infected the organization.  The human is the weakest link.

Secure your computer, web browser, Internet connection

Follow our guides to secure your Windows PC or secure your Macintosh by installing the right software, firewall, antivirus software, etc. Secure your mobile devices: iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet, iPad. Configure the settings and add plug-ins to you web browser so that it is more secure. Consult our tutorials for: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Secure your Internet Connection: Wireless Network, Public Wi-Fi.

The Golden rules of the Internet:

  • Do not trust anyone
  • If it is too good to be true, it probably is
  • Don’t install software from anonymous sources
  • Don’t automatically hit “yes” to any pop-up
  • If it looks suspicious, run

Secure Your Router

Continue reading “How to: Safe and Secure E-mail”

Secure Internet Explorer 9 Browsing

Last update: 4/14/2016

Internet Explorer 9 IE9

Internet Explorer remains the most popular web browser for Windows. This makes it a large target for malware and cybercrime. We will focus on securing Internet Explorer 9, and will significantly increase the browser’s security through add-ins and special hardening settings. We are avoiding earlier versions of Internet Explorer and recommend users to upgrade to Internet Explorer 9. It requires Windows Vista or Windows 7 to operate, so if you are running under an older version of Windows, we recommend you to upgrade or buy a new computer. Older versions of Windows like Windows XP were not built with security in mind.

Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET)

Internet Explorer users should definitely install Microsoft’s free Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit. It helps beefup IE’s security. It even prevented the major Zero Day IE vulnerability of April 2014.

Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10

In 2012 is a new version of Windows and a new Internet Explorer promising tighter security. ForceASLR will be added, making more applications use the randomization code protection of ASLR. High Entropy ASLR will be added to take advantage of the larger memory address space of 64-bit Windows 8 PCs.

Secure your computer, web browser, Internet connection

Follow our guides to secure your Windows PC or secure your Macintosh by installing the right software, firewall, antivirus software, etc. Secure your mobile devices: iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet, iPad. Configure the settings and add plug-ins to you web browser so that it is more secure. Consult our tutorials for: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Secure your Internet Connection: Wireless Network, Public Wi-Fi.

Continue reading “Secure Internet Explorer 9 Browsing”

Welcome to Safegadget.com

Welcome to Safegadget.com, the one-stop website for securing your computer and gadgets. Don’t wait until you have become a victim of malware. While it is impossible to prevent all attacks, it is important that we all secure our systems so we aren’t easily hacked. This is akin to wearing a seat belt to prevent an accident.

We feature many different security tutorials.

Harden the Security of your Browser

Boost the Security of your Smartphones and Tablets

Learn how to perform the following Safely and Securely
Continue reading “Welcome to Safegadget.com”

How to Safely use Twitter

Last update 1/9/2015

Twitter Logo

Twitter is becoming more popular everyday. With millions of people to be targeted, Twitter is definitely a battleground for security and privacy. This website has become a worldwide hit and consequently has become a target for those intent on spamming, spreading worms, and stealing private information. In this article, we will cover many techniques to allow you to safely use Twitter.

Secure your computer, web browser, Internet connection

Follow our guides to secure your Windows PC or secure your Macintosh by installing the right software, firewall, antivirus software, etc. Secure your mobile devices: iPhone, Android smartphone or tablet, iPad. Configure the settings and add plug-ins to you web browser so that it is more secure. Consult our tutorials for: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox. Secure your Internet Connection: Wireless Network, Public Wi-Fi.

It is important that you follow the tips above to ensure your computer is secure. There have been Twitter Spam Attacks caused when malware infects a computer and gives control of the user’s Twitter account to a spammer. The spammer then posts messages on Twitter offering everything from Free items to pictures of celebrities, all appearing to be posted by the infected user. If one of your friends clicks on the offer, they instantly get infected, repeating the cycle of malware propagation.

Access the Real Twitter

Always make sure you are at a real Twitter log in page when you access their site. Do not count on Twitter links in email or on web pages to access the real Twitter website.

Think before Clicking on Links

Continue reading “How to Safely use Twitter”

NSA PRISM Program – How to Protect Your Privacy

Last updated: 11/7/2015

In June 2013, Edward Snowden revealed to the world that the US Government was spying on Internet traffic and other communication networks. The Government’s PRISM program run by the highly secretive NSA conducted all this work in an effort to prevent terrorism and crime.

The NSA apparently has direct connections through major Internet service providers such AT&T, Comcast, Verizon to copy all traffic passing through and can save it to its huge multi-billion dollar data warehouse in Utah. This has been going on for years and thanks to organizations like the EFF, we have learned about these invasions of privacy. The Government has stated it is using this information mainly on foreigners, but is the FBI using this data domestically?

The UK’s GCHQ is apparently doing the same type of snooping and even sharing information with the NSA.

The Government can see all your Facebook posts, read your email, see who you have called, among other privacy invading tasks.

Other services that are being watched: AOL, Apple, Skype, Microsoft, Paltalk, Yahoo, Youtube.

Specific areas:

  • Email
  • Chat- Video
  • voice
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Stored Data
  • VOIP
  • File transfers
  • Video conferencing
  • logins
  • online social networking

Continue reading “NSA PRISM Program – How to Protect Your Privacy”

BuyVia – Your Smart Shopping Concierge for Tech Gear

Our sister site has launch, BuyVia!

The BuyVia iOS app and website bring together the strongest smart shopping arsenal available, making it easy to find the best products/deals possible across all of the devices people own – including smartphones, laptops/desktops and tablets – without tedious and time-consuming research.

BuyVia’s iPhone & Android (coming soon) app allow users to scan barcodes, compare prices, set up alerts, and more.

Internet for Kids – Parental Controls

The Internet is a scary place for kids and a constant worry for their parents. Inappropriate content, predators, and malware lurk around every corner. It is critical that we teach our kids how to use the Internet safely as well as equip our computers with necessary safeguards. First we will cover some foundational security information, then we will delve into tools and settings to help secure the Internet for kids.

Consumers Union found that households containing people under 18 had a larger propensity to being infected with malware. The following situations can easily occur:

  • A child might post on Facebook that the family is going on vacation
  • Children download apps without understanding the hazards or reading the reviews
  • Younger kids may click on links within email, without thinking about the risks
  • Not downloading copyrighted material needs to be taught to minors
  • Popup warnings from security software are usually ignored

Educating Your Kids

The most important element in creating a safe place for your kids to use the Internet is Education. No piece of software or hardware can replace teaching your kids right from wrong, and candidly discussing all the bad topics that can be found on the Internet.

Some topics parents should cover:

  • Do not reveal your passwords
  • Use social networking safely
  • Do not reveal too much personal information
  • Beware of online fraud

Continue reading “Internet for Kids – Parental Controls”

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