Expert: Doug Woodall - 1/7/2011

Question
QUESTION: Hi!  You said you don't answer questions about when or if IE will ever be secure. Is IE not secure??? I've always been under the impression that it was. I never used it for private info until I saw the commercial, though.  I mean, it was so convincing. I stopped using Firefox for online billpay and started using IE :s.  Which brings me to my issue.  I use internet for all bills. I pay online everywhere I can.  On my computer, I run Bitdefender, Spybot, Malwarebytes, and CCleaner routinely. I often wonder if it's working properly though because my computer runs so slow at times and it does that "not responding" thing too much for comfort.  I always think maybe a virus got through. I'm very near paranoid about this.  Anyway, like I said, I do everything online, so between all the bill paying sites I use, my bank's routing info and my debit card info are available to anyone who gets their jollies by hacking into places.  In the past year or so, both have been stolen and used online.  I'd hate to think that I have to stop using internet to handle my finances. It's all I know! Every since this happened with my routing info, I limit all activity to MY computer.  Even my primary email gets checked from one computer only, and I do everything I know to do to keep my computer safe. I look for padlocks when paying online and "https" too and lets not forget about all the antivirus programs. But just recently, my debit info was stolen & used by someone who wasn't me.  I don't understand how this keeps happening. I'm certain it's happening when I use the info online but I don't know how. I certainly don't want to continue putting my identity at risk. I just need to know what could be happening and if this is a risk I'm always going to have to take no matter what I do. Maybe all this "hacking" happened b4 I started being extra careful and they just sat on the info until recently to make me crazy. Who knows.  But it's making me scared to touch my keyboard. Please help!

PS I've written a couple experts for various issues in the past.  Everyone always starts off their response by telling me to dump Bitdefender and get Security Essentials.  I used it for a while and it did its job well but I really like Bitdefender. Is it not a good program to use or is it just about preference?

ANSWER: Hi Sandy,
Well, to start with, I wont tell you to stop using BitDefender. I use it myself, have for years.
It sounds like you are doing alot of things right. Way more than most users, I commend you on that.
Are your Microsoft updates current? A vulnerability can be accessed that way.
Do you visit any Social sites? They are very popular with Hackers lately.
Is your IE configured to erase all History and Cookies on closing?
Every time I do a secure transaction, I close out the Browser and start again with a fresh Browser.

Let me know.
Hope this helps,
Doug

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The only thing that I don't do that I probably should is clear cookies and open a new browser b4 doing any transactions. I don't even remember the last time I cleared history. I hate that it actually...clears history lol. I used to do all billing through Firefox, so I was thinking about just going back to that and I've downloaded Keyscrambler that's actually jumbling up my words as I type now, so hopefully that'll help. I've always had Windows Update set to automatic so when it pops up with new updates, I get to those right away and usually don't wait more than a couple hours to restart my system if needed. I visit the same sites over and over. Nothing that wouldn't be allowed on a school or work computer. I use Google quite a bit, and I guess I go to unfamiliar websites through that.  But it's tame stuff. No Facebook or Twitter. So, idk.  Any add'l help you can offer is appreciated. Thanks for the response!

Answer
Hi again Sandy,
Keyscrambler is a must for all users I believe.
I wanted to ask if you have taken steps to protect yourself.
Heres a link,

http://www.ehow.com/how_5608726_recover-stolen-identity.html

We had a problem a few years back when my wifes bank card was scammed at a ATM.
This ehow article helped alot.

Hope this helps.

Doug