Online Security. OK or too far?

Takedap

I have been using online financial services for a good few years & never had a problem. However, I am seriously increasing my usage with multiple current accounts, online brokers for pensions & ISAs & using sites like Ebay etc for purchases.

At the moment I am using the same PC as I use for all my other stuff, work, emails, web-browsing et al.

Would it be safer to use a dedicated machine that would only be connected (ie, physically plugged in) when I wanted to connect to a bank for instance & was not used for any other purpose?

I have an oldish laptop that I could use for a clean install of a Linux operating system & then use only for the money stuff. When not in actual use, I would disconnect it & stash it in a cupboard.

Does this make any sense or am I being unduly paranoid? Would I actually be any safer?

Browntoa

if you are not a visitor to dodgy web sites or a filesharer then I would say its too much


regular scans with anti virus and something like malwarebytes should suffice

calx

If you keep a dedicated machine and only plug it in when online banking it is unlike to be kept uptodate with windows updates/antivirus etc etc. Leaving you more vulnerable in the long run.

I would say stick with your main pc but make sure all the updates are done. Old versions of java removed etc. Invest in decent antivirus software for example Bitdefender. (which is the current number 1 in independent tests.

psychic_teabag

What I do is use a separate browser profile for bank stuff. So while my normal browsing is done with various plugins and blockers active, I log into banks with a different intance of the browser with its own history, policies, etc.

With firefox, use -P profile to select a different profile name. -P on its own starts up with a profile editor.

Usually also need -no-remote to stop it just sending a message to an existing instance : it doesn't seem to take the profile into account when deciding whether to reuse an instance. Maybe that's fixed in a newer version.

chrome has --user-data-dir=DIR which may be the equilvalent.


Or I guess you could just firefox for banking and chrome for day-to-day stuff, or whichever combination you prefer.

Fightsback

calx wrote: »

If you keep a dedicated machine and only plug it in when online banking it is unlike to be kept uptodate with windows updates/antivirus etc etc.

No it won't because the OP is talking about Linux and not windows. Updating a Linux distro is a lot less tedious than windows and generally everything gets updated from repos at the same time.

Windows update is the single most thing I despise about Windows.

grumbler

Takedap wrote: »

When not in actual use, I would disconnect it & stash it in a cupboard.

A cupboard isn't good enough. I wrap it into foil and keep in a locked safe.

I_have_spoken

>Does this make any sense<

Yes, it does. I actually use a Linux VM within Window 10.

Takedap

grumbler wrote: »

A cupboard isn't good enough. I wrap it into foil and keep in a locked safe.

You must think I'm stupid. The cupboard is lined with lead & has a big padlock & two dogs guarding it.

The idea of creating a separate profile on my main PC had occurred to me but it might actually be easier to use the laptop as it's already there. Just needs XP zapping off & Mint installing. It might just save the (minor) hassle of having to remember who I've logged in as each time.

The bit about updates probably wouldn't be a problems as I log in to one or other of the accounts on a fairly regular basis.

shopbot

I would say that you are being overly cautious. I would advise you to get a Password Manager if you don't already use one (i.e 1Password). IMHO that is one of the things that could benefit people most if they already have the security basics in place (Not opening links in emails, sticking to safe sites, ensuring all software up to date etc).