Advanced Plus Security oldschool's laptop setup 2020

[oldschool]

I recently gave Firefox another trial run and I just don't like it. I find very few attractive features, e.g. containers, dark mode, etc. Brave is a better option for built-in control of privacy and security for those who may be looking for a good privacy browser option (and aren't willing to go "tin foil" with Tor!). Brave makes it simple while giving you the option to increase security as desired. The Javascript blocking feature is great, giving you granular control of scripts. Put a web filtering extension like Bitdefender, etc. and you're all set. I like Edge Chromium a lot, but Brave compares very favorably!

 

[Tiamati]

@oldschool sup!

Hey, I didnt have to time to read all messages here, so idk if you already explained, but how exactly did you hardened Brave/Chrome through flags?
ty!

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

@oldschool sup!

Hey, I didnt have to time to read all messages here, so idk if you already explained, but how exactly did you hardened Brave/Chrome through flags?
ty!

1- type Chrome://flags in omnibox
2- select the desired flag > select the options

read carefully how the flag and description are spelled. Example, if flag is "disable xxx", if you choose "enable" , you will disable the function.

 

[oldschool]

@oldschool sup!

Hey, I didnt have to time to read all messages here, so idk if you already explained, but how exactly did you hardened Brave/Chrome through flags?
ty!

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

View attachment 228681View attachment 228682

interesting we have the same flags enabled (i have some other enabled tough)

 

[Moonhorse]

Wich DNS are you using btw? Since edge and probably brave already support DOH on :/flags

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

Wich DNS are you using btw? Since edge and probably brave already support DOH on :/flags

Latest chrome has as well as ChromEdge, i use DoH

 

[oldschool]

Wich DNS are you using btw? Since edge and probably brave already support DOH on :/flags

Yes, both browsers have the flags. I'm currently using my ISP's DNS because it's a trusted local company that has good privacy ethics & net neutrality. I plan on looking into using DoH when I have time.

 

[blackice]

Yes, both browsers have the flags. I'm currently using my ISP's DNS because it's a trusted local company that has good privacy ethics & net neutrality. I plan on looking into using DoH when I have time.

Corrected: If you trust your ISP DoH doesn’t gain you much. (Stupid autocorrect)

 

[oldschool]

A curious phenomenon: While using Edge Dev's built-in tracking protection and Privacy Possum I have found a website that does not appear able to track how many "free" articles I have read. I wonder if there are others?

 

[SeriousHoax]

A curious phenomenon: While using Edge Dev's built-in tracking protection and Privacy Possum I have found a website that does not appear able to track how many "free" articles I have read. I wonder if there are others?

Do you delete cookies too?

 

[oldschool]

Do you delete cookies too?

Yes, on close of browser. I checked today and I am still able to read articles on that site.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Yes, on close of browser. I checked today and I am still able to read articles on that site.

So, this is likely related to cookies. As you delete cookies it can't detect whether you visited the site before or not. I use an extension which is set to delete cookies 15 seconds after I close the tab so I'll probably have similar result too.

 

[oldschool]

So, this is likely related to cookies. As you delete cookies it can't detect whether you visited the site before or not. I use an extension which is set to delete cookies 15 seconds after I close the tab so I'll probably have similar result too.

Cookie autodelete to the rescue!

 

[Thales]

Did you find what processes are necessary to allow in Windows Firewall? I don't wanna use 3rd party firewalls anymore.
I saw in your early post the NoVirus Thanks connection Viewer and already downloaded. I'm still testing it but it looks like a logging program that helps to identify the connections but it shows the established connections only.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

Did you find what processes are necessary to allow in Windows Firewall? I don't wanna use 3rd party firewalls anymore.
I saw in your early post the NoVirus Thanks connection Viewer and already downloaded. I'm still testing it but it looks like a logging program that helps to identify the connections but it shows the established connections only.

by default, WF allow all outbound connections, firewalls were never supposed to block outbound connections but only inbound ones.
3rd party security vendors are responsible for those outbound monitoring. They pushed it as a feature.
Personally, after a clean install, and the OS is setup, i block all outbound connections and create rules on the fly, case by case.

 

[Thales]

by default, WF allow all outbound connections, firewalls were never supposed to block outbound connections but only inbound ones.
3rd party security vendors are responsible for those outbound monitoring. They pushed it as a feature.
Personally, after a clean install, and the OS is setup, i block all outbound connections and create rules on the fly, case by case.

Yeah I always wanted to do the same but In native windows firewall setup it was harder. or just for me.
I used WFC in whitelist mode (block all outbound and inbound except those...) but I prefer no 3rd party firewall controls.
Now I exported the rules from WFC and imported in Windows Firewall.
It saved me a lot of time to make rules from scratch. It should be easy from now to allow new rules without any firewall control.

 

[ForgottenSeer 823865]

Yeah I always wanted to do the same but In native windows firewall setup it was harder. or just for me.
I used WFC in whitelist mode (block all outbound and inbound except those...) but I prefer no 3rd party firewall controls.
Now I exported the rules from WFC and imported in Windows Firewall.
It saved me a lot of time to make rules from scratch. It should be easy from now to allow new rules without any firewall control.

indeed i also used WFC this way to generate the first batch of rules then import them manually in WF after removing WFC.

 

[oldschool]

My ISP practices net neutrality but it piggybacks on another provider which is not privacy-friendly, so I've enabled DNS over HTTPS.

 

[oldschool]

Changed search engine from StartPage -> Qwant due to privacy questions re: new ownership. Gibiru as another alternative.

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