NET-180 Week 5: Internet Security

This week I learned more about some of the things that can be done to secure two fairly common browsers, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.  Turning on the options to protect against dangerous sites if these options are not already on is a good choice.  I also was reminded about private browsing features, which can come in handy if you don't want to reveal what gifts you just ordered for a family member on a shared computer, for example.  Private browsing prevents history and cookies from being kept permanently on your computer.  If you want to keep your Internet Service Provider (ISP) from knowing which websites you visit (which they can sell to advertisers), you'll have to use a VPN. Using a VPN is especially advisable if AT&T or Verizon is your ISP, since both of them are particularly known for snooping on this information.  HTTPS is very helpful for protecting your data, but your ISP (and DNS provider) can still find out which servers you're getting content from by examining the IP addresses your computer connects to, since they can literally man-in-the-middle your traffic.  I've never seen taken an online entertainment quiz that asked me the name of my pets, or any other fill-in-the blank questions along those lines, so I am happy that I am fortunate enough to avoid this particular kind of phishing.  Fill in the blank questions on entertainment quizzes are also not so useful for some type of poll or similar questionnaire anyway (such as which character form [insert story/franchise name here] are you most like?).  Using alternative, secret answers to security questions that may have nothing to do with the questions themselves is an option if you think it is likely that someone is trying to discover the answers to your particular security questions.

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