Internet cafes : a pain

Tsunami · 25 Mar 2005, 07:40 AM

Within a week or 2 I'm finally having internet at home

Me and the inhabitants of the other flats in the buildings are setting up a small local network to share costs...

Glad it's finally happening cause these internet cafes are a true pain. I just arrived here and noticed in the browser someone has been seeing adult sites... When looking a bit through the hard disk's files I notice a few por-nographic downloads... I got suspicious and before entering any passwords I thought I'd scan for virusses and spyware. Incredible : the cafe owner didn't scan for more than a month and I had to clean up over 150 spyware/virus files

This is making me sick, can't even check my mails without having to worry for password security. Why the heck does anyone want to check po-rn in the middle of a public place, why the heck did the store owner install AdAware and Norton not to use it afterwards ?!

Now I use a USB memorystick to store my own files. As I copied a few Wordpad documents on it, I just wanted to ask if it is possible that I copy a virus to it that may change the file's contents.
The WordPad file is very personal thing and I didn't work hard on it to see the content changed by some virus or so. I may look way too far and react slightly paranoid, but I don't know if I have no reason to worry after having cleaned up 150 'nasty' files...

Also weird: when copying the files from memory stick 1 to memory stick 2, I checked properties for the files on stick 2. All seemed fine, they all had the "created" date of today and "modified" date of the day when I last modified them on the first memorystick. Except one file which strangely enough had the same date for "created" and "modified"

Maybe I am worrying too much, but my lack of technical knowledge does make it impossible for me to know myself... And a decent internetcafe owner should just kick out everyone opening adult sites. If one wants to visit those sites, do it at home where you don't bother others.

xbot · 25 Mar 2005, 10:06 AM

Shouldn't, unless you're copying an executable virus, or a virus on the machine attacks USB devices.

I've never had to use an internet cafe. I live in a small town--there may be 7,000 people, but it's too small to set up any major hot spots. Our growth rate is -.1%--that is saddening

I suggest simply finding an online host to handle those files--upload them via FTP, and then as you enter internet cafes, you can download them and not worry about infection. That's what I do--I keep about 4 or 5 different hosts--some I put sites on, others I use for personal backup.

btn · 25 Mar 2005, 10:46 AM

Public computers and network access points in general are a huge security risk.

At the risk of providing a false sense of security, it would be nice if there were an international standard for best-practices (e.g. for internet cafes) that could optionally be audited on a regular basis much like the local health department grades restaurants in Southern California.

registered_user · 25 Mar 2005, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by btn
Public computers and network access points in general are a huge security risk.

At the risk of providing a false sense of security, it would be nice if there were an international standard for best-practices (e.g. for internet cafes) that could optionally be audited on a regular basis much like the local health department grades restaurants in Southern California.

Ummm... yeah. I'll call up Kofi and we'll get started on that right away.

btn · 26 Mar 2005, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by registered_user
Ummm... yeah. I'll call up Kofi and we'll get started on that right away.

I was thinking more along the lines of ISO except (much) less expensive to certify and more easy to understand.

Bamb0 · 21 Sep 2022, 10:54 AM

I would be worried someone may be looking over my shoudler and see what im doing

I dont think those cafes are very good..... Forget all the people there. Your surrounded by lots of RF and thas not good either....

25 Mar 2005, 07:40 AM	#1
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,323	Internet cafes : a pain Within a week or 2 I'm finally having internet at home Me and the inhabitants of the other flats in the buildings are setting up a small local network to share costs... Glad it's finally happening cause these internet cafes are a true pain. I just arrived here and noticed in the browser someone has been seeing adult sites... When looking a bit through the hard disk's files I notice a few por-nographic downloads... I got suspicious and before entering any passwords I thought I'd scan for virusses and spyware. Incredible : the cafe owner didn't scan for more than a month and I had to clean up over 150 spyware/virus files This is making me sick, can't even check my mails without having to worry for password security. Why the heck does anyone want to check po-rn in the middle of a public place, why the heck did the store owner install AdAware and Norton not to use it afterwards ?! Now I use a USB memorystick to store my own files. As I copied a few Wordpad documents on it, I just wanted to ask if it is possible that I copy a virus to it that may change the file's contents. The WordPad file is very personal thing and I didn't work hard on it to see the content changed by some virus or so. I may look way too far and react slightly paranoid, but I don't know if I have no reason to worry after having cleaned up 150 'nasty' files... Also weird: when copying the files from memory stick 1 to memory stick 2, I checked properties for the files on stick 2. All seemed fine, they all had the "created" date of today and "modified" date of the day when I last modified them on the first memorystick. Except one file which strangely enough had the same date for "created" and "modified" Maybe I am worrying too much, but my lack of technical knowledge does make it impossible for me to know myself... And a decent internetcafe owner should just kick out everyone opening adult sites. If one wants to visit those sites, do it at home where you don't bother others.

25 Mar 2005, 10:46 AM	#3
btn Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: San Jose, CA, US Posts: 688 Representative of: Everyone.net	Re: Internet cafes : a pain Public computers and network access points in general are a huge security risk. At the risk of providing a false sense of security, it would be nice if there were an international standard for best-practices (e.g. for internet cafes) that could optionally be audited on a regular basis much like the local health department grades restaurants in Southern California.

25 Mar 2005, 10:06 AM	#2
xbot Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 922 Representative of: xxos.us	Shouldn't, unless you're copying an executable virus, or a virus on the machine attacks USB devices. I've never had to use an internet cafe. I live in a small town--there may be 7,000 people, but it's too small to set up any major hot spots. Our growth rate is -.1%--that is saddening I suggest simply finding an online host to handle those files--upload them via FTP, and then as you enter internet cafes, you can download them and not worry about infection. That's what I do--I keep about 4 or 5 different hosts--some I put sites on, others I use for personal backup.

21 Sep 2022, 10:54 AM	#6
Bamb0 Master of the @ Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: USA Posts: 1,808	I would be worried someone may be looking over my shoudler and see what im doing I dont think those cafes are very good..... Forget all the people there. Your surrounded by lots of RF and thas not good either....