Download and install:
O&O ShutUp 10++ – O&O Software
O&O ShutUp10++ is a free privacy tool that provides you with full control over which functions in Windows 10 & 11 you choose to use and how much data gets shared. Start program, go to “Actions” and select “Apply only recommended settings.” Agree when asked to set a restore point.
Most home modems come with a username and password that are the same for all modems of that brand when installed. This is a security and privacy opening to hackers or, at minimum, it allows neighbours to possibly discover your WiFi password and use your internet. If the password is on a sticker on the modem, it is probably different for each unit and will not need to be changed.
If the password is the same for all modems, you need to change it. (Leave user name the same or change to admin if it is blank). Be sure to record this information.
Log in to the modem by entering the IP Address below into a browser address bar.
Here are the default passwords for various providers:
| Cogeco |
| Brand | IP Address | Admin | Password |
| Arris TG2472 | 192.168.0.1 | admin | password |
| Arris TG3452A | 192.168.0.1 | admin | On sticker on modem
|
| Cisco/Technicolor DPC3848 | 192.168.0.1 | [blank]
| [blank] or password
|
| Hitron CODA-4589 | 192.168.0.1 | cusadmin | Cogeco1! or password |
| Sagemcom F@st 3896 * | 192.168.40.1 | admin | On sticker on modem |
| Bell |
| Brand | IP Address | Admin | Password |
| Home Hub 3000 | 192.168.2.1 | [none] | admin |
| Connection Hub | 192.168.2.1 | admin | admin |
* - Cogeco notes that most advanced changes to the Sagemcom modems are made through the Cogeco WiFi app.
So the password for the Arris TG3452A and the Sagemcom F@st 3896 are probably safe since they are on a sticker on the unit, printed for each unit.
Here is a good article on securing your router.
All the tweaks below are for a computer with Windows 10 Home. Certain changes may be different for Windows 10 Professional, and some may not be available for Windows 11.
Security Tweaks
These are a few security tweaks that will help protect your device, courtesy of Liron Segev.
1. Plugging in a drive or memory stick can be dangerous, so you don't want Autoplay to start any program that may be on the device. Go to the search window and type in "autoplay" and select "AutoPlay settings." Turn off Autoplay.
2. Go to the search window and type in "bluetooth" and select "Bluetooth and other devices settings." Click on "More Bluetooth options." Uncheck "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC." You will still be able to add Bluetooth devices by clicking on the "Add Bluetooth or other device" button.
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Privacy Tweaks
There are some privacy tweaks that will keep your personal information and computer use more private. This also comes from Liron Segev
1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Speech and turn off the Online Speech Recognition.
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2. Next, staying on this Privacy page, do these:
- On the left column select Diagnostics and feedback and on Diagnostic data select the first option: "Required diagnostic data..."
- Scroll down and turn off both Improve inking & typing and Tailored experiences.
- Scroll down to Delete diagnostic data and press "Delete".
- Scroll down to Feedback frequency select Never on the drop-down.
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3. Again, staying on the same page, on the left column select General and for the "Change privacy options" turn all four off.
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4. Now scroll down to Background apps and turn off any programs you don't need to be running in the background—they use up computing resources and use power.
Leave on all apps related to computer operation, audio, video and especially security like anti-virus. So leave on any labeled "Windows" or "Intel" (if you have an Intel processor) or those apps labelled with the computer brand as those from Acer seen here.
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5. Next go to Settings > Personalization > Start. Turn off "Show suggestions occasionally in Start."
Websites tracking you when using a browser are a nuisance and a possible security threat so blocking them is a good idea. An easy fix is to install the Disconnectme browser extension. Just go to the manage extensions section on the browser (Chrome or Firefox) and add it.
Clicking on the Disconnect icon will open the list showing the number of sites blocked. Clicking on "Visualize page" will open the visualizing window to show the various blocked sites.
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| List of blocked trackers | Visualization of sites |
You can mouse over each to see which sites are tracking you:
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| Mouse over showing Russian tracking site |
Additional privacy tweaks (from Windows Privacy Setup by CyberCPU Tech)
First and very important—don't use a Microsoft account: change to a Local account.
Go to Settings > Accounts > Your Info. If you see an email address below your computer name, you are signed into a Microsoft account. Scrolling down you will see either:
- "Stop signing in to all Microsoft apps automatically". If so click on that.
- "Sign into a local account instead". Click on that and a popup window will appear. Click "Next". It will ask you to enter a new password. Enter password and then click on "Sign out and finish." This new password will now be used to login to your computer.
You should now see "Local Account" below your computer name.
Remove One Drive and Microsoft Teams. You can do this by individually uninstalling each program by going to Settings > Apps > Apps & features and select the program to uninstall. Or you can use O&O App Buster.
Limit Telemetry Service - this restricts the amount of diagnostic data sent from your computer to Microsoft. For peak privacy this should be limited or ended completely.
- In the Windows Search box type "services" and click on the Services app that appears.
- Scroll down and click on Connected User Experiences and Telemetry.
- In the popup box, on the General tab, go to Startup type and in the drop down select Disabled.
- Down at Service status press Stop then OK.
Note: the above procedure only limits some diagnostic data being sent from your computer. To completely stop all of telemetry service see "Terminate Telemetry Service" below which requires a registry edit.
Task Scheduler
In the Windows Search box type "task scheduler" and click on the app that appears.
Go to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Application Experience. If not already disabled, right-click on each of the following and select Disable:
- Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser
- PcaPatchDbTask
- ProgramDataUpdater
- StartupApp Task
Staying on Task Scheduler, go to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Customer Experience Improvement Program. Right-click on each of the following and select Disable:
Terminate Telemetry Service
To eliminated all telemetry (i.e, diagnostic data) going to Microsoft, a Registry edit is required.
In the Windows Search box type "regedit" and click on the Registry Editor app that appears.
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows > DataCollection.
If there is an entry called "Allow Telemetry" then check that its value is 0, which will look like this: 0x00000000 (0). If it looks like this 0x00000001 (1), then double-click on the name and change the value to 0, which means don't allow telemetry.
If there is no "Allow Telemetry" entry, right-click anywhere in the key window and select "New" then "DWORD (32bit) value."
Change the name from "New Value #1" by right-clicking on it and changing to "Allow Telemetry".
Make sure Data value is zero. If not, double-click on the name and change it to zero.
If you now go back to Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics and feedback you should see Diagnostic data turned off. (Or you may see "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.)
* * * * *
Again from Liron Segev, he has the complete solution to limit Microsoft telemetry. This involves editing the Host file and adding all of the Microsoft websites that telemetry is sent to and thus blocking them. See my explanation of the complete procedure here. See Liron's video explaining it here.
From Gibson Research
UnPlug n' Pray shuts down the Plug and Play feature in Windows that in is potentially a point of a DOS attack. Download and run (requires administrator level).
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Leak Test is a simple firewall tester. Download and run.
Panda USB Vaccine is a tiny program that helps prevent infection when a USB is plugged into a computer by blocking autorun.inf from operating. This is the method malicious software use to automatically infect a computer when a USB is plugged in. The block can be reversed if needed, for example, if you had a portable app on a USB that you wanted to start automatically.
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In addition to the above software you might want to check a USB for hidden files. To do this, open any Windows folder on the desktop and expand View. Check the Hidden Items box.
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Test your anti-virus's ability to detect keyloggers and other security risks to your computer with this Security Test Tool from SpyShelter. This Security Test Tool consists of 6 separate modules:
- Keylogging test
- Webcam capturing test
- Screen capturing test
- Clipboard capturing test
- Sound recording test
- System protection test (Registry access, etc.)
Download and run the various tests. For example, if you run the KeyLogging test, text typed into Notepad or any text program will also appear in the window of the SpyShelter program if your system is not protected against keyloggers.
