Re: Secure Transactions

2014-09-01 Thread Tod Merley
Thanks for the spoof response Heinz! So lets say I do see a wrong fingerprint. As in ghost busting who am I gonna call!? On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 10:53 PM, Heinz Diehl htd...@fritha.org wrote: On 01.09.2014, jd1008 wrote: As I said, the caveat of all add-on is that they are just as

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-09-01 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 01.09.2014, Tod Merley wrote: So lets say I do see a wrong fingerprint. As in ghost busting who am I gonna call!? The person(s) who is/are responsible for the bank/netshop whatever you're trying to communicate with. In most cases, they could connect you with whoever operates the

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 31.08.2014, Tod Merley wrote: I am simply seeking thoughts on the basic approach, alternatives, other things to do to make a secure transaction environment. When logging into your bank account (or the like) the very first time, make a copy of its certificate/fingerprint. Every time you

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
On Sun, 2014-08-31 at 09:21 +0200, Heinz Diehl wrote: When logging into your bank account (or the like) the very first time, make a copy of its certificate/fingerprint. Every time you connect, verify the certificates fingerprint first. If it differs, take contact with your bank to make sure

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
On Sat, 2014-08-30 at 20:18 -0700, Tod Merley wrote: What sort of security issues are indicated by redirection? Wasn't me that suggested there were any. It were you that said you thought they were. But anyway... If you browse to your bank's domain name, they may bump you to another address of

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
On Sat, 2014-08-30 at 19:41 -0700, Tod Merley wrote: Ok - considering that this Fedora 20 install and FireFox browser will only be used for Internet transactions how would you set it up to do it's job well? Most of them are self evident, if you know what the options mean, and some are clearly

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 31.08.2014, Tim wrote: Ideally, for things like banking, you really want to know the fingerprint ahead of your first use. They should really give you a hard copy of what to expect when you set up your account / get a new card. I've never seen that a bank has recommended checking the

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tod Merley
Thank you Heinz for the good suggestions regarding checking certificates and all. As I think about it I would indeed really like to see a little program for myself (perhaps a script can do if I can find the right tools) which examines the entire log in procedure - perhaps from which IP(s) - using

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 31.08.2014, Tod Merley wrote: Thank you.. You're welcome! Btw: for those few who do not immediately know how to localize/check the fingerprint of the certificate a website is using: 1. Go to the login dialog on the site you wish to enter 2. Don't insert any credentials! 3. Firefox: click

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
Allegedly, on or about 31 August 2014, Heinz Diehl sent: If you don't trust the site at your first use (5.), you should verify that the shown information really is genuine by contacting the bank/netshop etc.. Who probably won't have a clue about how to respond to such a query about their SSL

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread jd1008
On 08/30/2014 08:33 PM, Tim wrote: On Sat, 2014-08-30 at 18:39 -0600, jd1008 wrote: 3. HttpToHttps Be prepared for various things to fail, you cannot force HTTPS with sites that are HTTP-only. Actually, the sites that do not support https, simply default to http. So, such sites are still

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tod Merley
Heinz thanks for reminding me about looking at certificates by clicking the padlock. I also note that they have the ability to export and so I suppose a comparison could be made through that as well. General question - can one spoof a certificate? I suppose man in the middle is simply nasty.

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread jd1008
On 08/31/2014 04:02 PM, Tod Merley wrote: Heinz thanks for reminding me about looking at certificates by clicking the padlock. I also note that they have the ability to export and so I suppose a comparison could be made through that as well. General question - can one spoof a certificate?

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Bruno Wolff III
On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 15:02:03 -0700, Tod Merley todbo...@gmail.com wrote: Heinz thanks for reminding me about looking at certificates by clicking the padlock. I also note that they have the ability to export and so I suppose a comparison could be made through that as well. General question

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
Tim: Be prepared for various things to fail, you cannot force HTTPS with sites that are HTTP-only. jd1008: Actually, the sites that do not support https, simply default to http. So, such sites are still browsable even with this plugin. That wouldn't work with various virtually hosted sites

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread jd1008
On 08/31/2014 09:45 PM, Tim wrote: Tim: Be prepared for various things to fail, you cannot force HTTPS with sites that are HTTP-only. jd1008: Actually, the sites that do not support https, simply default to http. So, such sites are still browsable even with this plugin. That wouldn't work

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tod Merley
Jd1008 - java - life without it! Possible? Better. Remember - transactions only on the build. On Sun, Aug 31, 2014 at 9:17 PM, jd1008 jd1...@gmail.com wrote: On 08/31/2014 09:45 PM, Tim wrote: Tim: Be prepared for various things to fail, you cannot force HTTPS with sites that are

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 01.09.2014, Tod Merley wrote: General question - can one spoof a certificate? I suppose man in the middle is simply nasty. You can't spoof a certificate, but create one on your own and present it as the real one when you're the man in the middle. Therefore the fingerprint check. Once you

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Tim
Tim: Sensible to me is websites continue to work, with the minimal of tracking being possible. Sensible to others is no tracking, and some sites will fail to work. And to yet others, still, sites work without errors or users having to make decisions about using the sites. jd1008: Well

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-31 Thread Heinz Diehl
On 01.09.2014, jd1008 wrote: As I said, the caveat of all add-on is that they are just as mysterious with respect to their actual content as FF itself - and for that matter, Windows and Linux and Unix/variants, are just as mysterious. I say this because even with open source software, does

Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tod Merley
Hi all! I have been using Windows monitored by Norton used almost exclusively to do on line transactions and banking. The strategy is simply that I do not use it otherwise. Transactions only. But then the W8 laptop Norton would not update or scan!! First attempts at fix failed and refresh and

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread jd1008
On 08/30/2014 06:15 PM, Tod Merley wrote: Hi all! I have been using Windows monitored by Norton used almost exclusively to do on line transactions and banking. The strategy is simply that I do not use it otherwise. Transactions only. But then the W8 laptop Norton would not update or

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Joe Zeff
On 08/30/2014 05:39 PM, jd1008 wrote: Since it is transactions you want to secure, I have advised friends to install these firefox add-ons (not neceCELLERY :) in the same order: Two more: BetterPrivacy Flash Block The nice thing about Flash Block is that it doesn't completely block Flash,

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tod Merley
Thanks for responding jd1008 and Joe, Jd1008 as you point out add-ons are unknowns. I find unknowns kinda scary when it comes to security. I really do try to do things to limit the sites I actually go to and very much stay away from e-mail use in the transaction process if at all possible. In

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tim
On Sat, 2014-08-30 at 18:39 -0600, jd1008 wrote: 3. HttpToHttps Be prepared for various things to fail, you cannot force HTTPS with sites that are HTTP-only. 6. Redirect Cleaner - this will prevent a website you want to visit to redirect your browser to some other website you had no

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tim
On Sat, 2014-08-30 at 18:44 -0700, Tod Merley wrote: The most suspicious things that ever happened while doing transactions may have been related to re-direction. Specifically my sign on picture and text came up wrong from time to time. My usual response was to close the browser and re-boot

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tod Merley
Thanks for your response Tim! Tim said: It's well worth going through your browser settings, and setting them sensibly, rather than hoping some third-party add-on will sort things out for you. . . . Ok - considering that this Fedora 20 install and FireFox browser will only be used for Internet

Re: Secure Transactions

2014-08-30 Thread Tod Merley
What sort of security issues are indicated by redirection? What would they be doing (or not doing) in the programming from their end which would cause this? Could problems with DNS or other parts of the IP stack be involved? Why would closing the browser and shutting off the machine and finding