Hacking through IP

[RCBH928]

After my latest hotmail incident(lost my account) I am getting extremely paranoid online. I am wondering if any one can hack my computer through my IP address , I am also using a mac I am guessing that will be harder to infiltrate because its just a different OS(i can be imagining this only)

I thought this kind of thing was over by 2001 where ppl used to lose their IM and email accounts , where some one can get into your computer and play around with it.

I understand this process is not impossible but extremely difficult now days(otherwise how come many people do business online including famous+rich people giving out their websites and email accounts to the public)?

any one else paranoid?How do you protect yourself?

[lisalover1]

Just because you use a Mac doesn't mean you are safe. In fact, Apple software has always been pretty easy to hack:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/10/safa ... afe-for-n/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/pwn- ... utes-flat/

[Niode]

Just because you use a Mac doesn't mean you are safe. In fact, Apple software has always been pretty easy to hack:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/10/safa ... afe-for-n/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/27/pwn- ... utes-flat/

... when you have physical access to the machine in question. Also to note, Chrome has yet to be exploited. So no. Apple machines are still pretty safe, unlike the Windows counterparts.

[Hatta]

Run a firewall. Block all services that you don't absolutely need. (For me, torrents and ssh.)

Use Firefox and use NoScript. Whitelist only sites you absolutely need javascript to use correctly.

If you download pirated software or junky freeware, install it in a virtual machine first. Run AV in the virtual machine to ensure that it's clean before you put it on your default OS.

These steps won't make you bulletproof, but they'll make you a harder target than 99.999% of people on the net. That's all you really need.

[RCBH928]

I am not saying Apple's are unhackable
i am just guessing that most people are not used to it, so it will be harder to figure out
which gives me a bit of advantage

I don't have torrents always on,
Not sure what NoScript and SSH are but ill research them

I dont usually go to warez sites and the like
so I guess I am pretty safe

Why is the browser the important key thing here?
can any one hack you from the browser?

[Hatta]

Yes, browsers are easily hacked. Sites run scripts (essentially programs) on your browser, if there's a flaw in the browser they can use that to run arbitrary code on your machine. At which point it's game over.

[Hatta]

Oh, there is one more thing you should do. If you have a laptop, and use public wifi, set up an encrypted tunnel for your traffic. Unencrypted traffic on public wifi is trivial to sniff and grab passwords/session keys from.

If you're careful, you can get by making sure you never enter credentials into any site that's not HTTPS. But many popular sites don't offer SSL connections. Facebook for instance only recently implemented SSL, and you have to opt in.

It's just easier to encrypt all your traffic with a tunnel. I use SSH tunneling back to my home computer. Since you use a Mac, and Mac is UNIX, you can do the same. But some people aren't handy with the CLI, so you can also buy a VPN account. I haven't done this so I can't offer you any recommendations as to providers.

Just remember, never ever enter any password over public WIFI unless you are absolutely certain that the connection is encrypted end to end. WPA/WEP encryption are insufficient.

[gtmtnbiker]

I think gmail made https be the only option awhile ago. Before, you did have to enable it.

[Niode]

I think gmail made https be the only option awhile ago. Before, you did have to enable it.

You can enable HTTPS on Facebook now. It's in Account Settings -> Security (I think).