There are some things that are not really security risk, just plain annoying Things like windows that pop-up when you enter or leave a site, java scripts that put you back onto a page when you try to leave it. One that is quite harmless, except to the company putting up the page is frames that are made to fit some particular size and text font (which font you may not even have) and won't let you scroll over to see the rest of the page. You will also sometimes find yourself being followed around by frames from a previous site. All these can combine to make the "browsing experience" less than pleasant.
HTML Filters
These are useful for those who want to filter out more than just cookies. Such as advertising banners. They let you control particular sites, cookies, certain types of access to the computer, some even let you ban pop-up windows.
- Junkbuster
- I use this one myself - you can program it to accept/reject cookies from certain sites, and to block certain sites completely (such as advertising sites). I've also found it pretty interesting to turn on the debug feature and watch what sites are trying to send.This is a Dos program. Being a bit of a techie helps, but it can be comprehended by most who are likely to download it. It's really wonderful for filtering out the annoying bouncy ad banners. Won't handle frames and pop-ups, but takes very little memory to run, so if you are short of memory, try it!
- Proxomitron
- Get the web-surfing experience that you want. Filters out ad banners, cookies, pop-up windows and darn near anything else - and you can specify places to allow these things from. And it's free! I'm trying this one, just found it recently - will update after I've used it for a while. You can also customize how things look.
Surf Anonymously
For those who are seriously concerned with privacy. Anonymizer programs are likely to be overkill for the average person on the web. I don't use them, so I've no real review or comments, these are just for those people who really need anonymity. (The President in a chat room with a young intern, for instance) I've links here, some programs to make you anonymous, some utilities to test how anonymous you are not. I've tried the tests. Even though running a firewall, there's a lot of information they pick up!
- Analyzer
- A program from privacy.net shows you the information your browser reveals. Can be a bit scary!
- BrowsInfo.
- Find out what they know about you. Another program showing what your browser tells people. Likewise a bit scary.
- Freedom
- Freedom lets you create untraceable online identities called pseudonyms ("nyms") that take advantage of powerful cryptography. It also uses a series of privacy-enhancing detours called the Freedom Network. Your identity, your location, and your message recipients are all protected from prying eyes. $49.95
- The Anonymizer
- Free but slow interface, or a pay interface - much faster and now even have dial-up anonymity.
- ProxyMate
- ProxyMate is a new service that enables Internet consumers to protect their privacy while they use the personalization capabilities of web sites - essentially a proxy-server with some interesting add-ons. Seems pretty clever. Presently free, and private except to them.
- The Cloak
- Free semi-anonymous web-surfing. They can see you, but others cannot.
- Rewebber
- Another anonymizer - pricing depends on level of anonymity.
- IDzap
- Free or pay semi-anonymous surfing and web hosting.
- Aixs.
- Provides free anonymous browsing.
Password Generators
One of the biggest mistakes people make is to use common words or names for their passwords. Just one word on this. DON'T! If you must use words, use some combination with numbers, like pizza53. Random passwords are best. Changing them once in a while is also a good thing. Don't use programs that save your passwords and personal data and enter them for you. I know it's a pain to type it all in, if you can't stand that, type it in a password-protected word processor/spreadsheet file, and name the file something really boring. Then open it when you need it and cut and paste.
- PW-Gen
- Random password generator online. Quite handy - though I get the same general effect by leaning on the keyboard then cut-n-pasting some characters out of the resulting mess. zpwn8jn033m7wpm1ke9zqjdl504zcv, if you get the idea?
PC Firewalls and other anti-script-kiddie programs
- BlackICE Defender
- Watches for attacks on your system - can be set to different security levels. Will block an attacker's IP address when it catches one. Is quite useful for anyone who is online a lot. Even more so for someone trying to trace attackers, since it records the address. $39.95
- ZoneAlarm
- Firewall program - presently the best free personal proxy out there This is the one I use. I originally thought that most people don't really need them (why would a script kiddie want to bother?). I found I was wrong. I'm no-one important, or very interesting, but in the fourth hour I had this up and running, someone from Korea tried one of the most commonly used ports for back-door programs, and 3 attempts to ping me, from sites I hadn't visited and had nothing to do with. Since then I've had numerous port probes. So, I've revised my comments. This one also blocks programs that want to send info out of your computer. It is very easy to use. Free download and free for personal use. Absolutely excellent!
- . Opt Out
- Some programs insert spies into your computer system - not only is this unethical, but it's very buggy, and prone to causing crashes. This gent has a nice page of info, and a little program called Opt-Out to remove the spy from your system. It is presently freeware, and handles only the Aureate spy, but will be upgraded (and pay, unfortunately, but I can see his point) by July 1 to handle all known spyware. From that point it will be upgraded (and purchasers will be able to upgrade free) each time a new spy is found. Ive got the freeware version, and fully intend to get the payware, assuming it is reasonably priced (will update when I know the price!). Windows only at present, but so is most of the spyware.
- Shields Up General info site.
- Yes - this is from the same main site as the above Opt-Out program. No, this company is not paying me, the guy there is just very good! I used their premier program, Spin-Rite, back in the good old DOS days (it is a hard-drive recovery program, not Internet security, so not linked here). This is a very good site, explaining some of the less-known Windows insecurities, and how to fix them. There is also a program you can run from his page that will tell you how secure you are, (you may be surprised!), along with recommendations (easily followed) on how to fix the problem. Finding out how much your browser lets people know can be a bit scary.
- BrowserSpy page
- Another scary one - lets you know quite a bit about what you are running - and one of the reasons I often surf with Java and javascript off and always surf with Direct X off in MSIE. Try their programs - let them tell you all about yourself.