What are reasons to be OCD about security?

[Anarchist420]

I've never suffered any serious cyberattacks on any computer I've ever had and I've never used an anti-virus program; I just update windows when WU prompts me to and I've been fine.

What is scary is that the NSA has found a way to damage CPUs through the internet. The other thing that is scary is that files from torrents may some day be infested by the govt and/or the RIAA and/or other institutions. I know that torrents aren't always that great because sometimes files I download have a flac extension, but are really just mp3s.

Thing is though, is that I'm not going to pay for music if the artists or publishers don't sell FLAC versions... nothing makes me angrier than the fact that most people are so satisfied with iTunes. It also sucks that the few artists who did release FLAC download have switched to iTunes.

Other than those two issues, I've never really worried about viruses, worms, and other malware.

Besides, various anti-virus programs sound like they're way more bad than good.

I have DNT+ installed, but I doubt it even does any good... not sure why I still have it on.

 

[SecurityTheatre]

I've never suffered any serious cyberattacks on any computer I've ever had and I've never used an anti-virus program; I just update windows when WU prompts me to and I've been fine.

What is scary is that the NSA has found a way to damage CPUs through the internet. The other thing that is scary is that files from torrents may some day be infested by the govt and/or the RIAA and/or other institutions. I know that torrents aren't always that great because sometimes files I download have a flac extension, but are really just mp3s.

Thing is though, is that I'm not going to pay for music if the artists or publishers don't sell FLAC versions... nothing makes me angrier than the fact that most people are so satisfied with iTunes. It also sucks that the few artists who did release FLAC download have switched to iTunes.

Other than those two issues, I've never really worried about viruses, worms, and other malware.

Besides, various anti-virus programs sound like they're way more bad than good.

I have DNT+ installed, but I doubt it even does any good... not sure why I still have it on.

What kind of sound card to you use? What DAC is it using? What is the maximum sampling rate?

Do you impedance match your speakers? What gauge is the audio cable you use to listen to music?

I suspect if you can't answer all of those, your rant about iTunes and FLAC is full of hot air.


But, it does lead me to believe that you're a perfect candidate to be OCD about security.

The NSA doesn't care about you. The RIAA still can't infect your computer (legally).

Install AntiVirus. They are NOT "more bad than good".

Run anti-spyware apps. They do suck, but they suck less than getting some random crappy spyware.

Don't use an administrative account for normal use. Enable UAC. Consider TPM (it is more good than bad in it's current iteration).

Have good web hygene.


Take a chill pill.

🙂

 

[Sheep221]

Or don't download pirated stuff, don't watch porn and don't click on random links. If you use net for crap stuff it will eventually bring you some virus from time to time.
I personally don't care about domestic computers being used as tool to public surveillance, they just like phones, have been since their inception subject to interceptions and wiretapping. Why you think computer shouldn't be used this way too? They are, but mostly the specific targets are traced via telecommunication systems. I don't really believe NSA will ever spy in any random computer.

 

[Lucas Prassas]

I thought (typical) porn is generally not that bad, as long as you avoid mass redirect collections that eventually loop back to nothing at all, or just lead to copies of real videos. Also, GIFs (often excerpts) are usually better anyway, given the lack of insultingly stupid/sometimes pointlessly offensive 5-minute intros, obnoxiously horrible acting and sound, and equally unprofessional, dude-blocked camera angles for certain (prolonged), secondary scenes. Of course, getting some viruses, on occasion, is probably not easily averted by any extensive internet user (that isn't running Linux or a virtual machine/something similarly advanced). Geez I wish I could at least get a working means of OS installation for the ~$8.00 I currently have (until next month, though I don't think I'll be spending the money anyway).

 

[Sheep221]

I thought (typical) porn is generally not that bad, as long as you avoid mass redirect collections that eventually loop back to nothing at all, or just lead to copies of real videos. Also, GIFs (often excerpts) are usually better anyway, given the lack of insultingly stupid/sometimes pointlessly offensive 5-minute intros, obnoxiously horrible acting and sound, and equally unprofessional, dude-blocked camera angles for certain (prolonged), secondary scenes. Of course, getting some viruses, on occasion, is probably not easily averted by any extensive internet user (that isn't running Linux or a virtual machine/something similarly advanced). Geez I wish I could at least get a working means of OS installation for the ~$8.00 I currently have (until next month, though I don't think I'll be spending the money anyway).

The youtube-based porn sites are fairly safe to use that's true, there are also couple of legit sites that doesn't spread the viruses but many still do.

 

[Lucas Prassas]

yeah i hear ya; i'm just sayin, they're hardly the least safe kind of site, in general, IMO.

 

[MrColin]

I've never suffered any serious cyberattacks on any computer I've ever had and I've never used an anti-virus program; I just update windows when WU prompts me to and I've been fine.

What is scary is that the NSA has found a way to damage CPUs through the internet. The other thing that is scary is that files from torrents may some day be infested by the govt and/or the RIAA and/or other institutions. I know that torrents aren't always that great because sometimes files I download have a flac extension, but are really just mp3s.

Thing is though, is that I'm not going to pay for music if the artists or publishers don't sell FLAC versions... nothing makes me angrier than the fact that most people are so satisfied with iTunes. It also sucks that the few artists who did release FLAC download have switched to iTunes.

Other than those two issues, I've never really worried about viruses, worms, and other malware.

Besides, various anti-virus programs sound like they're way more bad than good.

I have DNT+ installed, but I doubt it even does any good... not sure why I still have it on.

Never, the D in OCD stands for Disorder, meaning a harmful or unnecessarily costly behavior. That is to say there are no GOOD reasons to be obsessive compulsive about it.

Compare the cost of succumbing to attack with the cost of defense or recovery measures.

 

[MrColin]

yeah i hear ya; i'm just sayin, they're hardly the least safe kind of site, in general, IMO.

I don't feel like digging up links right now but I read that the most dangerous sites on the web currently are religious/church websites. They tend to have the least involved maintainers and least sophisticated visitors. Additionally, attackers can leverage the inherent trust of the institution.

 

[Anarchist420]

What kind of sound card to you use? What DAC is it using? What is the maximum sampling rate? Do you impedance match your speakers? What gauge is the audio cable you use to listen to music?

I have a realtek alc892 with the microsoft reference drivers, hooked up to an hk3490 via optical s/pdif and the DAC is an AKM 4384 if I'm not mistaken. Maximum quality is 24 bit 192 KHz channel.

I use a BJC 12 gauge (o2-free copper) cable.

I suspect if you can't answer all of those, your rant about iTunes and FLAC is full of hot air.

I can often tell the difference... lossy compression for anything sucks, I can't stand the artifacts.

But I think I'm going to keep my PC as it is for now because I'm not really worried about it infected but I guess I should back up more things through a cloud service than I have.

 

[Lucas Prassas]

I don't feel like digging up links right now but I read that the most dangerous sites on the web currently are religious/church websites. They tend to have the least involved maintainers and least sophisticated visitors. Additionally, attackers can leverage the inherent trust of the institution.

lol that does make sense. I would be smug, but my (community) college requires me to use a lot of online sites and resources that are literally not even maintained directly, since they have no actual IT department (and the guys I've talked to that are supposed to be responsible for it know considerably less than I do, which scares me). I doubt anyone cares enough to hack their thankfully obscure, primitive pages and links, but if they did...

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Compare the cost of succumbing to attack with the cost of defense or recovery measures.

This.

It's best to do a basic cost/benefit analysis, what are you protecting, what is it worth to you, and what are you willing to sacrifice to protect it?

Most people have just a few personal devices behind a gateway with NAT/Firewall and run anti-virus, this is sufficient for the average user. Maybe run backups for any important data you store, not just for security but for hardware failure as well.

 

[Jeff7181]

I've never suffered any serious cyberattacks on any computer I've ever had and I've never used an anti-virus program; I just update windows when WU prompts me to and I've been fine.

What is scary is that the NSA has found a way to damage CPUs through the internet. The other thing that is scary is that files from torrents may some day be infested by the govt and/or the RIAA and/or other institutions. I know that torrents aren't always that great because sometimes files I download have a flac extension, but are really just mp3s.

Thing is though, is that I'm not going to pay for music if the artists or publishers don't sell FLAC versions... nothing makes me angrier than the fact that most people are so satisfied with iTunes. It also sucks that the few artists who did release FLAC download have switched to iTunes.

Other than those two issues, I've never really worried about viruses, worms, and other malware.

Besides, various anti-virus programs sound like they're way more bad than good.

I have DNT+ installed, but I doubt it even does any good... not sure why I still have it on.

Do you do any online banking? Manage any retirement or other investment accounts online? If so, are you OK with giving anyone in the world access to your account to either view the balances, or withdraw money?

Are you OK with all your friends, family and coworkers being able to see every keystroke you type, every site you visit, every image you view, every video you watch, every file you download? How about every bit of data you upload?

If having to close a credit card account due to fraudulent charges, having your savings account show up with a zero balance one day, having the FBI show up at your door because someone used your identity to trade "inappropriate photos" of children online... if none of that bothers you, don't concern yourself with online security.

 

[John Connor]

DNT+ isn't going to do crap. Use Noscript and in the options allow base 2nd level domains by default to ease the cumbersomeness that NoScript will have.

I have DNT+ installed, but I doubt it even does any good... not sure why I still have it on.

 

[Anarchist420]

Do you do any online banking?

I check my account balance occasionally... I get $20/week for work I do around the house even though I already get to live with my parents, eat the food they pay for, etc., etc.

Are you OK with all your friends, family and coworkers being able to see every keystroke you type, every site you visit, every image you view, every video you watch, every file you download? How about every bit of data you upload?

I don't have co-workers but I often like for people to know what I'm doing as long as they aren't hurt by it. It's not like I'm going to run for public office one day. Also, trying to get more security can be cumbersome and expensive along with the fact that it still may not work. I also don't want my friends to think that I'm trying to hide something from them... they wouldn't be true friends.

If having to close a credit card account due to fraudulent charges, having your savings account show up with a zero balance one day, having the FBI show up at your door because someone used your identity to trade "inappropriate photos" of children online... if none of that bothers you, don't concern yourself with online security.

that would bother me. But the FBI won't show up at my parents' home as I would assume that my IQ is too low for the FBI to get in my face and for me to know about it.

I've done plenty of things that the FBI/DoHS/SS could've contacted me for and they didn't do it because they're using me or because they know my IQ is too low to do anything bad on the scale that the Lincoln and Wilson did (or both).

 

[Jeff7181]

I check my account balance occasionally... I get $20/week for work I do around the house even though I already get to live with my parents, eat the food they pay for, etc., etc.

(snip)

So you use your parents' Internet connection. Do they do any banking online? Do they manage their retirement funds? Would they appreciate having your computer compromised and be used to compromise their computers and have all those things I listed happen to them instead of you?