Personal Security And Internet Anonymity Basics

Well I posted to see if there was interest in this topic earlier and I got a positive response so Im gonna throw this out here to you wolves.

Many of you may already know or do know all or some of the things I want to cover. However if you are currently running Backtrack Linux and cracking your neighbors wifi which you then run through a Tor server...cool. That is awesome. But this is for net newbs who want to have the basics of anonymity so they can at the least protect themselves.

Personal Security and Internet Anonymity Basics:

First of all I want to, in my mind, break down PC security into two basics. Home network and internet interaction.

http://www.truecrypt.org/

Do you have pictures, PDFs, Outlook archives, any information you basically want absolutely no one to see? Ever? Let me introduce you to TrueCrypt. This open source software has the same level of encryption the CIA, dissidents, journalists contacting inside sources..etc. And for true protection you should always go with a double encrypt. What this means is this:

You make an encrypted container. Once finished you put legit looking documents, pics..whatever there. It has a separate and unique password. It is also a red herring. You make a second container inside the first (the install software holds your hands totally, no need to be intimidated) which has then its own password. This is your true secret container. I usually make the first container (depending on my drive space) 5 Gig and the inside one 3 Gig. Now if anyone has your PC in the future...as in an IT forensics team... you can unlock the first container. And never reveal the second one. They can not prove a second (or 10 million) containers are in there in a court of law. That data is under 256bit encryption which would take 10,000 supercomputers 10,000 years to crack (with todays bleeding edge tek). Its safe and will only be revealed if you personally admit that it is there and agree to open it.

Now that your data is safe. But what if you want to share this data online? How can you ensure your location and personal safety?

Allow me to introduce you to Tor. Its a difficult concept to explain so I`m gonna cop out a bit here and ctrl C ctrl V the link:

http://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html

Shit is deep son. And now with the Tor Browser Bundle it is super easy to use. Install it from the Tor site, run it with the Firefox addon and you are a ghost. Seriously. Right now there is not a human being that can track my location of where I post. Why should I be able to do that to you? Protect yourself and your anonymity.

Now its a little slower, you wont be gaming on this. And for normal internet usage, I don't use it. But anything in the grey area... Ill take the extra load time any day for peace of mind that this is one area you don't have to worry as much about.

http://www.techpowerup.org/uploaded....130/screen.jpg

Here is a screen cap I tool of me reading Kittys thread (man that room is a beast) as an example. You see it says Tor Enabled..that means you are doing things correctly and running silently. Hi Kitty! You and your hubby rock all kinds of awesome.

No that is not a Mac.

Regarding pictures I also posted a thread about Meta data and how to remove it and why you should here: Before You Post A Single Picture Online Read This Now!

Cheers everybody and be safe!

Originally Posted by Serapis

I wanted to thank you for providing some very good information. I'm creating an encrypted container right now with 256k encryption and a 30 character password

Thats more letters than the fucking Alphabet... haha--Alpha..Bet. hmmmm I think im on to something guys!