A while back Clark recommended people buy a didicated chrome book to use only for financial business as protection against hackers and viruses. Is this still recommended? What do others think?
I have one for travel. Compact, easy to use. But not for financials.
For that, I use incognito on Chrome [win+shift+N] No history is left behind.
Then 2FA with access code sent to my cell phone. So a hacker would need my access username, password, and my cell phone.
Perfect? Of course not, but I feel okay with it.
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Not necessary as long as your accounts all have two-factor authentication enabled.
If trying to avoid hackers and viruses, I’d stay as far away from a chromebook as possible.
Why? Can you expand on that?
I use the Linux operating system for finances, an installation on my laptop which is dual bootable Linux or Windows. I use MFA with Authentication apps, try to avoid text authentication. I have unique highly complex passwords which I change all the time. This is only possible because of my password manager.
I have never quite understood the need to change them every six months. So your p/w is safe for 179 days, but on day 180 it’s not safe?
That is true of any refresh interval you might decide upon. You could change the password every time you login if you wish…
Some of my passwords I change every 90 days.
Perhaps because it limits the time someone who has been trying or who has gotten your credentials but not yet had an opportunity to use them yet.
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Okay, but I still don’t understand why. [this is a very very very old debate]
Chromebook relies too much on cloud storage.
I don’t understand your point. Do you favor changing passwords never or frequently?
I don’t see why a p/w is good for X days, and then suddenly, the next days it’s unsafe.
My p/w’s are 12-15 characters long, a mix of upper / lower case, numbers, and symbols. I don’t see a need to change them.
Your computer may be attacked at random intervals, therefore changing the password periodically may reduce your exposure. If a keylogger harvests your credentials but it takes a while for them to get sold on the dark web and used, a timely change might save you.
Likewise there is no hard and fast rule for bathing or changing undergarments. But uncertainty about n or n+1 days doesn’t mean that changing them never is a good idea.
Whataboutism doesn’t work for IT security nor personal hygiene.
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Heh, I have a hard time comparing changing underwear with changing passwords.
As long as you have good antivirus and malware software running on your computer, I don’t think it makes much difference. Using a VPN and secure email is good for protecting personal data/information. Maybe I am lucky, I have never had an issue in transmitting and dealing with financial data. Using an ethernet connection is the most secure you will find. Sort of like using a corded telephone for private calls.
Sorry there is nothing inherently secure about an Ethernet connection. You have to layer on encryption, either via VPN or an https:// connection. If you don’t do that, all of the traffic can be stolen and used.
That’s what I was saying, one has to utilize all safeguards available including ethernet, VPN and everything else for best protection. Nothing is totally safe so go accordingly when dealing with IoT.