How to surf the web safely


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With all the recent posts about people tracking every move you do on the internet, do you guys have any recommendations on how to surf anonymously? I'm just curious if you guys run any extra programs so people can't figure out your IP address or location? Or do you all not really worry about it to much

What about using a torrent clients?

Any tips/ tricks?

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Don't proxy servers make your browsing much slower?

Depends on the proxy server. You've got to understand that what a proxy server does is it accepts your information (for example, your Google search request) and then submits the request from its IP address rather than your IP address. The response from Google then goes back to the proxy server, which then send the information to you. That's the basic gist, at least.

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The safest way to surf the web is to engage your brains before firing up the browser. Use common sense instead of blindly clicking on every link.

You can install as many security suites or hide behind proxies. Neither will help when the user him-/herself is a PEBCAK.

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Simple common sense is all that is needed. But if you must, pay for a VPN. They normally cost between $5 and $10 a month. There are more expensive ones of course. :)

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The safest way to surf the web is to engage your brains before firing up the browser. Use common sense instead of blindly clicking on every link.

You can install as many security suites or hide behind proxies. Neither will help when the user him-/herself is a PEBCAK.

This, as I have stated in the past the safest way to browse the web is to use common sense however; as I keep seeing people get infections and whatnot from VERY noticeably bad websites I wonder how common that sense is.

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This, as I have stated in the past the safest way to browse the web is to use common sense however; as I keep seeing people get infections and whatnot from VERY noticeably bad websites I wonder how common that sense is.

Increasingly uncommon unfortunately.

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safely =/= anonymously

just because you are anonymous does not make your browsing habits safe, it just means it is a little bit harder for someone to track you. It still can be done if they aren't relying on webfilters to monitor you or the admin has taken away the ability to insert proxies and the ability to access the registry to modify proxy settings as well as the ability to install anything. All I am saying is that there are ways for admins to monitor you that you may not be aware of, if that is what you are worried about.

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For the best privacy and security, you should try a proxy server. I won't bother to explain since it has already been done.

However, if you're still not satisfied (or too lazy to deal with proxy configuration), you could also use Firefox and get

add-ons like Ghostery, Beef Taco, AdBlock Plus, NoScript (etc) to remove most of the "web trash" that's out there.

You could also use a custom HOSTS file, but that may or may not be overdoing it (depends on your POV).

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Even if you use Tor, you have to be careful about what cookies, cached files, etc. are stored on your computer. It is very easy to track with these. Clearing your browsing history for each session is a good idea.

If ISPs, corporations such as Google, and the govt. have their way with Internet IDs, the IP address allocation will become static for everybody sooner or later. Encrypted traffic is illegal by law in many countries already. You will need to use tools like Tor 100% of the time to do anything online anonymously.

You can use Firefox with add-ons like NoScript and Request Policy. It may take some time to get used to, but if you know what you are doing, you can block all 3rd party sites that try to keep tabs on you. This only leaves out IP address, which can be solved using Tor.

Unfortunately, privacy takes a lot of effort, because products are now designed such that privacy is secondary. This is because most people don't care about/understand privacy.

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Some tips to prevent or decrease on-line tracking -

1. Use proxy server if possible.

2. Install extensions like Ghostery to block trackers such as Google Analytics.

3. Clear cookies when exiting the browser.

PRO TIP - For those who use Opera browser, turn on Opera Turbo - it will act like a proxy server only. That will make you anonymous to a great extent. Though Opera sends the actual IP address in it's header very less websites/trackers do read that part of the header.

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The safest way to surf the web = Linux! :laugh: :D Go where you want, do what you like and very little to no chance of anything getting infected, ever!

Waiting for the flames......

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The safest way to surf the web is to engage your brains before firing up the browser. Use common sense instead of blindly clicking on every link.

You can install as many security suites or hide behind proxies. Neither will help when the user him-/herself is a PEBCAK.

+1 THIS

You cant patch stupid

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