Firewall to stop a senile user from giving out info?

Discussion in 'other firewalls' started by wsssm, Mar 4, 2013.

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  1. wsssm

    wsssm Registered Member

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    Hello security-minded folks. I have an issue. My dad has a computer and he gives away personal information to everyone who asks for it. He clicks just about every ad he comes across and puts all his information in and when they call he gives out credit card info and other personal info on the phone. We can't make him stop though he always promises never again, but he never remembers saying that. He's already had his identity stolen once and that was a huge deal. He had to go to get lawyers, sue businesses to get his credit repaired, etc.

    I would like to get a firewall or other solution that would block him from putting his personal information into forms and emails. We have both windows and mac computers in the house and we can limit him to either one of these if need be.

    In not really a mac person, but I did put an adblocker on his mac. That will help a little bit. But we need some kind of full protection.

    Thanks for any help you can give.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2013
  2. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    IMO, there really is no software solution that will save a user from himself, especially not a software firewall. There is simply no way to control anything like that, entering info into forms, and so on. If it's really a big problem, I would consider trying to prevent him from accessing the internet altogether before more bad things happen. Sorry I can't be more helpful, but that's how I see it. Maybe someone else has an idea..
     
  3. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    I am not am expert on privacy controls but I will point you in the right direction. Almost all Internet Security suites have a privacy control option. It is usually located in the Firewall section. These controls are usually activated to restrict what children can do on the Internet. I beleive most can restrict online purchase activity.

    Sorry, I have no solution for someone giving out personal information verbally.

    Also I assume we a talking about a competent adult and it is his PC. See if you can convince him to at least get a credit card with a low purchase limit, say $300, and only use that card for Internet purchases. That way he is a least limiting his fraud exposure.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2013
  4. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

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    Kerodo it correct.You can't save someone from there own self destruct.Disconnect from the internet maybe the only choice for his own safety as well as everyone else n the household.The phone is a whole other problem.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2013
  5. wsssm

    wsssm Registered Member

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    Thanks for the info guys. Unfortunately, keeping him off the Internet is not an option. I'm not his guardian, or anything like that. I just need to do as much as possible to help if I can. I wouldn't make him an administrator of the computer, so some form of security should be possible. If I could lock him down to just a few pieces of software, like a secure browser so he can play online games. As far as personal information, I'm pretty sure I could see that information with a packet sniffer, but only if it wasn't encrypted first. there should be a way to detect keystrokes with personal info. After all, there are keystroke loggers. There must be some way to do it, no?
     
  6. wsssm

    wsssm Registered Member

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    Thank you, Itman. That was helpful information. I think I will ask my mom to get the credit card with a limit.

    I did research firewalls with privacy controls. Unfortunately none of those sites go into any detail. They sound good until you find out they only stop phishing attempts. I remember I had a firewall once with the controls I think you are referring to, but I don't remember what it was.But iI do remember it didn't work well. Id hoped they would have been improved by now.
     
  7. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    I have heard of kid's browsers, but never looked at any of them much, but perhaps there are some that would allow you to control where he goes and what sites he is allowed to visit etc. Don't know if that would be acceptable.

    You can limit his $$ exposure with a small balance in an account or on a card, but you still need to beware of identity theft if he gives out his SS# anywhere or things like that.

    Email, I have no idea how you can stop someone from sending just about anything in email.

    Again, allowing him on the internet is really just a disaster waiting to happen if he indeed clicks on everything and gives out data to everybody... There is no way to control that with software, aside from, as mentioned above, limiting him to a handful of specific sites.

    You can also set him up on a machine as a limited user account and lock things down pretty tight as far as how he uses it locally.
     
  8. Notok

    Notok Registered Member

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    You should look into Data Loss Prevention (DLP) software; some of these should do what you want. Finding one for home use will be the tricky part. You could always email the companies, though; some may be willing to work something out for you in terms of getting a license.
     
  9. mrtonyg

    mrtonyg Registered Member

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    How about restrict his computer to only access certain websites.
     
  10. Dark Shadow

    Dark Shadow Registered Member

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  11. karmadharma

    karmadharma Registered Member

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    It seems impossible to create something completely watertight, however if it was me I would set up a squid proxy with a whitelist of the only websites you want to be accessible, set up a VLAN for the computer and allow traffic only through the squid proxy, block everything else save windows update or apple update.

    This should hopefully also take care of any ads or assorted crap (if you whitelist properly): the downside is that you would have to limit your dad to only one computer, which might or might not be workable (he might not like he can't access something there so he might use a different one, which of course would defeat the purpose).
     
  12. SeReB

    SeReB Registered Member

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    Instead for firewall use web filtering tool that can block sites by their content and is easily managed by selecting categories (like Guns, Ads, Shopping, Adults, etc). However it is not perfect - it might allow few sites where personal information can be filled in.
    Another level of the protection can be a tool blocking ads on the web. Also block 3rd party cookies as these help targeted ads.
    And the most important part - education. If your advices are in vain, ask a professional or an IT engineer or an IT teacher to help your dad understand the risks and forming a plan and regular checks. Also non-profit organizations protecting customers might give you few hints.
    The sad part - it is your dad that has the responsibility, so unless he realizes the threat behind it he is free to do anything he wants. I wouldn't go into restricting limits on credit cards and accounts as these might be seen as invading his life and the same reaction will return back to you.
     
  13. wsssm

    wsssm Registered Member

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    Thanks you guys. You've given me much to think about. Now I'm going to research all these ideas. :)
     
  14. vojta

    vojta Registered Member

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  15. Circe

    Circe Registered Member

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    +1 for K9 webprotection, it will work. I have used this software for many years.
     
  16. fax

    fax Registered Member

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    K9 or Kaspersky Parental control, with the latter I think you can even lock credit card number, social security, etc... even if on SSL channels.
     
  17. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    I think that feature only works for IMs.
     
  18. hawki

    hawki Registered Member

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    Can you use an encryption program for all outgoing transmissions that you could conveniently turn on and off-maybe password protected?
     
  19. Keyboard_Commando

    Keyboard_Commando Registered Member

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    Try Norton DNS

    It will prevent dodgy websites being accessed by a user - in short - obviously not all though. It's a free service that really does work and it's quite easy to set up on a PC or with router (search this site and you can see many people here use it). You can edit the types of content able to be accessed online. OpenDNS is another good option.

    Zonealarm Security Suite has personal info protection, ad blocker, download protection (scans first for malware/scamware), website filtering control, personal tracks eraser, firewall, anti virus (not sure how good it is). The personal info protection does work, or did when I last tried it out. It might be worth a try yourself and test how good it really is. Golden rule, test these applications that claim to do a lot.

    I have the same problem you're having here. I too have an elderly relative that is way too careless with using credit cards and putting out his personal data on various websites. I just cannot get through to him the dangers online. One thing I did was to insist my relative uses a prepaid card for online purchases. That way the financial damage will be minimal.
     
  20. flamerz

    flamerz Registered Member

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    i think you can try with norton dns and admuncher (trying to avoid popups and advertisement content).

    its quite difficult o_O
     
  21. Pre Paid Debit Card
    Google Chrome
    Adblock+
    Https Everywhere
    NortonDNS

    Best you can do.
     
  22. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    Another simple solution that will keep him at least from going to known bad web sites is W.O.T. You can read about it here: http://www.mywot.com/en/aboutus.

    You can also configure WOT not only only to "warn but allow manual override" to "warn and block."

    WOT works as a plug-in to most Windows browsers and Apple's Safari browser.
     
  23. hogndog

    hogndog Registered Member

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    Agree 100% ;)
     
  24. The Red Moon

    The Red Moon Registered Member

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    Even though i use WOT myself i think this system is wide open to abuse and so is not 100% reliable.
     
  25. hogndog

    hogndog Registered Member

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    Sorry that's my fault 100% is rather a strong statement, dad is probably getting up there in years, as we grow older we seniors watch helplessly as our rights go by the wayside. With W.O.T if he's at all like me i enjoy rounding up the bad guys, at least this way I'm a participant, he could be "the new sheriff in town so to speak" :D

    Thanks..
    Hogndog
     
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