Important! please read....

[bsdgeek]

Good day everyone! Let me preceed the following with this: I have been a network engineer for almost 15 years. I would classify myself as geek level, to most that would be guru. To me, it isn't much as I know there's alot I do not know. There are a couple more levels above my knowledge set, which gets extremely involved, when it comes to the network and security, and what I am about to state would be true in most cases. I'll keep it basic as I'm just trying to relay a point and not teach a lesson on how this stuff works. So, here goes....

# 1 - Nothing, and I mean nothing in any form of electronic communication is entirely safe. All things are crackable.

# 2 - When in doubt, see # 1.


This is in response to all the recent crack down events and is not meant to be a scare tactic, but to inform. If you are ordering online, do not use an account that is paid for with your charge card or linked directly to you in any way. And yes, your ip can be tracked, always use another machine that is not on your home network. Publicly accessible machines like at a library or on campus or use a proxy, but never your home machine. I had a friend sign up for an anonymus yahoo account, from his home machine, an hour later, another yahoo account sent him some spam e-mail addressed to his name. If you are going to use your home machine, use a proxy, tor comes to mind, but then you have to be smart too, and set it up to be secure. There is no magic fix, and all these things are merely deterents, not sure fire security.

Again, to some out there, this is common knowledge, just trying to help some good bros out, and clear up some of the confusion about security and secure e-mail etc etc. I hope this helps, and I hope I'm not crossing any lines- if so, I do apologize.

 

[Nelson Montana]

Thanks for the heads up but I think most people realize that anything on a computer can be retrieved and no online communication is entirely private. Having said that, there are those who need to worry and those who don't. This is why I think the "no wire tapping without a warrant" argument is dumb. It's just another bureaucratic step and if they want to get to you they're going to get to you so why slow them down in getting to the REALLY bad guys?

Anyway, no one is guilt free. But there's a difference between a lab doing a million dollar business tax free, and the guy who has a couple of amps of decca to help him reach his fitness goals. Can he get busted as well? Absolutely! But you can also get killed crossing the street. There comes a time when you have to use common sense and be careful. And there comes a time when you can't worry about every little thing that can go wrong -- unless you're doing something really bad, in which case you know the risks and have to pay the price if need be.

 

[mobro]

well put by both.....

 

[Maxx Out]

Good day everyone! Let me preceed the following with this: I have been a network engineer for almost 15 years. I would classify myself as geek level, to most that would be guru. To me, it isn't much as I know there's alot I do not know. There are a couple more levels above my knowledge set, which gets extremely involved, when it comes to the network and security, and what I am about to state would be true in most cases. I'll keep it basic as I'm just trying to relay a point and not teach a lesson on how this stuff works. So, here goes....

# 1 - Nothing, and I mean nothing in any form of electronic communication is entirely safe. All things are crackable.

# 2 - When in doubt, see # 1.


This is in response to all the recent crack down events and is not meant to be a scare tactic, but to inform. If you are ordering online, do not use an account that is paid for with your charge card or linked directly to you in any way. And yes, your ip can be tracked, always use another machine that is not on your home network. Publicly accessible machines like at a library or on campus or use a proxy, but never your home machine. I had a friend sign up for an anonymus yahoo account, from his home machine, an hour later, another yahoo account sent him some spam e-mail addressed to his name. If you are going to use your home machine, use a proxy, tor comes to mind, but then you have to be smart too, and set it up to be secure. There is no magic fix, and all these things are merely deterents, not sure fire security.

Again, to some out there, this is common knowledge, just trying to help some good bros out, and clear up some of the confusion about security and secure e-mail etc etc. I hope this helps, and I hope I'm not crossing any lines- if so, I do apologize.

Very good, thankyou! Not many people know this and I'm sure it will help many out!

 

[xrsist]

i would hope alot more people already knew this but anyway...

an old saying: if someone built it, someone can unbuild it...

 

[bsdgeek]

Yep, I just put it up cause I've seen a lot of posts about this subject on other threads. I saw a couple where some of the guys assume that because hush is encrypted, that it was secure and people couldn't gain access to their e-mail- WRONG. My dad once told me, a long long time ago, when I was about 6 or 7, that "if you don't want anyone to find anything out, never, and I mean never, write it down". He told me that cause I got embarrassed about getting found out that I liked one of the girls at my school. I wrote a note to a buddy, it got intercepted, and well you know. Anyhow, I learned a very valuable lesson from that.

 

[xrsist]

i couldnt agree with you more bsdgeek

 

[SpyWizard]

that's a great point..

also, if the device can be touched.. it can be opened and cracked..

all true..

 

[bsdgeek]

i couldnt agree with you more bsdgeek

hey xrsist- thanks for the k bro!

 

[xrsist]

hey xrsist- thanks for the k bro!

all good posts deserve k bro. cheers

 

[BigGuyPHX]

Very good post!!! Could not agree more.

BigG

 

[liftman07]

good info..pm me when you get a chance bsdgeek

 

[bsdgeek]

good info..pm me when you get a chance bsdgeek

liftman, hit me up on e-mail

[email protected]

 

[OldWiseMan]

My tips:

1) Use tor with privoxy & the firefox add-on for general browsing. There are also some zero-footprint browser that are small enough to fit on a USB stick. A proxy server (or three w/ multiproxy) is always best if you have access to good ones.

2) For email, you can try safe-mail.net or use PGP.

3) If you are going to host a site, use the Russian Business Network. It's 600$ a month, but worth it depending on what the site is for.

4) You should keep your computer encrypted with something like Safeboot.

5) Use TrueCrypt for on-the-fly encryption.

6) You should use VMWare Workstation with a guest VM for all sketchy activity.

7) If you use wireless access at home, keep the network open; it provides plausible deniability.

 

[bsdgeek]

My tips:

1) Use tor with privoxy & the firefox add-on for general browsing. There are also some zero-footprint browser that are small enough to fit on a USB stick. A proxy server (or three w/ multiproxy) is always best if you have access to good ones.

2) For email, you can try safe-mail.net or use PGP.

3) If you are going to host a site, use the Russian Business Network. It's 600$ a month, but worth it depending on what the site is for.

4) You should keep your computer encrypted with something like Safeboot.

5) Use TrueCrypt for on-the-fly encryption.

6) You should use VMWare Workstation with a guest VM for all sketchy activity.

7) If you use wireless access at home, keep the network open; it provides plausible deniability.

That's right, all this, and like I said earlier, these are deterents. Most hackers wouldn't go through all the shit necessary to break this unless it was worth it to them. The feds would, if they had yo shit, and you were a major player. Still, there's no need to be careless over a small order either. One cycle's worth of gear is enough to fuck up your life.

 

[Iron man]

This is not full proof - go buy a $40 scan disk usb key. It already has Mozilla browser on it. When you open up the scan disk and open up the browser everything goes to the scan disk and not your computer. To hide your ip address buy the anonymizer it doesn't slow your surfing down like most proxys. The good thing you can take the key anywhere and you will have all of the sites that you go to and no one will know you are there.

 

[OldWiseMan]

This is not full proof - go buy a $40 scan disk usb key. It already has Mozilla browser on it. When you open up the scan disk and open up the browser everything goes to the scan disk and not your computer. To hide your ip address buy the anonymizer it doesn't slow your surfing down like most proxys. The good thing you can take the key anywhere and you will have all of the sites that you go to and no one will know you are there.

As I said, if you want to use a USB stick there are some zero-footprint browsers available. e-Capsule is probably the best right now.

http://www.eisst.com/products/private_browser/

 

[OldWiseMan]

That's right, all this, and like I said earlier, these are deterents. Most hackers wouldn't go through all the shit necessary to break this unless it was worth it to them. The feds would, if they had yo shit, and you were a major player. Still, there's no need to be careless over a small order either. One cycle's worth of gear is enough to fuck up your life.

If you use heavy encryption it is pretty damn hard to break. You would have to be into some very heavy shit for them even to bother trying. If you are smart then you won't be caught because of your online activities. There are easier ways for them to nab your ass.

 

[Swtrue]

Thanks for the read. Very good information.

SWT

 

[bsdgeek]

If you use heavy encryption it is pretty damn hard to break. You would have to be into some very heavy shit for them even to bother trying. If you are smart then you won't be caught because of your online activities. There are easier ways for them to nab your ass.

Yep, I agree. This was just to enlighten those who were commenting on another thread. Knowledge is power, and ignorance of a subject can get yo ass busted These are good for everyone, and this is just to let people know that everything is traceable and crackable, and if you look at it this way, you'll be less likely to get caught. Take every precaution, and never assume you're safe.