You can get a static IP from your DSL provider, it will cost a bit... Trading from a computer that is not behind a whitelisted firewall and dedicated just to your account, your data etc. is just not something I would ever do... the cost is just $250 for a Hotbrick plus the time to learn to set it up and the cost of a Dell or whatever... it's not much, and the peace of mind is a good thing to have... get a KVM switch and you can switch monitors and keyboard and mouse between your surfing computer [a Mac is probably best for that] and your trading machine... I'm doing that with two Windows boxes currently, I'll build a nice cabinet here eventually and assemble the computers as just a stack of mobo's, power supplies etc and dispense with the cases... I'm going to wind up with 3 or 4 computers eventually and they are way smaller when out of the cases...... I can get 4 computers and a bass speaker in a nice looking stand that is about a foot wide and three or four feet tall maybe......
I know man I play hell reading those "little" numbers. I can use the scanner software to "blow it up" a little lol. John
Let us try this another way: The use of antivirus and malware is a pain in the neck. I am thinking of eliminating this and trading without it. I also will post my account number and password on my front door so I don't forget it... Next, I will buy a new car, drive it down to a bad neighborhood, and leave it with the car running, doors unlocked, and the title in the front seat. I will also leave my wallet. I trust everyone!!!
I sleep better at night because of the IB security device. It is well worth the minor hassle. I also think it is nuts to store an image of your security card on your computer. What if a hacker gets to it? Keep it in your wallet. Don't be so lazy.
You can use encryption by saving the image of the card to a word file and then encrypting. Words uses AES encryption which the US Government oks for top secret documents. PKzip also use encryption. The best answer to where to store passwords and other important information is in a bank safe deposit box. A small box usually goes for 20 dollars a year. There is a bank in my town and just across the street is the police station. No way anyone is going to break into that bank. You can go with a standard safe, but these are heavy monsters which burglars can break into or take the entire thing. They also can be hard to get rid of if you need to move. There are other ways to hide password sheets in your house such as taking out a dresser drawer and taping it somewhere on the inside of the dresser. I store my passwords in an openoffice file which is encrypted with Blowfish. The file is then placed on flash drive and put away.