PC Security is Actually Pretty Cool – My Journey.

[Not_Jamie]

I wanted to share the fun ride I’ve been on over the last day or so. I have been a Linustechtips fan and viewer for almost a year now, and while I certainly have always loved computers he has reinvigorated my passion. This is a big post and is meant to be read for fun so don't feel obligated! 

 

It all started about a week ago when an online friend lost his steam account. Thousands of dollars gone it seemed, lucky it looks like he is getting it back. I realized however how sloppy I had become, same passwords (although not for my email), somewhat obvious secret questions… I decided to fix it. I watched Luke’s video on security and that got me started. I set myself a game plan. Firstly, I recognized my laziness. When signing up to a new site I tend to want to quickly just sign up and move on. Secondly It had to be easy to use without compromising. Lastly I wanted multiple fail safes so if one method failed I would have means to get back into accounts i.e. losing a password.

 

I have always used just one email account. I quickly came to the conclusion that even if I beef up my end I am trusting the sites I sign up too to have a robust security system, so one email became three. The first is used for general sign up to social sites and anything that doesn’t store sensitive information like card details. The second is used for important things like sites with details and payments, or accounts I don’t want to lose and can trust the website. The last Email is to hardly ever be used only associated with what I deem extremely important, bank, steam etc. (I have a forth email for private use, jobs, friends this is not used to sign up to anything under any circumstance)

 

Down to business…

 

I scanned my Desktop for any nasty viruses and whatnot (I had only reformatted days ago), then I downloaded KeePass (secure password management) and set about one site at a time changing my password to a secure one, removing any stored information for that site from chrome and making sure keepass can login automatically. I currently use a long password to sign into Keepass every boot but have a Yubikey on the way, to automate it and keep it secure… As I said, I’m lazy.

 

I have installed a third party firewall for more control called GlassWire, it’s easy to use, and frankly has one of the best interfaces I have seen. Its setup to allow things like steam access and certain windows processes but will prompt me if anything suss goes on, I can set and forget which is great! I also have a few plugins running in chrome now that help keep nasty trackers away and in general help keeps it more secure such as "HTTPS everywhere" and "Privacy Badger" (manages trackers).

 

On top of this I am using a program called WinAuth that has all the Mobile authenticators in one location, its encrypted and uses a special way to draw each code onto the UI so no one can get to it that way, it supports Yubikey and also you can export an encrypted file that basically backs up the versions you use so no matter what happens all you need to do is re-download and import to get back into accounts. I have it setup to boot with windows and inject the codes automatically. With this and Keepass all I have to do is start the program, say steam, press my KB shortcut and it will put all the codes (and username) in automatically!

 

With passwords secure, 2 step passwords set up I needed a way to browse the net freely as my desktop will now only be used for gaming and a few trusted sites.

 

I had an old nuc lying around so its connected my second screen and I am using software called Synergy to use the same mouse and keyboard for both machines, it works just like having 2 screens with edge detect and I also have binds to switch while full-screen in games, it also supports copy and paste and a few other quality of life features. I have setup a VPN for the nuc as I will be going on all sorts of sites and will be used to control my sign up to anything email. This is my general browsing computer whether going to a funny site or trying to google a guide for a game. I also use keePass to store passwords on this automatically as frankly it’s so easy to use and I like it more than chrome.

 

The last step.

 

With everything set, my emails in place I had one last step. I had a spare somewhat cheap mobile phone, I factory reset it… loaded it up with a cheap 12-month prepaid deal/sim and loaded the VPN onto it (the one I use supports mobile devices also and is part of the bundle). This will be hardly ever used. This is simply to gain access to my third email that is used for critical things like bank and steam, while also serving as a recovery method for my second email account (its linked as a security method). The first account is not tied to anything as it is the most likely to be compromised but does have my land-line as a security feature (as well as all others). With this I also backed up my keepass data base to 3 different branded USB thumb drives so in the event of a catastrophic PC failure I can still get to my accounts afterwards. The password to my third and most important email is stored anywhere, it will use my phone to connect so if for any reason my network becomes compromised it is its own separate entity.

 

Summery.

 

Did I go overkill? Hell ya. Was it fun? I had the most fun on my pc in years! And I learnt a ton to boot, I know I will never be 100% safe but I hope it’s secure enough that anyone that looks just rolls their eyes and moves on.  At the end of the day everything is automated, setup to work easily with no impact and in fact has made general use of my PC easier in a lot of ways. Everything is backed up so if something fails I just reinstall and am good to go. After paying for all the programs it cost about the same as a newly released game!

 

As a last note just in case anyone was thinking what about my modem, I now have it set to not broadcast the wifi name, a much better password and in general set more stringent security settings with forwarding ports for games.

[JerkyMcDilerino]

I wanted to share the fun ride I’ve been on over the last day or so. I have been a Linustechtips fan and viewer for almost a year now, and while I certainly have always loved computers he has reinvigorated my passion. This is a big post and is meant to be read for fun so don't feel obligated! 

 

It all started about a week ago when an online friend lost his steam account. Thousands of dollars gone it seemed, lucky it looks like he is getting it back. I realized however how sloppy I had become, same passwords (although not for my email), somewhat obvious secret questions… I decided to fix it. I watched Luke’s video on security and that got me started. I set myself a game plan. Firstly, I recognized my laziness. When signing up to a new site I tend to want to quickly just sign up and move on. Secondly It had to be easy to use without compromising. Lastly I wanted multiple fail safes so if one method failed I would have means to get back into accounts i.e. losing a password.

 

I have always used just one email account. I quickly came to the conclusion that even if I beef up my end I am trusting the sites I sign up too to have a robust security system, so one email became three. The first is used for general sign up to social sites and anything that doesn’t store sensitive information like card details. The second is used for important things like sites with details and payments, or accounts I don’t want to lose and can trust the website. The last Email is to hardly ever be used only associated with what I deem extremely important, bank, steam etc. (I have a forth email for private use, jobs, friends this is not used to sign up to anything under any circumstance)

 

Down to business…

 

I scanned my Desktop for any nasty viruses and whatnot (I had only reformatted days ago), then I downloaded KeePass (secure password management) and set about one site at a time changing my password to a secure one, removing any stored information for that site from chrome and making sure keepass can login automatically. I currently use a long password to sign into Keepass every boot but have a Yubikey on the way, to automate it and keep it secure… As I said, I’m lazy.

 

I have installed a third party firewall for more control called GlassWire, it’s easy to use, and frankly has one of the best interfaces I have seen. Its setup to allow things like steam access and certain windows processes but will prompt me if anything suss goes on, I can set and forget which is great! I also have a few plugins running in chrome now that help keep nasty trackers away and in general help keeps it more secure such as "HTTPS everywhere" and "Privacy Badger" (manages trackers).

 

On top of this I am using a program called WinAuth that has all the Mobile authenticators in one location, its encrypted and uses a special way to draw each code onto the UI so no one can get to it that way, it supports Yubikey and also you can export an encrypted file that basically backs up the versions you use so no matter what happens all you need to do is re-download and import to get back into accounts. I have it setup to boot with windows and inject the codes automatically. With this and Keepass all I have to do is start the program, say steam, and hit my shortcut and it will put all the codes (and username) in automatically!

 

With passwords secure, 2 step passwords set up I needed a way to browse the net freely as my desktop now will only be used for a few trusted sites and my second email.

 

I had an old nuc lying around so its connected to a second screen and I am using software called Synergy to use the same mouse and keyboard for both machines, it works just like having 2 screens with edge detect and I also have shortcuts to switch while full-screen in games. I have setup a VPN for the nuc as I will be going on all sorts of sites and will be used to control my first email. This is my general browsing computer whether going to a funny site or trying to google a guide for a game. I also use keePass to store passwords on this automatically as frankly it’s so easy to use and I like it more than chrome.

 

The last step.

 

With everything set, my emails in place I had one last step. I had a spare somewhat cheap mobile phone, I factory reset it… loaded it up with a cheap 12-month prepaid deal/sim and loaded the VPN onto it (the one I use supports mobile devices also and is part of the bundle). This will be hardly ever used. This is simply to gain access to my third email that is used for critical things like bank and steam, while also serving as a recovery method for my second account (its linked as a security method). The first account is not tied to anything as it is the most likely to be compromised but does have my land-line as a security feature (as well as all others). With this I also backed up my keepass data base to 3 different branded USB thumb drives so in the event of a catastrophic PC failure I can still get to my accounts afterwards. The password to my third and most important email is not written down anywhere, nor does it use some crazy generated password while also not being tied to my modem (hence me getting a new sim for data).

 

Summery.

 

Did I go overkill? Hell ya. Was it fun? I had the most fun on my pc in years! And I learnt a ton to boot, I know I will never be 100% safe but I hope it’s secure enough that anyone that looks just rolls their eyes and moves on.  At the end of the day everything is automated, setup to work easily with no impact and in fact has made general use of my PC easier in a lot of ways. Everything is backed up so if something fails I just reinstall and am good to go.

 

As a last note just in case anyone was thinking about my modem, I now have it set to not broadcast the wifi name, a much better password and in general set more stringent security settings with forwarding ports for games.

May i ask what is your security setup? 

[Not_Jamie]

May i ask what is your security setup? 

 

 

So i use windows defender along with Malwarebytes premium. As well as GlassWire which has great features such as being able to scan any process that is currently connected, a block all panic button, usage monitor as well as being able to control what can connect on my network and will alert me of any new connections. This combined with what I have done above should provide sufficient protection.