Precautions before going online?

**jpdeaton** · January 31st, 2012

I'm doing a clean alternate install and don't trust the network I am connecting to. Are there any security measures that can be taken before I connect to the internet?
Would it be better to connect directly to the router with an ethernet while configuring everything?

**Dangertux** · January 31st, 2012

If you don't trust the network you're on there really aren't any security measures you can take.

That being said , choosing a switched connection to the router does give you a little bit. Though that traffic can still be sniffed by anyone on that router (via arp poisoning)

You need to be using SSL/TLS for all sensitive online dealings. IE: Internet banking , email , social networking etc. You could use a VPN or ssh tunnel to further this if you have or can get access to one.

Other than that standard rules apply. Noscript on our browser (as well as other similar addons) , decent firewall config, apparmor profiles enforced, well configured file permissions, strong passwords, etc.

Hope this helps.

**uRock** · January 31st, 2012

Enabling UFW will make you invisible to port scans, but your packets will still be sniffable. As mentioned above, HTTPS and other encrypted connections are the way to go when using an insecure network. If the router is yours, then yes, connect to it with hard wire and lock it down.

Code:

sudo ufw enable

**jpdeaton** · January 31st, 2012

How can I delete the firefox disable file for apparmor? It's not letting me delete it.
Anyone know whats up with the 140TB? lol...

**uRock** · January 31st, 2012

You have to open Nautilus as the root user. This is not recommended. You can set the profile to complain, if needed.

To open Nautilus as root, copy and paste the folling in a terminal,

Code:

gksudo nautilus

then enter your password. Be careful as it is easy to destroy your install by altering the wrong directory.

**jpdeaton** · January 31st, 2012

Is it normal for /usr/share to be a large file? How can I disable any shared files/folders?

thanks again

**OpSecShellshock** · January 31st, 2012

Originally Posted by jpdeaton

Is it normal for /usr/share to be a large file? How can I disable any shared files/folders?

thanks again

/usr/share shouldn't be messed with. It's got application libraries in it, so it's not a folder that contains your files shared out over a network, but rather it contains necessary software and libraries that need to be accessed, or shared, by all users of the local computer. If you're the only user then that's just you anyway. Don't remove anything from it as it will break things.

The folder size does not seem to be reporting accurately. I doubt very much that there's that much space on the drive to begin with.