Comments on: Public Computers Made Safe – Security Tools and Tips

By: Data Protection

Data Protection — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:44:49 +0000

There are many reasons to use the tricks discussed in this article to protect your online identity. I always remembered to log out from my sessions and to delete my downloaded material from the desktop. These are also common courtesy to the business allowing you to use their computer. From now on, I will also bring the browser on my USB drive to make sure my login information for myspace, youtube, and blogging websites is safe and secure.

By: Track Computer Usage Of Folders & Files With HDD Profiler « Kurdu.Tc – World Biggest Portal

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 16:22:38 +0000

[...] Public Computers Made Safe – Security Tools and Tips (22) [...]

By: jw

jw — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:23:04 +0000

Don’t most keyloggers also log the clipboard and paste events (negating the value of KeePass)? And unless your obfuscation interspersed several copy/paste events in other parts of the screen, making it *really* a pain for you, assembling that data from the keylog would be reasonably easy for the cracker, no?

By: Things To Know When Using a WiFi Hotspot Or a Public PC | MakeUseOf.com

Things To Know When Using a WiFi Hotspot Or a Public PC | MakeUseOf.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:50:48 +0000

[...] Some other tips were also mentioned in our earlier post covering safety on public computers. [...]

By: 10+ Best Firefox Addons for Security and Privacy « EXPLORING CYBERSPACE…

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:15:52 +0000

[...] privacy and security are on top of your list check out how to remain safe on public computersand how to set up firefox to automatically clear sensitive [...]

By: 10+ Best Firefox Addons for Security and Privacy | MakeUseOf.com

10+ Best Firefox Addons for Security and Privacy | MakeUseOf.com — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:02:55 +0000

[...] privacy and security are on top of your list check out how to remain safe on public computers and how to set up firefox to automatically clear sensitive [...]

By: How To Spy On Your Spouse With Your Computer | MakeUseOf.com

How To Spy On Your Spouse With Your Computer | MakeUseOf.com — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 21:02:28 +0000

[...] on you, such as Aibek’s article on How to Cheat Keylogger Spyware or Varun’s article on Public Computers Made Safe, the concept here is actually the monitoring and logging of how people are using your [...]

By: How To Maintain a Professional Reputation Online at Benjamin Gitterman, daily

How To Maintain a Professional Reputation Online at Benjamin Gitterman, daily — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:03:33 +0000

[...] if you’re using a public computer, make sure you erase all your traces, like cookies, browsing history, passwords, cache [...]

By: How To Maintain a Professional Reputation Online | MakeUseOf.com

How To Maintain a Professional Reputation Online | MakeUseOf.com — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:06:17 +0000

[...] if you’re using a public computer, make sure you erase all your traces, like cookies, browsing history, passwords, cache [...]

By: Keep Your Passwords Secret On A Public Computer With KYPS | MakeUseOf.com

Keep Your Passwords Secret On A Public Computer With KYPS | MakeUseOf.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:01:23 +0000

[...] anyone ever told you before that it is risky to use a public computer (such as an Internet cafe) to surf the Web and login to all your online accounts? The main reason [...]

By: Manjinder Singh

Manjinder Singh — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:39:11 +0000

Hello Mr. Kashyap
How r u!!!!!!

i have one query. there is proxy server in my office so i can’t access many sites.will u plz help me(as u always did) to find out a way or website to access all those sites without being known by administrator.

hope to get reply soon.

Manjinder Singh from Jalandhar

By: Manjinder Singh

Manjinder Singh — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:22:19 +0000

Great Post Mr. Kashyap.
Gud Work. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Varun Kashyap

Varun Kashyap — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:17:03 +0000

Ya we all wait for such a day but then e-mail etiquettes are not common place either are they?

By: Robb

Robb — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:06:28 +0000

Good stuff! Someday maybe this knowledge will be as commonplace as e-mail etiquette…. nah, probably not. A few more thoughts:

Also be mindful of the internet connection you are using is another area of concern. I wouldn’t put it past a hotel clerk to rig their network with say, a password sniffer. These days, it isn’t hard to find step-by-step instructions for doing this type of thing (gee, thanks a lot, Google

And on a related note (public network, private computer), I am typing this on a motel’s open wlan. Sites that do not employ secure connections (i.e. https) should never be used to transmit passwords or other sensitive data. Any web sites that do not use https that remember you may allow eavesdroppers to reuse your session until it expires…

By: Varun Kashyap

Varun Kashyap — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:12:02 +0000

Thanks Tina, Thanks Shankar for the kind words

By: Tina

Tina — Sat, 24 May 2008 09:54:54 +0000

Great post Varun!

By: Shankar Ganesh

Shankar Ganesh — Sat, 24 May 2008 04:09:10 +0000

Good post, Varun.

I’ve written a similar post before, here – http://www.killertechtips.com/2008/03/25/public-computer-cyber-cafes-safety-tips – and I suggested using Neo’s SafeKeys for beating keyloggers. You can download the app from this page: http://www.aplin.com.au/?page_id=246

By: Varun Kashyap

Varun Kashyap — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:18:35 +0000

Thanks for the wonderful words Monica. Glad you found it useful

By: Varun Kashyap

Varun Kashyap — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:17:22 +0000

Yes CCleaner is another very good option.

By: Varun Kashyap

Varun Kashyap — Sat, 24 May 2008 01:14:21 +0000

Yes indeed it obfuscation is the way to go, it is a hassle but works in most cases. You can still use the Javascript online keyboards that sites offer for password entry, those are reasonably safe too.

By: dan

dan — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:57:38 +0000

It doesn’t seem like it, but the Windows on screen keyboard sends key events to the operating system. This means it’s no different than typing on your keyboard to a keylogger. The obfuscation method is the better way to go (even though it’s more of a hassle).

By: Mister Ian’s Weblog from Kuwait » Public Computers Made Safe

Mister Ian’s Weblog from Kuwait » Public Computers Made Safe — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:38:05 +0000

[...] Public Computers Made Safe – Security Tools and Tips | MakeUseOf.com [...]

By: Monica

Monica — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:29:12 +0000

Written against todays line of action of viruses.. Well written.. a nice list of tips which if i follow then can save myself from getting my account hacked.. Some of these which were always there in front of me and i never noticed.. like that of virtual keyboard.. Thanks!!

Keep up the good work to help safe us from security threats..!!

By: USBman

USBman — Fri, 23 May 2008 19:54:30 +0000

Nice article – good work. I do want to make a suggestion, however.

You were right to suggest securely deleting any files stored on the hard drive, by using something like UltraShredder (along with many other available options). I’d like to suggest something along that same line, this time with an eye towards SECURELY deleting your browser’s history – simply choosing “Clear Private Data” still leaves your data vulnerable.

Instead, check out CCleaner ( ). This program cleans up shop, so to say, and has the option to SECURELY delete (i.e., overwrite) your data – once running, go to “Options -> Settings -> Secure Deletion” to set it to securely delete files. It has the option to pick and choose which program’s traces you want it to clean up – CCleaner supports many programs, including popular browsers like Firefox, Opera, and IE.

It’s also available as a portable version ( ).