People routinely ask about my favorite software so, I’ve decided to gather all my top picks in one place to make every one’s life a little easier.

All of the software listed here is free for personal use, meaning:

1. Any of this software can be installed and used at absolutely no charge, forever. There is no nagging, spyware, or anything else nasty.
2. Because it’s totally free, sometimes there is very little support. You either figure out how to use it, or just get rid of it.

So, without further ado, here is the list categorized by type of application:
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There is a fascinating new service which was just released for general Beta testing 12 days ago that allows you to create a disposable phone number which will redirect calls to your real number - but only for a predetermined amount of time.

I first encountered the site the day it went live, but for some time now I’ve been trying to determine exactly what one would use this for. Now that I’ve had time to digest, I’ve tested the service, recorded the results and posted them here for all to see.
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Security conscious techies now have some additional evidence to illustrate the inherent risks posed from surfing the Internet unprotected.

According to this article at ARSTechnica, one in twenty-five search results across major search engines result in sites affiliated with spyware, viruses, excessive pop-up advertisements, and junk e-mail.

The study found that not only can regular links found by search engines be dangerous, the sponsored links that appear in prominent positions in the results pages can also be harmful. In fact, in the May study, sponsored links were more than twice as likely to be linked to malware than non-sponsored links (8.5 vs. 3.1 percent).

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Wow.This is not a joke! The US Transportation Security Agency has already installed a machine in the Phoenix airport that literally sees through 100% of your clothes down to your bare skin and can display high resolution images of you in all your naked glory.

Assuming that all goes well with the initial run of the backscatter at Sky Harbor, similar technologies will be introduced to a number of other major U.S. airports early in 2007.
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Damn it! I’ve been preaching this for years but I don’t think many people are listening. Security practices in the Internet era have to change! We are way, way behind the technology available and it’s costing far more not to do anything about it than to fix the problems.

For example, the UK government estimates that ID theft costs the nation £1.7bn every year. Let’s see, that’s 1.7 billion divided by 60 million people or £28 per year, for every man, woman, child, infant, invalid and 90 year old in a nursing home. You could equip every person in the country with a fingerprint reader or secure ID token for a fraction of that cost and practically eliminate this huge - and growing - threat.
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I hate to be the one to continually complain about security, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep doing it. I would estimate that 95% of people are FAR too lax when it comes to security measures, and that another 4% are just plain old lax.

This latest story focuses on a concept called social engineering as a weak link in the chain (among other issues). Social engineering is the process of causing a security breach through submersive human interaction - in this case fooling bank personnel into believing you are someone you are not.
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If there weren’t enough things to be paranoid about already, manufacturers continue to release more and more “ethically challenged” pieces of surveillance equipment.

The latest is a Shower Mirror Radio wireless camera. It uses a two-way mirror and broadcasts wirelessly in full color to the pervert next door.
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The Internet is not a safe place. I’m not talking about your kids, I’m talking about YOU!

Recently my financial institutions have begun implementing “security enhancements” in order to fain compliance with guidelines set by the FFIEC. In a nutshell, the recommendation is as follows:

Using nothing more than a login ID and password to access banking and financial transaction services via the Web is insecure. Instead, financial institutions should turn to multi-factor authentication schemes to ensure client safety.

In order to understand what this means, here is a quick security lesson.
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A site called Zabasearch.com has stirred up a controversy by offering for free what you used to have to pay for.

Using their site, you can search for a person’s name, address, date of birth and known addresses - and currently it’s all free. You can also pay for a full background check on your subject, including 20-year address histories, bankruptcy and lien judgments, and family addresses.
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Ever wished you could get something off your computer while you were out of the office or away from home? Well stop dreaming because here are four free ways to make it happen!
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What’s so scary about this little blue pill? Well, it represents the prototype for a (currently) completely untraceable, and therefore unrepairable, new type of software which can infect a computer with malware.

The only good news is that the person alerting the world to this new menace is the ethical hacker/researcher who invented it. Joanna Rutkowska is a security researcher who is making her findings public in order to allow the entire security world to work on the issue. While is is probably not a threat to your current machine, it does use technology planned for upcoming PCs.
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We live in a world where a criminal can literally assume your identity and wipe you out financially. So, it’s important to put up as many obstacles as possible in order to protect yourself.
Here are my top recommendations to keep your stuff… well, yours.
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