Advanced Plus Security patoli Configuration 2019

[patoli]

Hi, I share as well my configuration. I'm not a power user,, no gaming. I have only a few programs and very rarely install any new software in my computer (I´m very minimalistic if I can say that).
Been obsessing with browser extensions lately and thinking about getting VPN, but I may trust more my ISP than the vpn itself.
MalwareBytes used as on-demand scanner, once every week.
I bought a 1TB Toshiba portable Hard drive where I copy-paste the My Documents folder.
I keep my passwords in a .txt file, something I am not proud of (except banking and email passwords that are in a real physical notebook).


Open to suggestions as you probably know more than me.

 

[ForgottenSeer 55474]

Hello, you could use a password manager, and a backup solution, should you try something new regarding security, you could go with Avast free or paid , Nice Configuration

 

[Protomartyr]

Virus and Malware Removal Tools:

• Emsisoft Emergency Kit and HitmanPro Free are great second opinion scanners. ESET Online Scanner is another good one (the most thorough) but is heavy.

Browsers and Extensions:

• I feel like there's some overlap between Ghostery, Privacy Badger, and uBlock Origin. I'm not too knowledgeable about which ones to keep, but I feel like uBlock Origin paired with one of the other two is enough.
• HTTPS Everywhere: I like to enable the option Encrypt All Sites Eligible. If you come across a site that needs HTTP (downloading from MajorGeeks is one example), then you can temporarily disable the extension, add the site as an exception, or not visit the site at all.

System Utilities:

• See my comments about using CCleaner in this thread.
• CCEnhancer is a small unoffical tool that adds support for a lot more programs.

 

[harlan4096]

@patoli, my suggestions:

• You may harden Your system using Configure Defender tool or even Hard_Configurator (by @Andy Ful) or Syshardener (by NovirusThanks).
• As for "Disk Imaging Backup", You may add Macrium Reflect Free or AOEMI Backupper, both are free and reliably.
• As for "Virus and Malware Removal Tools", You may add: EmsiSoft Emergengy Ki and HitManPro Free.
• A PassWord Manager would be welcome also.

Please kindly reflect Your changes editing Your config, and announcing them here, thanks for sharing

 

[bribon77]

I will tell you what I use.
In the browser.
uBlock Origin.
Emsisoft Browser Security
Privacy Possum
Auto History Wipe.
----------------------------------------
Scanner on demand.
Emsisoft Emergency Kit..(Even now I don't use it because I have Emsisoft in real time.)
HitmanPro Free
Norton Power Eraser
----------------------------------------
Backups, and this is very important.
Macrium Reflect free.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[patoli]

Thanks for your comments.
Updates so far:
- Added Emsisoft Emergency Kit
- Added Windows Backup
- HTTPS everywhere extension: option Encript all sites eligible

Planned:
- Installed Macrium Reflect but I still have to figure out how it works
- Might do a backup in Google Drive
I will add more things the next week

 

[patoli]

I update again.
Added:
- On demand scan: HitmanPro and ESET Online Scanner
- System backup: Macrium Reflect 7 Free (image created)
- Data backup: Google Drive

For password manager, I was thinking LastPass or Bitwarden, I will need to look further into this.
For browser extensions, I am thinking of reducing, I have too many I guess.
And in Firefox, it takes like15 seconds before loading home page when opening browser. It doesn´t happen in Chrome. I may uninstall Firefox.

 

[Protomartyr]

And in Firefox, it takes like15 seconds before loading home page when opening browser. It doesn´t happen in Chrome. I may uninstall Firefox.

Try removing the Malwarebytes Browser Guard extension and see if it solves the delayed loading. I had the same problem and in my case I narrowed it down to the extension.

Some alternatives to consider:

• Windows Defender Browser Protection - Light and effective. Unfortunately only available on Chrome.
• Bitdefender TrafficLight - Light and effective. However, it transmits URLs visited in clear text. See Fabian Wosar's commentary here.
• Emsisoft Browser Security - Light and privacy conscious. However, it hasn't been tested recently in the browser extension comparison thread. The last test was in the beginning of November and didn't score so well. Things may have improved since then.

Windows Defender Browser Protection and Bitdefender TrafficLight have been the top performers on a consistent basis.

 

[patoli]

Added Bitwarden as password manager as desktop version. I changed some passwords to a random generated one, and some remained the same. For banking and main gmail address, passwords are in my head (less secure password though). Are passwords safer in Bitwarden as random generated combinations or in a physical notebook in easy words and letters?

Removed extension Malwarebytes and added Emsisoft browser extension. On the Ghostery extension, I´ve seen many configurations in the forum and noone here seems to have it.

I included Cloudflare DNS in privacy-focused section.

Next steps: check out system Hardener and keep reviewing extensions.

 

[Protomartyr]

I would say randomly generated passwords in Bitwarden would be safer compared to passwords containing easy words and letters written in a notebook.

 

[LDogg]

Add Tinywall or MBAM Firewall Control for more ease of use with WFW. Could try a backup solution as well. Other than that nice setup.

~LDogg