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Protect Your Privates! Stop Surfing Naked.

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• Created on Friday, 28 May 2010 12:00

From nosey employers to identity theft, here are a couple more (FREE & SIMPLE) things you can do to help keep your information safe and private. The following are not complete solutions and do not protect everything you do on your computer, they are merely a couple more layers of protection that are powerful and simple to use. I recommend adding these two soldiers to your troop.

Google Introduces SSL Search
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, this is an end-to-end encryption which helps to protect the information that you send over the internet from being intercepted by a third party. Google's new SSL search is still in beta but is a good practice to begin using. If you are not already using the "Always use https" Browser Connection in your Gmail, you just might want to change that too. Here is the Google link that explains how: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=74765

The skim on Google SSL
Using Google SSL provides a layer of protection between your computer and Google. This only protects the search terms that you input. The keystrokes that you use to search will be encrypted to avoid interception by third parties such as employers and ISPs (Internet Service Providers - ie. Comcast, AT&T, etc.).

Using Google SSL will only encrypt searches. At this time, other Google features (maps, images, etc.) are not supported. This also means that once you click a link, unless you are taken to another https address, your information is no longer encrypted.

How do you do it? Just use https://www.google.com when you search!

Learn more about Google SSL Search here: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=173733&hl=en

MMM! Scrambled Key Strokes!
Another easy way to help protect your input is KeyScrambler Personal. It is a free plug-in for your Web browser that protects everything you type from keyloggers. Basically it encrypts everything that you type on your keyboard then decrypts it on your screen so anything logged on your computer that is potentially sent back to keyloggers will be an encrypted jumbled mess. KeyScrambler Personal protects you during: online shopping & Web email; credit cards, addresses, Yahoo mail, hotmail, gmail and more; Java, Flash, & Browser Dialogs, browser master passwords, and more. QFX offers a Professional and Premium version for a fee if you want even more information protected.

From QFX Software:

It defeats keyloggers by encrypting your keystrokes at the keyboard driver level, deep within the operating system. When the encrypted keystrokes reach your browser, KeyScrambler then decrypts them so you see exactly the keys you've typed. Keyloggers can only record the encrypted keys, which are completely indecipherable. Unlike anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that depend on recognition to remove keyloggers that they know about, KeyScrambler will protect you from both known and unknown keyloggers. What's more, KeyScrambler provides protection without getting in your way. You don't have anything to learn about the program and you don't have to do anything differently, but with KeyScrambler your important personal information will be a whole lot safer.

You can download KeyScrambler Personal for FREE from the QFX Software website here:
 http://www.qfxsoftware.com/download.htm