Security

So, if you, like me, have to resort to PuTTY sometimes to SSH into a Linux box, I'm sure that you have also subjected yourself to much gnashing of teeth at the lack of a Windows solution to password-less logins into your server. For the uninitiated, password-less SSH allows you to log into a server without manually authenticating yourself.

Earlier today, I set up a gmail account for an elderly acquaintance of mine. Due to his really forgetful nature, once I created his account, I logged into it and mailed myself the username and password. As soon as I clicked "send" however, I found that I had been logged out of gmail. Trying to log back in proved futile as I was met with a "This account has been suspended" message!

If you're a firefox user (and usually, also a programmer), you've very likely come across situations where you are confronted with an error page while accessing an https address, because the certificate is self-signed. Getting around it involves adding an exception, which requires a multitude of steps ...

My gmail account is also the catchall address for a couple of domains and usually clocks about 2000 - 3000 spam every day. In the aftermath of the McColo shutdown, this number is down to about 150 - 200.

Even if this is a temporary respite, it is still quite heartwarming.

SpamCop's statistical graphs are also a great indicator of spam frequency.

Tor is an open source project that allows users to utilise the Internet anonymously through the use of something along the lines of distributed proxies - the Onion router network. Privoxy is more of a local web proxy that, when configured correctly, can protect your privacy by filtering such information at the source. Together they are an effective and user-friendly (but not necessarily perfect) solution to preserving your anonymity on the Internet.

If you manage websites that involve user registrations, I'm sure you have come across users who use services such as mailinator to register. While these services are definitely handy, the users who use them generally tend to be spammers or those that don't necessarily plan to stay on at your website. The following is a list of sites / services / domains that provide services similar to mailinator, and have found their way into my block list.

1. 2prong.com
   • miquosoft.com
2. 10minutemail.com