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@tomturbomatic I'm in the UK but none the less I take privacy very seriously like yourself. Would be interested to know which email provider you use and what computer. Do you use Chrome book or Windows or are you an Apple user?
 
And we end users have been and always will be at a disadvantage. We have limited time, skills, energy, etc. to devote to keeping our info private, while those trying to obtain it are more likely than not PAID to do so and have both more skills and more resources. Have I missed something there?

As I understand the situation, whom you're 'talking' with online and the content of your conversation are two totally separate things. What safeguards one should not be implied to safeguard the other. Do I have that right?

I have read many times that using TOR is sort of like announcing that you're hiding something. I have NOT read that at all about VPN's. Any idea as to why?

The picture I get from what I've read is that the best the average user can do is to make his online information require more time and energy to cull, given that there's rarely a live person zero-ing in one person's internet activity at a time. It's usually automated. Sort of like putting a Club on your steering wheel. It doesn't actually stop a thief, but it DOES increase the chances of the thief moving on to another car as breaking The Club requires additional time and energy. Have I got that right?

In terms of what the average guy (like me) can do, a few starters are:

- Use something other than Windows. A non-Windows OS requires more man-hours of live people per computer hacked.

- Use an e-mail whose servers are not in the U.S.

- Use a lesser-known browser.

I.e., you can't actually make your data more secure, but you CAN increase the number of hoops a given data slurper must jump through to get it.

Corrections, please.

Thanks,

Jim
 
That's an excellent question. My understanding is that Apple and Linux systems are marginally more secure than Windows, but that's not where the actual security comes from. It's from economies of scale.

Let's say (for easy numbers) Apple in on 20% of home computers and Linux is on 10% of home computers in the U.S. Windows is the other 70%. If it takes 100 man-hours to create some sort of malware, that malware is usable to attack 700 out of 1000 computers if you design your malware to attack windows systems. Whereas if you design your malware to go after Apple, you can only attack 200 and 100 if you design it to work against Linux. Which operating system does it make more sense to attack?

Since there is a small but measurable difference in the inherent security of the systems, I'd guess the actual man-hours required in my example for Apple and Linux malware would be more like 110. A small difference, but it is there.

But there's much more involved. Apple does a fairly good job of making sure anything that is available on their products meets their standards. So the question becomes: How much do you trust Apple?

With Linux the oversight is from a large community of people. Linux is "open source" meaning that literally anyone and everyone has full access to most everything. This means that someone up to no good is much more likely to have his misdeeds spotted and broadcast by other hackers and geeks rather more quickly than if the same were to happen to Windows or Apple. Also, there are specific varieties of Linux (called 'flavors') whose owners have tons of money invested in their unique flavors. They tend to move EXTREMELY quickly when any kind of problem is discovered.
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Android (Google) is another kettle of fish. Historically, Google has done a very, very poor job of vetting apps that are allowed onto its devices. That has changed somewhat in the past year or so. From what I've read Google has become more strict.For example, why would a keyboard need access to your location? It doesn't. Previously a keyboard could do that without telling you. NOW, the maker of the keyboard has to provide at least a token explanation to Google why it needs access to your location AND must specifically ask you for permission in plain English to do so.

The thing with Google is that Google sells advertising based on what you do. The danger is more alack of privacy from 'Big Data'. On the flip side Google has become more up front about it and has opened up more ways for you to keep track of what data you do or do not share. That takes time and energy. And again, we're back to trust: How much do you trust Google to not access your location when you have your GPS set to 'off'?

And all of the above is a HUGE oversimplification. I'm sure I've got a few things wrong and the wizards here will correct them and provide better examples.

Jim
 
No OS is safe unless you know what you're doing, and even then there's plenty of bugs. Heck, the Intel hardware is bugged - look up AMT at some point. That said, there's a few differences. Google Android and Windows (10 anyway) are basically designed to spy on you and report directly to the vendor, Google or Microsoft respectively. Apple - who knows. Right now they claim they respect privacy, but you'll just have to trust them. I think they're marginally better than the others, but really you have to go FLOSS (i.e. Linux, BSD, etc) to have some chance of control of the OS. Then there's the VPN aspect. Google "that vpn guy" for a big spreadsheet of what can be gleaned from commercial vendors. Even then realize you can "thwart" your ISP and Google or Microsoft to some extent by using VPN and not using their OSs, but if you then go and use their services like GMail or Outlook.com, they know everything you do there.

I don't think you can realistically thwart the government via technology - that's a political / legal battle. And good luck. Don't break a law the NSA or CIA is going to care about and you're probably fine. The bigger issue is things like the WikiLeaks Vault 7 where the tools get released to everyone including the cyber criminals. Have lots of backups ...
 
On a side note

My firm's server has been attacked by ransomeware about a week and a half ago. What an absolute nightmare.

It cost us about a week in down time and a lot of money to have the machine fixed, modifications done to the server and other machines to try and prevent such an attack from happening again.

And now I have read that there is a major bug out that will try to get a hold of your machine's information. This is really terrible and I just hope that it does not happen again.

So to evereybody out there take every precautionary measure you can to protect your investment and machines.

Regards
 
I use Linux (Ubuntu, to be exact) and I can tell you that no major skill is required to install and use it problem free for research, e-mail, etc.

But here's an example of what IS a problem:

I'm assembling a calendar of weekend events with an eye toward sharing it with friends. If I use Google Calendar I can send event info from the website to the calendar with just a few clicks. With every other calendar I've tried to use it is immeasurably more complicated. I get asked multiple questions I've no way to answer. I've spent hours I really don't have trying to assemble this calendar without using the data slurpers. I've gotten nowhere.

IMO, a major reason Google is taking over is the same that Windows XP was so successful: It just works. People may want to avoid google and microsoft, but the desire to do so and the willingness to do the necessary work does not make the required resources magically appear. Google and Microsoft have figured this out:-(
 

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