[ATU/M/ISK]

I'm interested in knowing what you guys' habits are, since I come from a very small town and I'm the only computer-literate person around (aside from my father, who taught me everything I know).


1. I tend to use Hot Keys (a lot)

2. I hold "Shift" when I press "Enter" when I'm typing anything to avoid the "Enter" command submitting my posts too soon

3. I use "Ctrl+Shift+Esc" instead of "ctrl+alt+del"

4. I never save my passwords on any of my browsers no matter how secure they are, because it helps me remember them.

5. I have a different password for literally everything, but I never lose track because they're actually the same password, just with an extra affiliation added to them specific to whatever I'm logging into (ex. 1Password1, 2Password1, 3Password1, 4Password1, etc. where "Password1" is the common password and the "1, 2, 3, 4, etc." in front of them is the affiliation that makes them different)
*Disclaimer: My password is not actually "Password1" and my affiliations are not numbered, so no, I'm not revealing my personal information here

6. I have automated scripts and programs that clean my cache, history, junk files, etc. every time I close a program or restart my computer

7. I constantly tinker with my own computer and don't use VMs nearly as much as I should, so unfortunately in an attempt to modify/enhance a lot of the features I have, I often break something. Luckily, that forces me to learn how to fix virtually every problem I've ever had and I've been lucky enough to never make the same mistake twice and still retain what I've learned so I can't complain.

What are some of your habits?

[mothered]

Too many to mention.

In short, I have dedicated systems suited to the tasks they're setup to perform. A network of VMs Is also part of the equation.

[Razerr]

i also never save passwords as it helps me remember them. But there were times when i forgot and was screwed

[ATU/M/ISK]

Too many to mention.

In short, I have dedicated systems suited to the tasks they're setup to perform. A network of VMs Is also part of the equation.

I use VM's when I'm testing scripts or new OS' but I should really get in the habit of making changes on them before I do them to my actual computer. (my custom personal traveling companion laptop, not my dedicated desktop)

That's a great system though, how often have you had to reinstall/reconfigure all of those systems and tasks on new systems?
Do you have them set to just run and reconfigure/reinstall everything?

I have 2 other junk laptops I play with but every time I reinstall an OS or reconfigure them in general, I drag my files and torrents over from my external and manually reinstall my "basic kit". It's become second nature at this point, but I've been considering writing scripts that I can just run and reinstall everything I use at an instant.

[mothered]

That's a great system though, how often have you had to reinstall/reconfigure all of those systems and tasks on new systems?
Do you have them set to just run and reconfigure/reinstall everything?

The VMs are not an Issue- I have backups of all VHDs and the moment one corrupts, I simply mount the backup and It's up and running literally within a couple of minutes. Shadow copies have failed me at the best of times, hence the backups.

In terms of my physical (Host) systems and their reconfiguration, It depends what the PC Is dedicated to performing. For Instance, the system that's generating this post, Is only assigned to this board and nothing else, so It remains as Is. Others that're used for testing purposes, are formatted quite often. The one handling my IDS/IPS, Is configured and updated regularly, namely with new security rules, threat & Intelligence monitoring configs etc. And the other constantly cracking accounts, speaks for Itself. My anonymity Is paramount when exploiting, so obviously I have a system that's anonymized to the max.

There's a few more, but I'll keep those to myself.

[ATU/M/ISK]

That's a great system though, how often have you had to reinstall/reconfigure all of those systems and tasks on new systems?
Do you have them set to just run and reconfigure/reinstall everything?

The VMs are not an Issue- I have backups of all VHDs and the moment one corrupts, I simply mount the backup and It's up and running literally within a couple of minutes. Shadow copies have failed me at the best of times, hence the backups.

In terms of my physical (Host) systems and their reconfiguration, It depends what the PC Is dedicated to performing. For Instance, the system that's generating this post, Is only assigned to this board and nothing else, so It remains as Is. Others that're used for testing purposes, are formatted quite often. The one handling my IDS/IPS, Is configured and updated regularly, namely with new security rules, threat & Intelligence monitoring configs etc. And the other constantly cracking accounts, speaks for Itself. My anonymity Is paramount when exploiting, so obviously I have a system that's anonymized to the max.

There's a few more, but I'll keep those to myself.

Nice, that's a solid setup, and completely understood.
I'll have to start doing that when I come into a little more money this summer.
I'm very big on anonymization as well. I've got a VPN and change my Tor profile every time I click on anything, but I'd like a system that's a little more secure in the sense that you have it, which is limiting what I'm willing to try to do until I beef up a bit.

[mothered]

That's a great system though, how often have you had to reinstall/reconfigure all of those systems and tasks on new systems?
Do you have them set to just run and reconfigure/reinstall everything?

The VMs are not an Issue- I have backups of all VHDs and the moment one corrupts, I simply mount the backup and It's up and running literally within a couple of minutes. Shadow copies have failed me at the best of times, hence the backups.

In terms of my physical (Host) systems and their reconfiguration, It depends what the PC Is dedicated to performing. For Instance, the system that's generating this post, Is only assigned to this board and nothing else, so It remains as Is. Others that're used for testing purposes, are formatted quite often. The one handling my IDS/IPS, Is configured and updated regularly, namely with new security rules, threat & Intelligence monitoring configs etc. And the other constantly cracking accounts, speaks for Itself. My anonymity Is paramount when exploiting, so obviously I have a system that's anonymized to the max.

There's a few more, but I'll keep those to myself.

Nice, that's a solid setup, and completely understood.
I'll have to start doing that when I come into a little more money this summer.
I'm very big on anonymization as well. I've got a VPN and change my Tor profile every time I click on anything, but I'd like a system that's a little more secure in the sense that you have it, which is limiting what I'm willing to try to do until I beef up a bit.

Good move with Tor.

It's always good practice to run a VPN alongside Tor, or better yet (compatibility permitted), two VPNs. ExpressVPN and ZenMate work well together:

Spoiler:

[ATU/M/ISK]

The VMs are not an Issue- I have backups of all VHDs and the moment one corrupts, I simply mount the backup and It's up and running literally within a couple of minutes. Shadow copies have failed me at the best of times, hence the backups.

In terms of my physical (Host) systems and their reconfiguration, It depends what the PC Is dedicated to performing. For Instance, the system that's generating this post, Is only assigned to this board and nothing else, so It remains as Is. Others that're used for testing purposes, are formatted quite often. The one handling my IDS/IPS, Is configured and updated regularly, namely with new security rules, threat & Intelligence monitoring configs etc. And the other constantly cracking accounts, speaks for Itself. My anonymity Is paramount when exploiting, so obviously I have a system that's anonymized to the max.

There's a few more, but I'll keep those to myself.

Nice, that's a solid setup, and completely understood.
I'll have to start doing that when I come into a little more money this summer.
I'm very big on anonymization as well. I've got a VPN and change my Tor profile every time I click on anything, but I'd like a system that's a little more secure in the sense that you have it, which is limiting what I'm willing to try to do until I beef up a bit.

Good move with Tor.

It's always good practice to run a VPN alongside Tor, or better yet (compatibility permitted), two VPNs. ExpressVPN and ZenMate work well together:

Spoiler:

I've heard very good things about Express and Zen. I was also considering Nord for it's price to capability ratio, but I've never tried it myself, I'm only going by word of mouth. You seem like an educated chum, so I'll definitely hook myself up with Express & Zen.

A million thanks

[mothered]

Nice, that's a solid setup, and completely understood.
I'll have to start doing that when I come into a little more money this summer.
I'm very big on anonymization as well. I've got a VPN and change my Tor profile every time I click on anything, but I'd like a system that's a little more secure in the sense that you have it, which is limiting what I'm willing to try to do until I beef up a bit.

Good move with Tor.

It's always good practice to run a VPN alongside Tor, or better yet (compatibility permitted), two VPNs. ExpressVPN and ZenMate work well together:

Spoiler:

I've heard very good things about Express and Zen. I was also considering Nord for it's price to capability ratio, but I've never tried it myself, I'm only going by word of mouth. You seem like an educated chum, so I'll definitely hook myself up with Express & Zen.

A million thanks

You're welcome.

Going by personal experience, I'd say NordVPN and ExpressVPN are pretty much on par. ZenMate Is very close to both.

[UCW]

Thank you for this post really helpful!