UPDATE: This sweepstakes is now closed. The winner will be contacted and then announced via our Facebook page.
Facebook recently announced a new feature: One-time passwords sent to users via text message.
[To use this feature, go to “Account “> “Account Settings”. Under “My Account”, click “Mobile”. If you already have a mobile activated, you’re ready to go. If not, you need to “Sign up for Facebook Mobile.” Facebook will text you a code to activate your phone. Now, whenever you need a One-time password, just text “otp” to 32665 (FBOOK).]
Does Facebook just want access to more mobile phones, as security expert Larry Zeltser has suggested? Probably. But Facebook has looked at its user base and attempted to solve a serious security problem.
If you’ve ever taken a look at the screen on the public computers in libraries, Internet cafes and schools, you see that nearly everyone has Facebook open. And the problem with public computers is that you have no idea what has been installed on them—including a keylogger.
A keylogger can track every key you hit, possibly revealing your most intimate credentials to a cybercriminal. That’s why entering your Facebook password on an unsecured public PC is risky. And shopping or banking on an unsecured PC is like shouting your credit card number through a megaphone. You would never do that. People do things online that they would never in the real world.
So here’s this week’s question. Have you ever shopped or banked on a public computer? Yes or no will do. But we’d love to hear your story.
Read the rules and post your answer in the comments for your chance to win a brand new Nokia N8 plus F-Secure Internet Security 2011.
Cheers,
Sandra
F-Secure Internet Security 2011
GET REAL SWEEPSTAKES WEEK #5- COMPETITION RULES AND PRIZES
By entering the Get Real promotion you accept the Official Competition Rules and the Privacy Policy (http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/privacy.html).
If you do not accept these rules, please do not enter this promotion.
1. The sponsor of this promotion is F-Secure Corporation, located at Tammasaarenkatu 7, Po. Box 24, 00181 Helsinki, Finland (“Sponsor”).
2. The promotion will begin at 6:00 PM PDT on October 17, 2010 and end at 6:00 PM PDT October 24, 2010.
3. This promotion is void where prohibited or restricted by law. No purchase is necessary to enter.
4. 3 prizes a Nokia N8 with a retail value of $549 and 2 F-Secure Internet Security licenses with a retail value of $119.98 will be given as prizes in this promotion at the close of the competition.
5. Only one (1) entry, per person per Sweepstakes will be accepted. Each comment posted constitutes an entry. Further attempts made by the same person and entries generated by a script, computer programs, macro, programmed, robotic or other automated means will be disqualified.
6. The winner will be chosen randomly from the people who participated in the competition by commenting on the “Get Real Sweepstakes Week #5“. Sponsor will notify the winner via email. If the winner does not respond within seven (7) days, he or she will forfeit the prize and another winner will be randomly chosen. This prize is shipped to the winner within 30 days of the promotion closing date.
7. The winners are responsible for any taxes associated with receipt of the prizes. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute the prizes with other prizes of equal or greater value if the prize is not available for any reason.
8. Odds of winning the prizes depend upon the total number of eligible entries received.
9. No purchase or software download is necessary to enter or win. Purchase or software download will not increase your chances of winning.
10. To enter, visit http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.com/2010/10/15/get-sweepstakes-week-5/ and comment on the post. To comment you must provide your email address, which will not be made public. Entries are the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned. Comments made be edited by F-Secure without explanation.
11. Any entrant who attempts to cheat or tamper with the Get Real Sweepstakes shall be disqualified by the Sponsor’s sole discretion.
12. The name of the winner will be announced via the F-Secure Twitter channel http://twitter.com/FSecure, F-Secure Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FSecure and F-Secure’s Safe and Savvy blog http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.com/ once the winner has been contacted. By entering, the entrant agrees that his/her name, country and/or picture can be published at F-Secure’s aforementioned channels if he/she wins.
13. By entering, entrants agree to release and hold harmless Sponsor and all of its representatives from and against any and all costs, expenses, claims, demands, proceedings, suits, actions and/or liabilities for any injuries, death, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with accidents, terrorism, theft, natural disaster, the promotion of the Get Real Sweepstakes, the distribution of any prize, entrants’ participation in and/or entry into the Get Real Sweepstakes, acceptance or use of any prize or unavailability of any prize. Prizes are provided “AS IS” without warranty of any kind from the sponsor.
14. Employees of Sponsor and family members of such employees are not eligible to enter.
© 2010 F-SECURE CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CC image by Andres Rueda.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
E-mail
224 Comments
Yes.
I never even considered using a public computer to shop or bank on.
Nope, never. To paranoid to do that. I wouldn’t even do it on an open wifi
No. I have used a publicly available WiFi connection in the past to connect to my bank, but only because my bank uses SSL (the http:// address gets forwarded to https://, anyway).
I’ve never done this.
Answer: No
I would not use for any reason a pubblic computer for such a purpose.
Cheers
Yes, those public computers were protected by F-Secure and are wiped on every reboot.
No way! Wait til someone come out with a portable reverse-sandbox vpn, or something like that.
Nope, but I can see it if on vacation and a problem arises or something like that. On the otherhand I think I might even opt for telephone banking then.
Absolutely not !
Yes and No
Yes – I have tried Booking a plane in a public computer using my credit card not knowing that I am endangering my account. I thought logging in a site such as airlines were safe with all the security features in place.
No – Because I’m not sure if buying airline ticket is shopping? Is it? c”,
Nope, and I never check E-mail either.
Short answer is no… But I have used banking over an unencrypted WiFi belonging to friends neighbor; was in a small town over SSL so I didn’t have big concerns about it. Not an ideal way of doing it, but didn’t get any strange movements on account afterward so no MITM at neighbours end (not that I expected it either)… Bank also uses one time password-codes so fairly safe
…No.
I am cautious enough about banking using public Wifi, not to mention public computers.
Yes
I was on a public computer at a facility that was for disabled people, however, it was only public through that mean. Never have I done banking or check my credit card stuff on a fully public PC.
No
No, I wouldn’t even consider doing it.
no
No, never have used a public computer for doing banking…yet
No, anyone sane will never do that.
No…?
No chance to do this at any time. . . .
No way, that’s just stupid! I even feel uneasy entering my credit card details on work/friends computers so I type a couple of numbers at a time and click to another part of the number to type some more; i.e. to type “1234-5678-90AB-CDEF” I’d type 123456, then 90CD, then click in the middle & type AB, then the other parts.
It’d probably only trick basic keyloggers, but at least it’s something.
Nope!
No, I’ve never used a public computer to bank or shop. It would be much too risky, so it wouldn’t be worth it. In fact, for years I hesitated to shop or bank online at all.
No
NFW: No Way!
No, and never will.
Nope.
No ….never !
)
Once i had to. use one that was in the bank. It only had access to online bank.
No
No
No, I only use my own computer for that purpose
I would never be so careless and luckily I have never had any need to even try.
No, I haven’t and would’t use even if my own computer broke down.
No, wouldn’t even think to do that.
However, I might consider using my own laptop and public Wifi to do some banking or shopping in a pinch.
no.
nothing is that urgent that it can’t wait for me to get to my computer and if it is then it’s a scam
Yes, i did. While i was working on a cruise ship, I used a public computer in Miami, in one simple internet-cafe.I used the internet to transfer some money from my online bank account. I don`t know what i was thinking in that moment, but i was happy that i have some free time. So i really didn`t think about the risks. I`m happy that nothing happened as i know about deleting cookies and temporary files both from internet explorer and firefox. Still don`t try this, for sure i wouldn`t do that again. I can`t remember if i`ve seen an antivirus installed, but all`s well when end’s well. Right?
No!
No!
I’ve seen stuff that runs on airport kiosks and it’s scary. In the past, those kiosks used to crash, mainly because much of the malware was destructive. But now, they just run and all the malware is just waiting for you to give them your login information…
No, never.
No. I dont trust the public computer at all. This is because lots fraud cases that i read before come from internet banking or internet shopping. Lots of my friend always remind me to not do internet banking or online shopping via public computer and via public wifi, because they are not secure. At the moment i do my internet banking or online shopping only at my home using my own internet connection and my own laptop.
No, the only public terminal I’ve used is one of those that is in the lobby of my bank. Those I would assume are fairly secure.
No, I think it’s too risky. Just for peace of mind I never bank or shop on public computers …. or on my own laptop using a public hotspot.
No, but even if I would, nothing would happen as all banks here require external tokens or similar security. So, even if they get my username, pass is generated for this session.
Yes. But I always check what security software it has. Our school has F-secure client
no
No
Nope, not gonna try. What do you know if the owner has set up a key logger on each computer.
Yes I have, but didn’t feel safe at all. I usually prefer to use my phone for online banking while on the go.
NO!!! I’m too afraid to shop or bank on a public computer!!!
Heck no! I’m not that dumb.
No way, i’m so …distrustful, cowardly and suspicious ….my God !!
No.
No
i would never shop on a shared computer…it would be the biggest mistake…if you forget to logout, then you are “out of money”.
No I never have and I doubt I would ever take the chance on a public computer.
I refuse to use anything other than *my* network and workstation to do online banking or any other sensitive actions.
No – never. I’ve got an Iron Key which they claim provides a secure session, but it doesn’t prevent keyloggers, especially h/w keyloggers, so I wouldn’t use it.
Yes.
No, never
No i haven’t shopped or banked on a public computer.i prefer to use my own pc or wifi for this purpose…but in case of emergency i use reputated public internet at public places like airport,malls..etc…
No
No, I’m not an idiot!
no..!!
now i replaced my mobile 
:)
But once i purchased my mobile but in that we have to pay money to the salesperson who delivers it
but purchasing electronics accessories online is not good cz they may give you an defective piece
Nope.
No, I’ve never shopped or banked on a public computer. In fact, I’m quite paranoid about security, and I shop and bank only on my home computer which is well protected with a firewall, anti-virus, anti-spyware and behavioral blocker. I also use only Firefox for browsing, and I’ve set it up to delete all cookies including flash cookies whenever I exit Firefox. I hope that is a good enough security set up. One can never be too secure!
No, I didn’t use
Only from my PC…..
No…
I avoid using public computers for this purpose
Hallo liebes Team von F-Secure.com!
Vielen Dank für eure super Aktion hier für eure Fans! Das mit der Verlosung hört sich natürlich auch richtig klasse an – ein Nokia N8, das ist ja der Hammer!
Daher hoffe ich sehr, dass die Losfee ein glückliches Händchen bei der Ziehung der Gewinner
haben wird. Ich würde mich nämlich riesig über diesen tollen Gewinn freuen (mein altes Handy macht fast die Mücke)!
Ganz liebe Grüße,
eure Anja
Yes I have, I used public computer and before doing such transaction, I must ensure that there is nothing strange in applications running, ensure that the antivirus is up-to-date and the most important thing that the session during transaction is fully secured using SSL.
No, and never will.
I have never used a public computer for banking or shopping but I have done shopping over a public wlan with my laptop.
No. I even avoid doing it on my work computer.
And since we moved (partially) out of windows 2000 to Vista, these aren’t configured to have everyone in Power Users (or in some cases Administrators) group. I still avoid using these to do anything “important”.
Definitely a no no. No one know what a public computer/network has, it might have a tracking code somewhere, so it’s definitely not safe to do it using them. Most of the time I do my banking matters in my personal computer equipped with internet security suite.
No, because that’s asking for trouble
No.. Never and never.. its too risky … Because we dont now what inside that computer …
No, because there are several problems with public terminals, to some extent booting a live CD with Linux can solve some, but others like hardware keyloggers, are much harder to address.
Yes I have, although the risks were mitigated to the level of a keylogger being necessary to record my actions by the fact that there was a mandatory profile policy in place in the AD setup at the time.
No!
No
No. And and I will never take this risk *crosses fingers*.
no way!
Yes, in the past in a public library. Now I don’t take the risk anymore.
Never in a million years I would consider banking on a public computer!
It’s just too much of a risk.
never.
I`ve never done that and i`ll never do it because you never know who`s watching, even if there is nobody behind you. The only place you should be safe is home with your personal computer. Be sure you have F-Secure protecting and have no worry about nothing.
I would never do any banking on a public computer.
I dont do that !
Hopefully no, not that I remember at least. I’ve always been careful of security in public places.
Never use public computer for that, always use my home computer.
Several times I used the computer at my university to access to netbank. The computers (workstations) there require me to login to my own student account with a personal password. Also, netbank uses solo-code so I guess it is kind of safety. I never shopped, however, using my credit card at any public computer.
NO Never
No, it can wait till I get home or use mobile for that. Never used public computers for that.
No! It’s worth taking a little time to organise one’s life, so that internet banking is only done on a trusted PC. And online shopping can usually wait. Security is more important than haste.
Yes I have, with school computer. But the connection was secured with F-secure and my internet username and password. I also cleared all history from the browser…
Yes Sir! I love it!
No, never from a public computer.
no way
Nope, not even on my friends computer
Nope. Haven’t since college and since I’ve already been the victim of identity theft, no way I’ll use a public computer, especially for anything financial related.
No I haven´t. Home computer always.
No, did not even think about to do it.
No, never
NO and NEVER
yes, i have used a public computer and i don’t know what was the security solution available there.
i was booking a Railway ticket and also booking a flight ticket from the same time.. via Internet Banking.
it was 3 months before i used it in a local internet cafe
is it right what you have said..
ohh my god ..
is it so!! wat you have written about key loggers..
oops i was known of this..
thank you for the info..
i will remember this and also going to change my password which i have not changed since 6 months..
thanks a lot..
Jubi jubi, although cant remember when..
never.
Yes… 8 years ago, cause I didn’t have an internet connection at home.
Never have and never will.
Nope its way to risky.
No
No, only my home computer!
Nope
No, I just downloading something in public computer, no banking, no emailing and no shopping..
Nope, I would never dream of using a public computer for shopping or banking. Coming to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever used any computer for on-line shopping or banking, apart from the three computers I run at home. I simply don’t trust the level of security my friends and neighbors claim they uphold on their IT-equipment.
No, i’m not crazy.
No… I never think to do that …
No.
No, it’s too risky
Too risky. If I really need to do ex. transfer money, I can do that with my mobile phone.
No and Never!
No. Only morons do.
Yes. But only because I had no other alternativ.
No, I have never used a public computer to shop or do banking services. I have however used my own computer in wireless networks other than my own, even if I avoid it as much as I can.
Yes, I have done purchase of travel tickets from public computer , but I take care to clear cache, delete history after transaction is done. If possible I use private browsing mode.
No. I would never fill in my banking-related information on any pc except the one that maintained by me. Moreover, when I am connected to a public network, I always connect to my VPN to secure every transaction.
I have never banked online, anywhere. I don’t trust any connection or computer for that. I don’t have issue with shopping from a public computer *if I had to*, I am not concerned with my credit card number being lifted. Credit card companies usually have pretty good policies regarding unauthorized uses.
Yes, i frequently shopped on ebay, transfer funds with paypal, buying phone credit (topup) via online banking etc on a public computer.
For your information, i’m using Portable Google Chrome’s incognito private browsing so that my passwords, my login details, cookies, caches are not saved on the computer. I feel safer when using chrome’s incognito browsing.
As a safety measures, i run portable process explorer from my usb drive and check the running process in case there are malicious programs such as keyloggers are running in the background. If i find something suspicious, i immediately terminated the processes.
I’ve never done it; but I’m still paranoid when I use a friend’s computer.
No I have not. Always from home PC.
I never had nor would I
No. Never. I never even login to my bank account from my office PC because they still use IE6.
No.
No.
I don’t need to use public computers because I can always use my phone (in the future the Nokia N8 that I will win here
) or my own computer.
I never did any shopping or online banking from a public computer. I did however did both using my own notebook connected to a public access point in a foreign country.
No i would never do any confidential transaction on public computers
No way
I would never do that
No
Nope. Completely unsafe.
NO
No, I have never shopped or banked on a public machine. I’m aware of the risks involved.
However, I have been in the need of connecting to a corporate SIP server to perform some emergency troubleshooting from public machines a couple times.
This should be avoided, but when there is really no choice, one should at least try to inspect the machine’s running processes to see if there is something suspicious before doing anything, and be sure to change any passwords used on that machine as soon as possible when a [more] “secure” machine is at hand.
Never!
Yes. I’ve tried online banking services and find it quite safe.
NO
Yes
No, cos i don’t have a credit card and my country isn’t listed on sites like Paypal
I say NO
No, I am not doing that now and then
I have done it before
Nop
NO, I did not
Yes i have at internet cafe
No
on open wifi i do sometimes so yes
Yes – I have done that in a internet cafe to book my flight tickets
No
No way thats just like having a sign ROB ME on your back
No! I will never…
Yes I have shopped online once on a public computer. It was actually for a flight ticket, my parents wanted to get a limited cheap flight offer when we were out, so we went to a cybercafe and used our credit card online. We managed to get the deal and purchase the tickets but my parents got a call from the bank stating that there were unauthorized transactions occurring after the payment was made. So my parents had to change their credit cards..i suspect there must have been some keylogger programs in the computer. After that, we never did try to do online payment or shopping on public computers anymore. Lesson learnt!
Yes but I never do again
No…never have. Never will.
No, I have never shopped or banked on a public computer. To many ways hackers can get your info.
No.
No
No.
No. When my computer broke down I paid my bills in our local super market that had a little booth for paying bills. It was in a good and safe location. I don’t have to shop on a public computer. Even if my pc broke again. I have no hurry to start shopping on a public computer. I can go to a normal shop then.
No, I think it would be too risky to use your credit card online on a public computer, you never know what might happen to your details.
Yes, but its in critical situation..
No.
Yes. Not going to do it hereafter
No
no
No! Oh, my goodness, no! I would never shop or bank from a public computer. Just seems fool-hardy to me.
No I have not, because the security risk.
have not
No.
No, I have never shopped or banked on a public computer. I don’t ever plan on it. I was at a hotel once checking my email at the computer for guests and some airline employees that stayed there had left their emails open with their messages, etc.
No I haven’t done banking on a public computer
yes.
I hate to admit it, but yes, yes I did do both. I was in a hospital for a month some time ago.
I needed to check my bank balance before I made an eBay purchase. As crazy as that may seem, as soon as I finished those transactions, I called my wife and had her go online and change both passwords immediately. I was lucky enough to have done it without any harm coming to my accounts and promised myself to never do it again!
Yes! I normally access my bank through my mobile internet, but it uses SSL encryption and I used to check things (bank, email etc.) while at college a few years ago. My mobile is registered with my bank and the software (provided by my banks website) uses encryption, but would now think twice about the college computers. Oh and I once used McDonalds free WIFI, but would only use this for basic things now, even though I use F-Secure.
No never…..
Not really, although I did use my work computer to bank once in a pinch.
No. But what about with the Public Access WIFI Zone such as at Starbucks and McDonald?
No.
No.
No
no way too nervous about even using a computer that is not mine.
Yes.
But,Only through a VPN
Never have shopped or banked on a public computer.Working for an ISP, I have heard so
many horror stories from customers. Too many, lock up everything, lock out everyone!!
No, only on trusted computers.
Nope , i will never do
No. Never needed to do that. When away from home I can use mobile phone or laptop on longer trips for that. If I were to do something like that I propably would first make secure remote access to one of my home computers and use it for banking or shopping.
No, but if I had the CCN of a couple of people I don’t like, I would!
No, never! En koskaan!
No, have never considered online shopping or banking on a public computer.
In fact i’ve never used a public computer!
Yes.
No
No, coz its too risky
No
No way
yes i’ve got no other option
No. For security reasons ofcourse.
I never have used a public computer for shopping or banking. Only public computers which I have used in that purpose, are the machines which are located next to atms.
No.
What the hell does point 12. in the rules mean..? Most strange line ive ever seen.
i dont use public computers. i have plenty of options otherwise.
I’ve never used a public computer for any shopping or banking. If I’m too paranoid to use Google, I’m too paranoid to shop online via unsecured wifi.
no..
yes
no its true risky
yes
i never i think so
Nope!
Yes
No, i’m not crazy.
No. I don’t have the trust to do that thing…
No.
No, I dont need do that in public computer.. i can do online shopping with my phone..
No, I have bad experience about that
One Trackback
[...] Skip to content HomeAbout UsGet RealArchives « Get Real Sweepstakes: Week #5 – Win a Nokia N8 [...]