Security of using other sites (Moved from a different thread)

[kasca]

Has this been cheaked out?? Iam afraid i not about to follow a link that just pasted here.

[Phanx]

Well, one of the links goes to curse.com, which is obvious, and the other goes to a .edu domain, which can only be registered by a legitimate US educational institution (in this case, Colorado State University) and is extremely unlikely to be hosting malware, so I think you're pretty safe.

Anyway, as long as your operating system and browser is reasonably up to date, and you're running some kind of antivirus/antimalware software, the chances of any link posted on a forum infecting you are pretty low, especially if the person posting the link went through the trouble of posting so much information around it. Most spammers post only a link, or a link surrounded by broken English.

Finally, I've never understood the point of coming to post only "I don't trust this link, so I'm not clicking on it." If you don't want to click a link, great. Nobody's trying to force you.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Phanx Well, one of the links goes to curse.com, which is obvious, and the other goes to a .edu domain, which can only be registered by a legitimate US educational institution (in this case, Colorado State University) and is extremely unlikely to be hosting malware, so I think you're pretty safe.

In my many years of owning a web hosting company, I've seen and experienced otherwise. People should never assume things. Just because it's an edu domain does not make it safe.

[Phanx]

Obviously, nothing on the internet is ever 100% safe. If you're unwilling to accept any risk, you should never even connect your computer to any network.

That said, I think the fact that an .edu domain is controlled by a legitimate educational institution does make it safer, because such institutions generally have strong policies about what types of files users may host on their network, and strong penalties for users who violate these policies. A .com domain might be hosted by a provider who has similar policies, or it might be hosted by a "rogue" provider in Russia or China who doesn't care what's on their servers.

Finally, I've been using the internet on a near-daily basis for the last 15 years or so, and have never -- not once -- had my computer infected with any kind of virus, worm, trojan, keylogger, spyware, or other malware. The only things any security scans ever complain about are tracking cookies, or occasionally "no CD" cracks back in the days when requiring the game disc to be in your CD-ROM drive was a popular anti-piracy measure. It's just not that hard to avoid being infected by malware, and I really don't understand how so many people get so completely destroyed by viruses.

[kasca]

I go becase i like to help. Iam not real computer literate so i look to see if anyone cheaked it out.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Phanx I've been using the internet on a near-daily basis for the last 15 years

Only 15 years? At any rate, you're looking at it from an end user point of view. I'm stating things as an experienced hosting server admin. A hosting account does not need to be hosted in some foreign country in order for their account to be hacked (I am in no way saying the OP's site has been hacked). I've seen it happen more times than I care to think about, and nine times out of ten the client is completely oblivious to what's happening on their account (and you can beg your clients till you are blue in the face to keep any and all third party software they install on their accounts updated. Most of them don't.) People hack sites for many different reasons, and some of them can get pretty darn creative about it. There's nothing that you can say that will change what I've seen, experienced, and witnessed.

[Phanx]

Originally Posted by Petrah Only 15 years?

I'm only 27, and I grew up in a rural area where dial-up was still considered state-of-the-art when I left in 2002.

Originally Posted by Petrah At any rate, you're looking at it from an end user point of view.

Well, since in this situation I am an end user, and my post was addressing other end users, I think it's pretty reasonable for me to speak from the perspective of an end user.

Originally Posted by Petrah If I did have the time for something like this, I would probably call the university and speak to them directly about your program.

I just can't wrap my head around this level of paranoia about a simple link on the internet. Let's say the guy is a scam. Let's say he has managed to hack into the web servers of Colorado State University, and has spent hours crafting all of these web pages he's linked to to make himself look legitimate.

Let's say there's some kind of virus on one of the pages. If your computer is reasonably up to date, and reasonably protected, the chances of that virus being able to infect you are pretty low. Even if it does get through, the chances of it having an immediate and catastrophic effect on your computer are probably pretty low (I'm basing this on the fact that I've cleaned up dozens of computers for friends and relatives that had dozens or even hundreds of viruses on them, yet had continued to function without data loss for months or years).

Let's say there is no virus, but there's some other kind of scam. Let's say, for example, that the addon he wants you to install has some sneaky code in it that sends his character some gold the next time you open a mailbox. The addon is published on Curse, he's posted the link publicly here on WoWInterface, and people in this very thread have already reviewed the addon's code and commented on it. Do you really think that nobody would have noticed something like that?

Finally, let's say his whole point is just to get you to "waste" 90 minutes of your day playing WoW with some strangers. Even if that's the case, and the promise of a 30-day game card is a lie, who cares? Does it really ruin your life, or have any effect on anything, if you spend 90 minutes of your day playing WoW with some strangers for "nothing"? All of the time you spend playing WoW is for "nothing".

I just don't understand why there's so much fear and paranoia going on in this thread. The guy sounds legit, and I can't see much potential of any kind of payoff even if it is an elaborate scam. If you don't trust him, or don't trust the links he posted, don't click on the links, and don't volunteer for his reasearch. It's that simple.

I'm generally a pretty big pessimist, so the fact that I'm apparently on the optimistic side of this conversation concerns me.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Phanx I just can't wrap my head around this level of paranoia

Paranoia has nothing to do with it. This is my work computer and I have all of my clients information on it. It's my livelyhood. Being a single mom of two teens, I don't make a hell of a lot so I cannot afford another computer that I can set aside specifically for gaming.

Weather or not you can "wrap your head around it", always remember that people have their reasons for doing things regardless of weather or not you know what those reasons are or if you agree/disagree with them.

[Phanx]

Use Dropbox or some other online cloud storage, or an external hard drive, or a USB stick, or even CD-Rs or DVD-Rs, to back up your important stuff. Having critical information in only one place is a bad idea even if you don't use the internet. What if your hard drive fails tomorrow?

Burn a disk image to a CD and keep it around. Replace it periodically with a new one. If your computer ever has some unrecoverable software problem (such as a virus that you can't remove), you can just restore from the backup, wiping away everything that's on the hard drive.

Really, it just comes down to common sense. If you don't trust the guy, or are afraid of clicking on links, nobody here is trying to force you to click on the links he posted, or participate in his study.

Posting things like "I wouldn't click on that link without calling the place that controls that site and talking to someone first" and "I own a web hosting company" togther gives less knowledgable readers the impression that (a) you are an authority on the subject, and (b) as such an authority, you are advising them that links on the internet are scary and not to be trusted. If your personal situation means that you need to be extra cautious, that's fine; it's not your situation that bothers me, it's the impression your posts give average users.

[Petrah]

Originally Posted by Phanx it's the impression your posts give average users.

I stated facts. Nothing more. Average users need to be aware, and I'll continue to help in any way that I can. If they get from my posts that they should be more cautious, then I feel good in being as honest and forthright with my experiences as possible.

Sorry if that bothers you. If you feel you need to discuss it with me, then by all means PM me.

[Phanx]

Regardless of your experiences, wanting to look up a phone number for a company/institution, call them on the phone, and talk to a live person about a page on their website before you're willing to click on a link to that page seems like a very extreme position to take.

Do you really think that's a reasonable thing to suggest to the average WoW player?

What about the people running the website? Do you think they're equipped to handle the volume of phone calls that they would receive if everyone followed your advice?

Anyway, how are you going to find the phone number to call without clicking on internet links? Do you collect paper phone books from every city and county in the country? What about other countries? How do you get all these phone books? Should everyone dedicate a room in their house to collecting phone books so they can check out every link before they click on it?

Where does it all end?