Tips for Windows Vista™ & Windows XP™
Security- Safety and Privacy on the Internet
Advice:
Be aware that most of historical data can be easily retrieved,
if preventative measures are not taken. Uncovering seemly harmless traces
of form input, browsing and e-mail activity can have legal, personal and
employment/employer consequences. This information is becoming the prime
target of e-vaders and anyone
that may have bad intentions that has access to your computer, even other
Users on your own local or wide area network.
Tips:
Auto-Complete-
Turn off- Prime target for e-vaders.
Auto complete allows your browser while surfing the internet to record
many things about what you type into a web site form, subscription and
user profile to obtain a user name and password. For example, information
is recorded is to make it easier to for you to place an order on-line
on future occasions, such as your name, address, passwords, etc. Many
programs will ask if you want their systems to remember you, most do
not bother to ask.
To prevent AutoComplete from retaining your personal information, open
your browser (most have an auto complete feature). For Internet Explorer
go to the Tools menu, click Internet Options, then the Content tab. Under
Personal information, click AutoComplete. These are your settings for
Web Address, Forms, User Name & Password. We suggest un-checking
all boxes. This action will help to prevent your system from divulging
your personal information to an intruder.
Make sure you know what your important "Forms & Passwords" information
are before you press under AutoComplete History- Clear Forms & Clear
Passwords. Yes, this means you will have to type in the information back
in when accessing certain sites but the extra time is worth it to protect
your historical information.
The unfortunate part is you can not be selective. Each browser you use
must be changed including your different user id's. As an alternative,
decide on only one id and browser to use for all purchases to minimize
your risk.
There is software available to do this task consistently & automatically.
In addition, it wipes your files clean using selectable levels of data
destruction. We use the maximum strength & have not experienced a
problem (Schneier- seven pass overwriting). See further details below
on overwriting.
Cache
(Temporary Files):
When a web page is requested and delivered to your browser, the images
and documents associated with the web page are saved in a temporary
Internet file or cache so that the next time they are requested; they
are accessed from your computer and not over the web (unless a change
has occurred). You can clear this cache in manually- Tips: Clear-
Cache.
Cookies:
A cookie is
a small message of text stored on your computer. The main purpose of
cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized Web pages
for them. When you enter a Web site using cookies, you may be asked
to fill out a form providing such information as your name and interests.
This information is packaged into a cookie and sent to your Web browser,
which stores it for later use. The next time you go to the same Web
site, your browser will send the cookie to the Web server. The server
can use this information to present you with custom Web pages. So,
for example, instead of seeing just a generic welcome page you might
see a welcome page with your name on it. For more details on cookies-
see Cookies-
Foe?
Clipboard
Data:
After you finish using programs or performing copy/paste operations
in Windows, all kinds of data can be left behind in the system's memory.
Other programs and other users can obtain this data. The best way to
clear this information from RAM memory is to shut your computer completely
off and wait a minute to re-start.
Deletion
Overwrite - Number of Times:
This is the number of times a data destruction application will overwrite
a particular file on the hard drive. There are several Department of
Defense (DoD) and non-governmental standards-" in what should be" the
optimum number of times for overwriting. In most cases, a 1 pass overwrite
clears the file and a 3 pass overwrite sanitizes the file. We recommend
at least seven passes for the comprehensive removal. Though more passes,
the longer the running time. Maximum strength is Gutmann's 35 passes
which is extremely reliable. Many data destruction programs do not allow
you to select your own settings. Do not settle for a software package
that does not give you control over speed and strength.
File Slack Space: Symptom- Hard drive is slowing down & wasting
my time.
A file with "slack space" refers to the unused portion of a
cluster on a hard drive that a file is stored on. This caused by doing
a lot of web surfing since thousands of small files accumulate to fragment
your drive(s). The more slack space, the slower the drive will perform.
You should use the Windows disk cleaner-first then de fragment- second
under Start> Accessories> System tools. Use them on a frequent
basis to re-organize these files and those created by new software installs & other
left behind by un-installs.
Filling your drives above 50% of their capacity causes major slow downs.
Get rid of programs and files you no longer use. Since the Windows programs
dose not permanently erase old files, look for a destruction
program that fine tunes your hard drive automatically and
permanently erases them.
Index.dat
Files:
There are multiple Index.dat files in different directories that organize & leave
a trace of whatever is in their respective folder(s). These files continue
to grow retaining records, even after you have deleted the contents of
those folders. These files can be very hard to find and caution should
be exercised before you erase them. If you are in Windows, even with "Show
hidden files and folders" enabled, these files are not visible and
cannot be found if you do a search for those files. The reason that these
files are so invisible is that they are not just hidden, they have been
designated as "system" files. System files and folders are
treated differently in DOS and Windows and are effectively cloaked from
casual searches.
You can find more info on the innner working of Internet Explore 7 and Internet Explorer 8.
To see more on Terms- click on 
