internet protected mode off

sitcom123

i have brought our lap top over to Florida, the villa we are in has wii fii, i have noticed in the bottom corner of the laptop now it says internet protected mode off, should i be worried about this or is it normal when using wii fii abroad

TimothyEBaldwin

It's normal when using public hotspots, and you should worry. It means that anyone within range can read and modify your communications, except for those that are encrypted by other means.

Freddie_Snowbits

Bollox Tim.

You should always sue security or protected mode to prevent hackers, especially in unknown locations

see

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/IE7-protected-mode.aspx

Internet Explorer Protected Mode, available when running Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista, provides security and data protection for Windows users.
Protected Mode helps keep hackers from taking over your browser, damaging your system and installing software. Internet Explorer Protected Mode helps protect users and their systems from malicious downloads by restricting where files can be saved without the users consent.
In Protected Mode, Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Vista cannot modify user or system files and settings without user consent. Protected Mode requires the user to confirm any activity that tries to put something on your machine or start another program. By ensuring the user consents to these kinds of actions, the likelihood of automated and/or unwanted software installation is reduced. This feature also makes you aware of what a website is trying to do, giving you a chance to stop it and take time to double check the trustworthiness of the website.

[Deleted User]

Have you disabled UAC by chance?

tronator

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

Bollox Tim.

You should always sue security or protected mode to prevent hackers, especially in unknown locations

see

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/IE7-protected-mode.aspx

What a "bollox" MS has invented there. Why not making Windows safe in first place? Letting people work as administrator is a bad idea. If someone is logged in as restricted user he shouldn't be able to write system files anyway. And why restricting this "feature" to the IE only?

sitcom123

thanks for your replies, but to be honest I am still unsure if using my laptop is safe or not. i have been using it to transfer money from bank accounts to dollars etc and checking up on my mobile accounts, are my bank accounts safe or can other people access them. is there something simple i should be doing bearing in mind i am not very technie minded so would have to be easy to use

[Deleted User]

Well, what version of Windows are you using, what security software you using, do you have Windows Firewall enabled?

sitcom123

i am using windows 7 and the security is microsoft security essentials

tronator

sitcom123 wrote: »

thanks for your replies, but to be honest I am still unsure if using my laptop is safe or not. i have been using it to transfer money from bank accounts to dollars etc and checking up on my mobile accounts, are my bank accounts safe or can other people access them. is there something simple i should be doing bearing in mind i am not very technie minded so would have to be easy to use

If you're connected to a secure website (https://...) then all traffic from your browser to the website is encrypted and can't be read from someone else. Only if you have some malware on your computer, then everything you do on your computer could be read by the attacker. But this applies everywhere, whether you're at home or where you are at the moment.

[Deleted User]

sitcom123 wrote: »

i am using windows 7 and the security is microsoft security essentials

In Internet Explorer go to Tools > Internet Options > Security and then is there a check in the box for Enable Protected Mode?

[Deleted User]

tronator wrote: »

What a "bollox" MS has invented there. Why not making Windows safe in first place? Letting people work as administrator is a bad idea. If someone is logged in as restricted user he shouldn't be able to write system files anyway. And why restricting this "feature" to the IE only?

In a roundabout kind of way, you've just made the case of why the introduction of User Account Control in Windows Vista was a major step forwards in changing the way that people use their computer by discouraging the use of an account with higher privileges than they require, something unique only to the mindset of a select demographic of Windows users.

Other applications can take advantage of the architecture that Protected Mode is based around, Google have had no difficulty in doing so with Chrome on Windows.

Microsoft have made massive advancements in protecting their Operating Systems, which is why the vulnerabilities and levels of Malware infections are significantly lower on Windows Vista/7 than compared to XP, however you cannot make a system that is impervious to all threats whilst still allowing the user total freedom to use their machine in whatever manner they wish.