F.A Hayek
Active Member
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0 - Intro
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I'm sure there are a lot of people on this forum who want to share pictures of both their personal plants and large grows, but are concerned about being discovered by various means of technological tracing or by those with access to their computer(s) or digital storage mediums. This guide will teach you how to stay anonymous and ensure your privacy when browsing, uploading pictures and storing any digital information on a block device.
I've decided to avoid discussing how each piece of software works in-depth, as Im sure it's superfluous and a dry subject for most. I'm also assuming you're using the Microsoft Windows operating system.
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1. Staying Anonymous While Browsing
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There are multiple ways to stay anonymous while surfing the web, including proxy-chaining, VPN's and passing traffic through networks dedicated to anonymity such as Tor. For ease of use and automation Ive decided to use Tor for this guide.
Head over to https://torproject.org/ and download the 'Tor Browser Bundle'. It's available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Open the executable and when prompted, extract the files contents to your desktop. Navigate to your desktop and open the newly extracted folder, double clicking on the 'Start Tor Browser' file. After Tor has finished initialising a Firefox browser windows will open. You're now connected to the Tor network!
Packets of information generated when browsing through the newly created Tor Firefox browser will now be encrypted, bouncing of multiple nodes all over the world before reaching their final destination. However, when the packets exit the final node before reaching their given destination, the information contained within each packet will be viewable to the person operating the exit node if the traffic wasn't originally encrypted before passing through the Tor network. To prevent this, always ensure you're using SSL when sending sensitive information over Tor by looking for 'https' in front of the URL in your address bar.
Now, before anybody starts complaining about the web browsing speed while using Tor, remember it's a free service provided by those kind enough to devote both their time and money to protect your privacy. Use it only when you absolutely have to, and be patient.
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2. Shredding Metadata
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Metadata is essentially data about data. When you take a photo using a digital camera, various pieces of information may be stored relating to the time and date, your GPS location and the make and model of your camera, among other things, directly in the picture file itself. This collected information is referred to as EXIF data.
Before you upload any photos, it's important to ensure you've completely erased all the EXIF data that resides in the picture file. Point your browser to http://www.easyexifdelete.com/ and download / install the piece of software. Simply open your pictures with the program and click 'Delete Exif' - it's as easy as that.
Now that the sensitive EXIF data has been removed, you can upload your photos anonymously utilising the Tor Browser Bundle to where ever you choose with peace of mind.
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3. Storing Digital Information and Files Securely
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Storing digital information and files securely is important, especially in the event the device used for storage is stolen or lost. To do this, we'll be using a program called TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt will allow us to create a container, analogous to an un-crackable safe, allowing for the secure storage of files and other digital information which can only be opened given the combination you set.
Before we start, I need to give an additional warning. Do not store any data in the container that you will need access to sometime in the future if you think you may forget the combination to the container. In the event this does happen, your files are gone.
Download TrueCrypt from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads, it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Open the executable and follow the simple installation instructions; once installed, click 'Create volume'. Choose 'Create an encrypted file container' and click next. Choose 'Standard TrueCrypt Volume' and click next.
Now it's time to create our container. Click 'Select file' and locate the directory you wish the container to reside in; give your container a name and click next. From the drop down menus, choose 'AES-Twofish-Serpent' for the encryption algorithm and 'Whirlpool' for the hashing algorithm - click next. Assign however much space you feel your container will need and click next. Give your container a very strong password, and as I previously warned, make sure it's something you will remember and click next.
This next step is very important to the strength of your encryption keys. Move your mouse around randomly for at least a minute or two to significantly increase the cryptographic strength of the encryption keys - keep the rest of the options as defaults and click 'Format'. Our container is now created and we're finished with the volume making process, click exit.
To access the files within our container, we will first need to mount it using TrueCrypt. Click 'Select file' and navigate to the directory you created the container and double click on the file. Choose and drive number in the TrueCrypt main window, in this example we'll choose 'N' - click 'Mount'. Type in the password you set for the container and click 'Ok'.
Open 'My Computer' and you'll noticed a newly created drive with the number you selected in TrueCrypt before you mounted your container. This is your container mounted as a virtual disk, double click to open it. To add files to your container, simply drag and drop the files into the mounted virtual drive. When you're finished, open TrueCrypt and again select the drive number you chose when mounting the volume and click 'Dismount'. This ensures those with access to your machine won't be able to view and browse the files located in your container.
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4. Conclusion
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I'd just like to dedicate this information to those who have been subject to imprisonment, humiliating public searches or police harassment for exercising their liberty of choice.
Thank you for reading.
0 - Intro
===================================================================
I'm sure there are a lot of people on this forum who want to share pictures of both their personal plants and large grows, but are concerned about being discovered by various means of technological tracing or by those with access to their computer(s) or digital storage mediums. This guide will teach you how to stay anonymous and ensure your privacy when browsing, uploading pictures and storing any digital information on a block device.
I've decided to avoid discussing how each piece of software works in-depth, as Im sure it's superfluous and a dry subject for most. I'm also assuming you're using the Microsoft Windows operating system.
===================================================================
1. Staying Anonymous While Browsing
===================================================================
There are multiple ways to stay anonymous while surfing the web, including proxy-chaining, VPN's and passing traffic through networks dedicated to anonymity such as Tor. For ease of use and automation Ive decided to use Tor for this guide.
Head over to https://torproject.org/ and download the 'Tor Browser Bundle'. It's available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Open the executable and when prompted, extract the files contents to your desktop. Navigate to your desktop and open the newly extracted folder, double clicking on the 'Start Tor Browser' file. After Tor has finished initialising a Firefox browser windows will open. You're now connected to the Tor network!
Packets of information generated when browsing through the newly created Tor Firefox browser will now be encrypted, bouncing of multiple nodes all over the world before reaching their final destination. However, when the packets exit the final node before reaching their given destination, the information contained within each packet will be viewable to the person operating the exit node if the traffic wasn't originally encrypted before passing through the Tor network. To prevent this, always ensure you're using SSL when sending sensitive information over Tor by looking for 'https' in front of the URL in your address bar.
Now, before anybody starts complaining about the web browsing speed while using Tor, remember it's a free service provided by those kind enough to devote both their time and money to protect your privacy. Use it only when you absolutely have to, and be patient.
===================================================================
2. Shredding Metadata
===================================================================
Metadata is essentially data about data. When you take a photo using a digital camera, various pieces of information may be stored relating to the time and date, your GPS location and the make and model of your camera, among other things, directly in the picture file itself. This collected information is referred to as EXIF data.
Before you upload any photos, it's important to ensure you've completely erased all the EXIF data that resides in the picture file. Point your browser to http://www.easyexifdelete.com/ and download / install the piece of software. Simply open your pictures with the program and click 'Delete Exif' - it's as easy as that.
Now that the sensitive EXIF data has been removed, you can upload your photos anonymously utilising the Tor Browser Bundle to where ever you choose with peace of mind.
===================================================================
3. Storing Digital Information and Files Securely
===================================================================
Storing digital information and files securely is important, especially in the event the device used for storage is stolen or lost. To do this, we'll be using a program called TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt will allow us to create a container, analogous to an un-crackable safe, allowing for the secure storage of files and other digital information which can only be opened given the combination you set.
Before we start, I need to give an additional warning. Do not store any data in the container that you will need access to sometime in the future if you think you may forget the combination to the container. In the event this does happen, your files are gone.
Download TrueCrypt from http://www.truecrypt.org/downloads, it's available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Open the executable and follow the simple installation instructions; once installed, click 'Create volume'. Choose 'Create an encrypted file container' and click next. Choose 'Standard TrueCrypt Volume' and click next.
Now it's time to create our container. Click 'Select file' and locate the directory you wish the container to reside in; give your container a name and click next. From the drop down menus, choose 'AES-Twofish-Serpent' for the encryption algorithm and 'Whirlpool' for the hashing algorithm - click next. Assign however much space you feel your container will need and click next. Give your container a very strong password, and as I previously warned, make sure it's something you will remember and click next.
This next step is very important to the strength of your encryption keys. Move your mouse around randomly for at least a minute or two to significantly increase the cryptographic strength of the encryption keys - keep the rest of the options as defaults and click 'Format'. Our container is now created and we're finished with the volume making process, click exit.
To access the files within our container, we will first need to mount it using TrueCrypt. Click 'Select file' and navigate to the directory you created the container and double click on the file. Choose and drive number in the TrueCrypt main window, in this example we'll choose 'N' - click 'Mount'. Type in the password you set for the container and click 'Ok'.
Open 'My Computer' and you'll noticed a newly created drive with the number you selected in TrueCrypt before you mounted your container. This is your container mounted as a virtual disk, double click to open it. To add files to your container, simply drag and drop the files into the mounted virtual drive. When you're finished, open TrueCrypt and again select the drive number you chose when mounting the volume and click 'Dismount'. This ensures those with access to your machine won't be able to view and browse the files located in your container.
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4. Conclusion
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I'd just like to dedicate this information to those who have been subject to imprisonment, humiliating public searches or police harassment for exercising their liberty of choice.
Thank you for reading.
cheers for posting, going to get amongst this for sure!!
