What are /r/Cybersecurity101's favorite Products & Services?

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You're fine.

If they were targeting you for infection they would have likely sent a link. If image based malware via SMS was happening it would be a lot more rampant or used on someone of importance. No one would burn that kind of exploit on some random person and risk Google patching it.

If you're still worried about it run it through Joe's Sandbox https://www.joesandbox.com/#android

My job requires the same, and even with the familiar hotel names, security varies location to location. I ALWAYS use a VPN. It's a bit annoying when they make you re-auth to wifi to disable, re-auth, that's minor. I've used ProtonVPN some, but I also have a VPS with a VPN on it. Raspi back home + dynamic dns + ddclient would also work.

This is pretty much the ideal use case of one of the common VPN companies that advertise on YouTube and podcasts. You can just pick one with a discount code for content creators you like. If you want a recommendation from me: IVPN or PIA.

GL.iNet GL-AR750S-Ext (Slate) Gigabit Travel AC VPN Router, 300Mbps(2.4G)+433Mbps(5G) Wi-Fi, 128MB RAM, MicroSD Support, OpenWrt/LEDE pre-Installed, Cloudflare DNS https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GBXMBQF/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_g_GGFPB0NK0XH0RWKRZT3H

You could order that, follow an online tutorial about getting it setup with its own VPN and you'll be safe.

Your devices ---> mini WiFi router with VPN ---> hotel WiFi.

If you’re afraid for your life and well being, then you need to call the police and file a report.

If you want to get out of what you’re experiencing you maybe need to follow extreme privacy guidelines and disconnect completely and look at alternative locations to live.

If you’re interested there is a good book by Michael Bazzell from inteltechniques.com called Extreme Privacy, what it takes to disappear in America which will give you a bunch of helpful tips and guidance to get you to safety.

It's incredibly daunting to change ALL of your passwords in one go. I suggest changing your major ones-- bank login(s), email account(s), social media, online retail-- when you first get your password manager set up so that you don't have to worry about them. After that, change, update, and input as you go for any and everything else. I'd say check out some other password managers and choose the one you like most, trust and confidence in your password manager is important as you're handing the keys to the kingdom to it. Personally I use 1Password but have heard good things about most of them. This site will help you get started with your search.

You can use Microsoft Bitlocker to encrypt your drives without a TPM but there are some caveats with it. Here's their FAQ on it: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/bitlocker/bitlocker-overview-and-requirements-faq

A tip I learned that has helped a lot is to combine your search with "open source". It makes a lot of sense when you think about it, what open source calorie tracker for example is going to need to send your data off to a server? Downside of course is data is local so you need to handle backups yourself.

Here's an Android app for calorie tracking. Source code here. The only thing that sticks out to me is it hasn't been updated in about 6 years but hey it apparently has no networking at all so it probably doesn't need a lot of updates for something so simple.

The other thing I check is permissions and question why it needs each of those. For example why does the My Fitness Pal calorie counter need to know my contacts, location, my camera, and my network connections? That seems like a lot of overkill for something that tells me I ate too many cookies.

I’d add to this, suggesting you also want to block ads/trackers/malware. If you use a free VPN proton is wise because of it being open source. Paid I’d use Mullvad. Works with their DNS filters or lets you use your own, leak free and a very good track record.

Use a reliable password manager

Use different passwords for every site

Use long complex passwords

Change passwords every 90 days

Sure up your critical access first, bank, phone account (eg icloud), gov access

Put a strong password on your modem

Use a reliable trustworthy VPN with no logging (lots of guys here say Mullvad)

Also prudent to have dummy email for your main public facing email and use different ones for accessing your personal sites

Use a service like hide my email (apple) or firefox relay or duckduckgo email relay

..umm thats a good start but there is plenty more you could do

thank you for this table! What strikes me is how NordVPN is so highly rated, when in the VPN subreddits, they are presented as a very obtrusive marketing company. One of things that turn people off is if you cancel your autorenew, your features like no-log policy or selling data are automatically turned off.

I can see incoming traffic in Comodo and PortMaster on Windows

Browser was open in background

> If so, it should show the process the connections are coming into, are they coming in via ProtonVPN?

It is only when it is a reply to a outgoing traffics it is related to a process. Incoming is being blocked.

How to see which process it is connecting to or which process is connecting to it.

How do hacker bypass router NAT?

How did you notice the scanning? Are you using some sort of firewall app like GlassWire? If so, it should show the process the connections are coming into, are they coming in via ProtonVPN?

Is ProtonVPN the only application you have running? No browser open?

This may be beyond a "101" question. As someone alluded to below, it sounds like what you want is to span the traffic (forward a copy of each incoming or outgoing packet) to some kind of network analysis system. I'm not sure what your budget is, or how comfortable you are working with technology, but you said non-netsec, so that limits your options.

One of the cheapest/easiest ways I can think of is with something like a pi-hole. The hardware is very cheap (just a raspberry pi), and the setup is pretty easy. This is made for ad-blocking, but if you are using it as your DNS server, it would also tell you what sites people in your house are visiting. That said, it's also pretty easy to circumvent by setting/resetting a different DNS server on the endpoint. This wouldn't tell you how much bandwidth they are using either.

You're kidding. I've never heard of this... I asked fraud agents for each of these banks if I could put a transaction limit on the card and they said no. They never mentioned privacy.com. I'll check it out thanks!

check out privacy.com or similar services. Also, I use Amex Bluebird and put the EXACT amount for each transaction each time. Any charge on the card for more is blocked by default.

I don’t know much about Bitdefender, but seeing as they are an antivirus software, I wouldn’t worry too much.

That leaves us with Hexnode. Now Hexnode is a UEM solution (or an MDM as that one is easier to look up) which means once enrolled, your organization has quite a bit of control over your device. However, seeing as they asked you to refrain from using Tor websites specifically, I am inclined to believe that they would be mainly using the software to block websites they deem unsafe from being accessed. (Yes, an MDM or UEM can block websites and even applications in the devices under their management.)

However, the software does not access files or media from your device. So, you needn’t be worried about your privacy being invaded; just being locked out of websites and applications the company doesn’t approve of. Though it is for a shorter period, if these restrictions seem too much to you, then I suggest that you not go through with it.

P.S: Make sure to remove the MDM profile from your device before you leave the company.

it's gud. surprised it's legal. i signed up for so many free trials on the same sites.

and not having to deal with trying to cancel recurring payments is incredible.

privacy.com has the ability to steal all your money, but, that's how the banking system works. you'd just dispute it. at least now it's only 1 company to worry about instead of countless.

I haven't looked at the others, but the BitWarden stuff is explained here and here.

Biometrics are only used to "unlock", you will always require a master password to "log in" because the log in process derives the encryption key.

Once logged in, the decryption key is stored in memory. The master password does not need to be stored. You use biometrics or pin codes to authenticate yourself, granting access to the use of the decryption key.

If communicating very sensitive information unfortunately it’s going to take some effort on the part of the people you’re exchanging with. PGP or OMEMO/XMPP are what you want.

I do know what you mean, XMPP can be a pain in the ass. Perhaps PGP could be easier? Use Thunderbird as your e-mail client. Once your plug your PGP information into Thunderbird it’s fairly painless.

Wickr Me is super simple to use, and can handle file transfers. It has mobile and desktop clients. People may have some arguments against it. I’d say it just depends on your threat model.

Hexnode is definitely meant for enterprise use cases where the prime motive is to ensure that the managed devices are productively utilized and aren’t mishandled. So, if it’s a corporate device, you better be cautious. Hexnode leaves no stone unturned in ensuring utmost security to corporate information/data. It provides strong security functionalities to ensure no data is prone to any kind of malware. There are specific access restrictions which once enrolled are enforced by your corporate admin.

On the contrary, if you are using your personal device/machine for work, you need not worry at all. Hexnode is a highly user-friendly solution that does not peek into your personal data by letting you place it in a secure container, separate from the proximity of your corporate concerns. Hexnode’s BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solution helps you accomplish this requirement. Be it Android or iOS, you can safely use your personal devices for corporate work without any hinderance to personal information. Both ways your personal data remains safe and untouched.

Gonna play devil's advocate here:

> rather use aliases created by https://simplelogin.io/ it is free opensource service, which allows you to create alias, so nobody will know your real email address.

• Except SimpleLogin now knows your email address and all your aliases.
  
• "Being Open Source" is misleading. They very clearly say on their website:

> all SimpleLogin components are also open-source.

(Emphasis is mine.) The components are open source which iis not the same as the whole program/service being open source.

You could click various parts of https://browserleaks.com/ to see what a site can get from your browser.

Some info varies by browser type, but generally I think they can't get list of open tabs, or email address. I think on Chrome they can get extension list, on others they can't ?

A browser "fingerprint" is the collection of data points which can identify a specific browser, exactly analogous to your actual fingerprint.

Each piece of information that makes up a fingerprint is not unique to you, but the combination of all the data points is usually unique enough to identify a specific user.

There is no "reset" of a browser fingerprint. Some of the things that make up a fingerprint aren't necessarily cheap to modify (e.g. monitor resolution). Some things can be changed to alter your fingerprint (e.g. installed fonts), although sometimes modifications will make you more identifiable instead of less. Other things are fairly easily modified, (e.g. window size, installed addons), but again you may end up making yourself more identifiable if you change these things haphazardly.

For an example of your fingerprint, you can use the EFFs "Cover Your Tracks" (formerly Panopticlick) https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/. This will show you what a website can see, and it provides you with some semblance of how unique your fingerprint is.

What they are used for depends on the person gathering the information. Mainly, fingerprinting is used to track users across separate domains without the use of supercookies.

Does the Netgear router management interface give you and level of detail? It might be able to give you data transfer by device and you might be able to spot the culprit that way.

If not and to level up the security of the network easiest thing to give best coverage would be to install a firewall.

As a CS student you likely have a spare computer or two around so look at installing pfsense on one and you’ll start getting logs out from there. You can then track where the data is heading or which devices are chatty.

Download the community edition from here https://www.pfsense.org/download/

r/pfsense

It is a very capable platform with many addins as well so you can get really into it if you wanted/needed.

There are other free ones out there and you could get into the realm of paid for services later but the free version of pfsense is really good. Plenty of guides and YouTube videos out there and support forum both here and on their website.

You could use a combination of good old duplicity (old, but effective. Uses gpg keys for encryption). Then use rClone for sending the locally backed up files to the cloud. Then you have a 3-2-1 backup strategy implemented.

It's actually a good thing the password to your router was changed from it's default, but I would bring it up to your room mate and agree on shared secure username and password that you both will know.

As for scanning your network traffic, anyone connected to your network can do that with a sniffer, but scanning isn't effective if the network traffic is encrypted. As long as you browse secure sites over HTTPS you should be fine. You mentioned you use NordVPN as well, so this would also encapsulate your traffic and give you good security even over an unsecured connection.

Baby monitors that don't go on the internet and just communicate between the camera <-> monitor will be best. I believe the best ones use a digital encryption scheme similar to the DECT used for cordless phones. They're most vulnerable during the pairing process; i.e. the one time initial setup when you link the camera to the monitor, if someone is eavesdropping then they could get an encryption key.

Here's the one I use and recommend: https://www.amazon.com/eufy-SpaceView-Pioneering-Generation-Wide-Angle/dp/B07GBP3GH9/

If your internet activity is traversing their network in any way, they have at least some visibility. At bare minimum, can see the sites you visit. This is pretty much entirely mitigated if you use a good VPN service though. There's plenty: Nord, Express, Proton (I use proton mail and vpn and buy the bundle), Mullvad, there's dozens. If you're on a budget, they often rotate sales and deals being offered so look for that. NEVER use free ones. Nothing is free and if a VPN is free, they're harvesting your data to sell and you're likely sacrificing more privacy than gaining.

I usually use ProtonVPN, I was using IPVanish too but and I cant see any settings about proxy servers or socks5 in any of this providers. Maybe I should use other software like Proxychains or ProxyCap to configure and set up socks5 with vpn?

I agree with pretty much everything you said, just FYI for the poster, an https connection means your connection in encrypted so people in the middle can't see what you're doing on websites, it's much more secure and most websites will have it. You can check to make sure by looking in the top left corner of your screen, on the left side of the address bar most browsers will have a padlock and will say "Not Secure" when using an http (bad) connection. The address will also start with https. Also, a good vpn to use when using public wifi is ProtonVPN, there's a free plan and it's one of the most private VPNs available

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Be smart

Did you try updating your camera? I don't know if this will actually help, but maybe check it out anyway. Other than that, I got these cool things and I love them.

It’s free because it’s only a handful of servers and restricted speed, no torrenting etc.

It’s offered and available because of paying users.

More info here

> Why we offer a free VPN

> We believe online privacy is a fundamental human right. Providing free access is part of our mission. The ProtonVPN free plan is unlimited and designed for security. No catches, no gimmicks. Just online privacy and freedom for those who need it.

> Our free VPN service is supported by paying users. If you would like to support our mission, please consider upgrading.

I would recommend ProtonVPN which respects your privacy and data is not sold. The product is offered based on users who pay for the full VPN solution.

The Free tier is slower than the paid, but still well worth it.

This will help protect your privacy from someone monitoring your network.

I recommend you buy a vpn subscription. A VPN makes a type of tunnel that prevents hackers, snoopers, and internet service providers from looking at your browsing data, basically most of what you do on the network is private. But.. Vpn companys are known to keep logs and sell your data, so be careful with the provider you choose to go with. (I have heard ProtonVPN is supposed to be good )

Using Dnscrypt will help as a DNS.

For very private browsing use Tor. It mostly keeps the user anonymous when browsing the web. More about what it is here:

Also on your browser you can get a extension called "HTTPS Everywhere" and under the settings set "Encrypt All Sites Eligible is" set to "On". This will help prevent you from going on insecure websites.

Hope this helps.

Just copy pasting an article found with Google keywords "NordVPN hacked" :

NordVPN had an expired internal private key exposed, potentially allowing anyone to spin out their own servers imitating NordVPN.

Honestly, I would seriously think about moving out and getting away from RM and this landlord. Sounds like a very unstable person and situation. I agree with some of the other posts, get yourself a VPN client like NordVPN or similar. Then you don't have to worry about your traffic being sniffed, as it would be encrypted right from your computer. They have mobile apps too. Some VPN providers even offer student discounts.

For Android, yes. iOS, not sure but I have a strong "no" feeling.
The first application like this that comes to mind is Glasswire for Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glasswire.android&amp;hl=en_US

It doesn’t really have to do with the device but rather with the application and the method used to encrypt. It also doesn’t matter if you use WiFi or mobile data to communicate over the internet, your internet data will be encrypted when you use Mullvad as all of the network traffic is encrypted and routed to their servers.

Regarding TOR, the main reason that I know using VPN with TOR would be an issue is because your traffic passes through the VPN and the VPN is a point a failure of anonymity and can’t be trusted 100% in terms of privacy protection (although Mullvad is probably the closest VPN to 100% privacy protection). If you’re interested in more detailed explanation of using TOR+VPN take a look at this article.

Regarding your last question, I’m not familiar with Veracrypt but for the same reasons mentioned above I can’t see any reason you would have an issue using both.

Edit: typos

I have currently several doubts about encryption ...

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Mullvad and Signal use the same device to communicate with the outside, if i activate wi-fi, Mullvads data and Signals data will pass by wi-fi, and it's the same if i activate mobile data. So i don't understand how encryption over encryption (Mullvad over Signal) could work.

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I took the example of Tor over VPN because i have the same doubts here too ... Why VPN encryption would be harmful over Tor encryption ? Can't we decrypt VPN encryption first then Tor encryption ?

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Moreover, i have the same issue to solve with my NAS encryption if i activate it. I usually use encrypted files using Veracrypt, so i don't know if i will be able to host/read/write these encrypted files on an encrypted volume (my NAS) ?

Everyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t see any way that using the two would have any issues. Signal encrypts the data being sent from the app and Mullvad encrypts your internet connection (ie. the data that is transferred over the internet). It might be negligible to use both (although it doesn’t hurt) because if Signal encrypts your message and then Mullvad encrypts that encrypted message (as internet data), it means that you have encrypted your message twice before sending it to the Mullvad server. Afterwards it’s decrypted once, then it’s sent to the Signal server and the message’s recipient where it’s decrypted again...

I agree. I dont know exactly how it happened. Techradar writes this:

" breach 'was made possible by poor configuration on a third-party datacenter’s part that we were never notified of.'

The attack was made via a compromised data center account, not an account managed by NordVPN. The data center deleted this account on March 20th, 2018, blocking any further access to the server. NordVPN claims not to have been notified about the breach until April 13th, 2019, more than a year after it happened. It took down the server the same day, and began an immediate audit of its 5,000 servers.

The company wouldn't go public until evidence of the hack emerged some six months later. Why? The blog post stated: 'thoroughly reviewing the providers and configurations for over 5,000 servers around the world takes time. As a result, we decided we should not notify the public until we could be sure that such an attack could not be replicated anywhere else on our infrastructure."

For PayPal enable 2FA (two-factor-authentication)-for-my-paypal-powered-by-braintree-user-faq3500

Chrome password manager is ‘ok’ but is limited to Chrome would suggest you look at Bitwarden, Lastpass or the NordVPN password manager(I’ve not used it tested it so can’t comment on the quality of it) or Keepass or equivalents.

You’d likely be surprised that having a password manager and storing all your passwords (with good practises) is actually better than not saving passwords because it allows you to have secure passwords that are different for each site leading to better overall ‘password health’.

Do enable 2FA on the password management system you use and also on sites that support it especially financial related sites such as PayPal.

That's a great question.

They do not sell any data. ProtonVPN free users have the same privacy protections as the paid users. The free plan is subsidized by the paid plans. This ensures your data and traffic is safe and anonymous.

Here is their policy page:

Run Microsoft update and patch ASAP... The easiest way for vulnerabilities to be exploited are an unpatched machine. Also update any software you have installed (ie. Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, Java, etc,.)

Also, I personally use Bitdefender for my A/V, although Microsoft Defender isn't the worst thing in the world. If you're a VPN user, I prefer ProtonVPN. It's base service is free and will give you the anonymity you need.

If you have some extra cash to spare, I recommend buying a security gateway such as Ubiquiti's Unifi gateway or a Firewalla... Network security is super important and will prevent a huge amount of Vulnerabilities.

>My former residence IP address appeared to be compromised domestically

Not sure what this means. An "IP address" cannot be compromised per se. A router can, or a device at an IP address can be, but the IP itself is like a phone number.

> I would like firewall, software protection and update ability with vpn

All pretty standard. Do you have a budget, $$ amount?

>my internet provider found WiFi running through my home that I had no subscription to.

From a neighbor's router? If there was a wifi device in your home, wouldn't you see it? In 700 square feet?

>I need to not invest anymore $$$ in cellphone but rather in security and knowledge..

What kind of phone do you have? Is it jailbroken?

This is #1 selling router on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AC1750-Smart-WiFi-Router/dp/B079JD7F7G/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&amp;keywords=tp+link+archer+a7&amp;qid=1599526618&amp;sr=8-1

That is your cheapest best option.

Use a good wifi password. Don't give out password. You can set up guest network that will be separate from yours.

Security is not something you buy, it's a process. It's a series of things.

Good passwords, don't re use passwords, keep your operating systems up to date, use a good antivirus on your pc.

Keep your wifi password private. Change your new router's admin name and password to get in.