The 10 Most Dangerous Things Users Do Online

General Topics
1

If your end users only knew how much damage they could cause when they - well, maybe you should send them this article
http://www.darkreading.com/security/perimeter/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=208808175

2

A link everyone should read … especially new computer owners.

Thanks, Pondus. :slight_smile:

3

Number 9 and 10 are why I don’t use the same username even in forums. Also, it’s not recommended to give away personal information expecting the others do the same…you may find yourself as sheep in wolves since web is accessible by anyone. If you wouldn’t like tell a lie, it’s good to be silent. Not even using national flag may appear paranoia but I’m simply following a simple security policy.

4
Number 9 and 10 are why I don't use the same username even in forums
That pretty much depends on what type of forum it is and what your role on that forum is. It also depends on the type of attitude you want to portray on that forum. If you've got nothing to hide, what's the difference if your recognized as someone who also frequents other forums ???
5

+1

I use the same user name and details on malwarebytes forum, noscript forum… etcetera.

6

Two dumb things I do online sometimes are:

  1. Clicking links to sites that are reported to be infected. (I never got infected.)

Recently I heard on the radio that visiting hxxp://www.americanpolicegroup.com/index.html I would get a virus. I didn’t get any infection. Maybe the site was fixed.

  1. I do use public WIFI & sometimes login to my accounts.

I guess I like to test my security programs resolve. ::slight_smile:

7
8

Rumpel,
I don’t understand the reason or point of your last post?

You didn’t answer any of the quotes you posted.

9

Although the article is a bit dated – over three years old – it still contains much useful information, especially useful to IT managers that may still not appreciate that users will do everything they can to get their jobs done, and corporate security shouldn’t depend on “educating users”. Dumb idea #5. Also fascinating reading: (1.7MB pdf) Security Usability Fundamentals.

The article seems to say that using the same username and password makes you more vulnerable, i.e. if your password is compromised somehow on one forum, then it’s “game over” on all the other forums too. Most of this info seems to be directed at corporate users and admins. What if a person used the login credentials for a social networking site or forum on a remote login to a work computer? Not a good idea!

That said, I’ve got plenty of personal information to hide, but not my name. I’m uncomfortable using an alias, especially different ones in different contexts. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the 50’s. It also helps keep me honest and careful while I’m online. Anything I say can and will be used against me! (But I hope most of it works for me and others in the long run.)

10
The article seems to say that using the same username and password makes you more vulnerable, i.e. if your password is compromised somehow on one forum, then it's "game over" on all the other forums too.
They happen to be wrong. Nothing wrong in using the same username. [b]What you shouldn't do is use the same password[/b] on all forums, email accounts, etc.
11

The username-password thing seems to be the one most of us are “guilty” of, or at least most interested in discussing. But for the average home user it’s a classic case of finding a balance between security and ease of use – we’re (with a few exceptions, of course) not working in a corporate-network environment, which as others have pointed out is definitely the context of the article.

I’ve used the same username and password everywhere for years, with minor variations. At one time we had concerns about our daughter’s boyfriend, and at that time I made just one change for a few months, the one to log into my ISP. I figgered if he (and she) couldn’t get online from my computer in the first place, I didn’t need to worry about passwords elsewhere.

Oh, and in places that I’ve joined much more recently than here at avast, I use “MikeB-Cda” rather than “MikeBCda” simply because so many people misread the “BC” part and assumed I was out west, despite my references to southern Ontario.

I agree with a great deal of what Alan Baxter says – I dislike the concept of having umpteen different aliases rather than being one person.

12

From my point of view, you have missed my answer: You appear to think only forum members who post frequently can read what you write, which is clearly not true…anything you write on the web page can be read by anyone. The information you write in your profile can, too, be read by anyone who registered to the forum. In number 10 of the article, it is pointed out that there are people who use these “tools” for gathering information. Can you remember everything you write in different forums and are you sure that they are safe even in hands of ill-intended people, who may happen to be good at collecting these pieces of information? As concrete examples are given by some other people, I don’t think I need to come up with another.

13

I guess there are different levels of paranoia. ;D