The Furious Angels
FA Discussion => Off Topic => Topic started by: Jeyk on April 22, 2025, 04:31:45 pm
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I've never been the victim of any sort of fraud until recently; I got alerts on my phone about suspicious transactions on my bank account, and sure enough, someone had used my bank card to make a couple of purchases for digital goods on Amazon at 4:00 a.m. - I of course locked the card, and got all but one of my purchases reversed (one is still pending).
Oddly enough, my wife and I put down a deposit for a privacy fence on our new home the afternoon before using this very card, which I haven't used for anything in months. However when I did this, I read the card number out loud over the phone to the fence company representative we've been working with for a while now (we've met with these folks many times, so I knew who we were talking to - and they are a large and reputable company in our area) - the kicker, though, is that I had an Amazon Echo device in the room we were in, and now I can't help but think of all the possibilities and vulnerabilities on the table.
While there may have very well been a number ways my card could have been compromised from long ago as I've had it for years (or, perhaps the fence company has some security issues on their end, etc.), the timing of it all, the fact that the card has not been used in months, and that the card number was just read out loud over the phone in a room where I've got an Amazon Echo mere hours before the fraud occurred has me overthinking this from every angle. Furthermore, I live in a subdivision with little space between the homes to boot, so I can see a number of Wi-Fi networks pop up when I go to seek my own connection, and it makes me wonder - how secure is my internet from not just general threats, but ones near me? The answer, at least to me now, is: clearly not secure enough, especially when I've got all these neat little devices and cameras inside and outside of my home, hooked up to my Wi-Fi, just begging to be potentially used or exploited by someone who can jump onto my poorly secured network.
With all that being said, my point is this; Broin isn't the old man around here anymore these days! I need to get up-to-date on some basic, but effective, internet security. I'm thankful that I've still got my fellow Angels to lean in to and trust with questions like this!
Can you all provide me with some suggestions regarding Firewall, Antivirus, Malware, and VPN software I should be keeping in my Security Swiss Army Knife? I know some things are free, and free is great - but I'm also okay with paying for some services as well. Recommendations for both would be stellar, if reliable versions of each service exists! Any other suggestions or software related to security that I may be missing is also welcome!
Thank you in advance for any recommendations!