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Just How Paranoid Are You?
An anonymous reader writes "We all understand the need for security in a corporate environment. Personal computers, however, typically don't have nearly the amount of sensitive information (or it's at least less damaging if found). How far do you go to protect your computer? I recently went overboard on securing my information (at least as secure as Windows XP can be). I have a hardware firewall (GTA GB500), 30 character password, and all remotely personal information stored on a 256bit AES encrypted volume. How far do you go to protect your information against 'Big Brother' or even your family/friends?"
Like I'm going to discuss that here on Slashdot! You know who might be reading.
I have OpenBSD on my firewall and main work machine. Encrypted partitions too. GPG everything. My Windows 2000 game machine is locked tight and on a DMZ without IE being used. My monitor is wrapped in tinfoil, naturally, with a small cutout just large enough to have a 640x480 window viewable. I wrapped my mouse in tinfoil but that made it hard to use so I cut a hole in the bottom which allowed the light to hit the desk surface. Problem there was the desk was wrapped in tinfoil, too. So I made my own mousepad because I don't trust the ones made by The Man. It's made from a dead rabbit I found on the street. I flattened it out and dehydrated it. When I need a random number I pinch some fur and pull. however many strands of fur I get in that pull is the random number I use. Of course I need a new mousepad every few weeks as I never reuse the same tuft of fur twice. Never trust the PRNG in any OS, even OpenBSD. Theo is watching. Speaking of that, the other day I was installing OpenBSD 3.6 on a new machine and then I realized... CDs are a form of RFID tag. The unique bit patterns on them can be detected from space. So I wrap my CDs in tinfoil when not in use. Speaking of tinfoil, I find it best to buy the cheapest stuff from dollar stores. They don't usually use the UPC barcoding at those places. Just "$1.. $1.. $1..". Barcode readers don't use OpenBSD but I think Theo is trying to get in there. Speaking of barcodes, the other day I pulled a package of gum from my pocket and the person I was with said "Ohh... Spearmint!" I ran away. He obviously has a remote UPC scanner and knew that I had spearmint gum. He says the wrapper was in plain site but I think that's just an excuse.
Trolling is a art,
After all, doesn't everyone have my best interests at heart? Why, just the other day, a nice Nigerian man sent me an e-mail about a wonderful offer, and I don't even know him!
Hellooooo, Mr. Government Man!
Don't be a looter...and yes, I know that it's spelled with an "A" instead of an "E".
I run only knoppix Live CD, and I incinerate my RAM after I am done just to be sure there's nothing left on that RamDisk. Kingston loves me now!
Thanks for letting us know you have a 30 character password. That'll be much easier to crack than having to deal with 1 - 29 and 31 - infinity length password.
-- There is no sig line, only Zuul.
I keep a bunch of nerds surrounding my house for security. I feed them doritos and keep them motivated by issuing fake Duke Nukem Forever press releases. When I see them becoming too docile, I toss Windows Magazine at them to get them all riled up.
I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.
Who wants to know?
Oh, yeah......and I DO pay attention to my logs, so that dude at 67.13X.XXX.XX in Vancouver Washington who linked to my machine from Slashdot just now and is trying to get access, I am watching you as we speak . A little more work and I can have your GPS coordinates too. :-)
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
Never thought of effecting security by relocating my home server to the no-man's-land in the middle of the Korean peninsula. I think you may be on to something. No one would ever think to check there!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I pile my old computer hardware into a wall around the house, and from time to time pour gasoline and light it on fire. A hadware firewall. The neighbors don't appreciate it, but it gives me a lot of security
Turns out bad sex is better than no sex. I'll have to be more grateful for what I get with the next girlfriend.
Anyone without a strong root password is likely to have a strong root password provided for them by an "outside consultant". :-)
Life is short: void the warranty.
My password's set to my dog's name.
My dog's name is currently 4$ter*Zf1, but I change it every 90 days.
bp
30 character password
... [later:] bamm, fracking puter lands on the sidewalk.
Now, that;s not paranoid, just plain stupid. Just imagine, early in the morning, quickly checking mail before tumbling out the door going to work, and I mistype 1 character: bamm, type again, mistype 1 character again: bamm, type again,
Why would someone do such a thing to oneself, being sane to a very minimal extent ? Buy a darn iris scanner, or fingerprint authentication stuff, whatever floats your boat. But 30 chars to type just to get into your spyware-house ? Get a life.
Regarding the main question, i.e. being paranoid: one can efficiently and effectively protect even a Windows PC without becoming, well, posessed.
I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
So I have a dual homed laptop that is doing nothing but NAT, port filtering and routing using IPTables under linux. Is that a hardware or a software firewall?
09F911029D74E35BD84156C5635688C0
Jesus loves you, I think you suck
Finally, someone explains what .NET is supposed to do.
~Idarubicin