COMPUTERS DO NOT MAKE YOU ANONYMOUS! YOU CAN BE ARRESTED! Protect yourself

[White Israelite]

Thanks for the great info....it can't hurt to follow some basic precautions.  There's always the possibility of an internet cafe in an Asian neighborhood where they don't check id to get on the computers. 

Another method for being nearly 100 percent anonymous would be to get a old primestar satellite dish or a cantenna, you change out the LNBF and you can create an amplifier, get up to 10 miles worth of free wireless connections, use TOR or I2P on top of that and your completely anonymous for the most part, you can change your MAC address as well on the network adapter and it would prove rather difficult to trace you.

OK... that is the kind of anonymity that you would need if you were truly scared of the government.  By the way.... Very few people leave their wireless unencrypted anymore.

You'd be surprised

I did a scan with netstumbler in the area and I found over 300 unencrypted access points. I also found a number of netcafes and what not.

A number were encrypted but very poorly, 64 bit WEP key which is easily crackable. Sure, they could use it assigned to MAC address but MAC addresses are easy to spoof.

http://www.openxtra.co.uk/articles/wep-weaknesses.php

WPA is much more secure although a wired connection is the most secure.

[briann]

Thanks for the great info....it can't hurt to follow some basic precautions.  There's always the possibility of an internet cafe in an Asian neighborhood where they don't check id to get on the computers. 

Another method for being nearly 100 percent anonymous would be to get a old primestar satellite dish or a cantenna, you change out the LNBF and you can create an amplifier, get up to 10 miles worth of free wireless connections, use TOR or I2P on top of that and your completely anonymous for the most part, you can change your MAC address as well on the network adapter and it would prove rather difficult to trace you.

OK... that is the kind of anonymity that you would need if you were truly scared of the government.  By the way.... Very few people leave their wireless unencrypted anymore.

You'd be surprised

I did a scan with netstumbler in the area and I found over 300 unencrypted access points. I also found a number of netcafes and what not.

A number were encrypted but very poorly, 64 bit WEP key which is easily crackable. Sure, they could use it assigned to MAC address but MAC addresses are easy to spoof.

http://www.openxtra.co.uk/articles/wep-weaknesses.php

WPA is much more secure although a wired connection is the most secure.

Wow 300?  People are still using 64 bit encryption???

Yes, I used to use netstumbler... back when I was trying to find an access point to leach off, and before a lot of its functions were built into windows.   And yes... Ive actually spoofed a Mac address before.... back in my younger days. 

[SW]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

[briann]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

If you are nervous about that... just use JAP!!!  http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html  and then use a website like meebo for ALL your IMing.  You will be 99.9% safe from snooping.  (.01% is a german court order).

[muman613]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

Very insecure... Anyone sniffing the network packets can see your conversation... I would advise not to say things which could be taken the wrong way. I have WireShark on my machine and I can watch all the packets on the network... Wireshark is a free open-source network packet sniffer and it has helped me debug issues here at work.

[briann]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

Very insecure... Anyone sniffing the network packets can see your conversation... I would advise not to say things which could be taken the wrong way. I have WireShark on my machine and I can watch all the packets on the network... Wireshark is a free open-source network packet sniffer and it has helped me debug issues here at work.

Packetsniffers are great, because you really learn a lot more about how the information is sent. 

If you want to email something with pretty good anonymity... I say use anonymouse.   You can use another service like gaurdster to get to the anonymouse website.. and then just mail the message.  It uses something called remailing.. which bounces your message to other services before it gets to the destination.

[SW]

Thank you!

[White Israelite]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

The ISP can see the packet headers, since ICQ and MSN use unencrypted methods for connection, it is traceable. If your connected via SSL (AIM used to offer this option) or a proxy, then all the data is being relayed through that proxy.

Of course, a keylogger would provide the same option.

Email can also be subpoenaed by government and checked.

I generally only send attachments encrypted via email so they aren't intercepted.

I am also starting to use encrypted emails whenever I contact my buddies.

You can encrypt messages/emails with PGP. You can read more about it here.

http://www.encryptedemail.org/

[White Israelite]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

If you are nervous about that... just use JAP!!!  http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html  and then use a website like meebo for ALL your IMing.  You will be 99.9% safe from snooping.  (.01% is a german court order).

I've heard of JAP but I thought they charged to use SSL and SOCKS connection.

One reason I don't use TOR is that the packets can be intercepted as it uses onion router but the packets are not as encrypted as I2P and some users forget to turn off being an exiting node which is bad news.

I won't touch freenet because the data is shared between everyone and actually stored on the persons machine.

I'll have to look more into JAP.

[briann]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

If you are nervous about that... just use JAP!!!  http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html  and then use a website like meebo for ALL your IMing.  You will be 99.9% safe from snooping.  (.01% is a german court order).

I've heard of JAP but I thought they charged to use SSL and SOCKS connection.

One reason I don't use TOR is that the packets can be intercepted as it uses onion router but the packets are not as encrypted as I2P and some users forget to turn off being an exiting node which is bad news.

I won't touch freenet because the data is shared between everyone and actually stored on the persons machine.

I'll have to look more into JAP.

NO!!! they charge to use their PAY service.. JohnDoeNym.  It allows you to bounce your information throughtout europe, including Poland, etc, and has greater speed.

JAP uses something better than onionrouting... assuming your goal is NOT to be traced.  (I could care less about this.. I was just using it to bypass my school firewall)

It uses mixmastering... IE your computer takes info... splits it up randomly and sends it at random intervals... then each node mixes it up more... until its finally mixed back at the last node.  (Of course... each time the info is being encrypted and decrypted).

It has a backdoor (Which has been used once by German Authorities)... but theoretically... if you use their paid service... it would be next to impossible to trace... even if the authorities forced ALL the nodes to open their records.

[White Israelite]

I am a bit scared. What about ICQ or MSN? I hope the government can't see what I write in there!
May the only safe thing is  a simpel letter.

If you are nervous about that... just use JAP!!!  http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html  and then use a website like meebo for ALL your IMing.  You will be 99.9% safe from snooping.  (.01% is a german court order).

I've heard of JAP but I thought they charged to use SSL and SOCKS connection.

One reason I don't use TOR is that the packets can be intercepted as it uses onion router but the packets are not as encrypted as I2P and some users forget to turn off being an exiting node which is bad news.

I won't touch freenet because the data is shared between everyone and actually stored on the persons machine.

I'll have to look more into JAP.

NO!!! they charge to use their PAY service.. JohnDoeNym.  It allows you to bounce your information throughtout europe, including Poland, etc, and has greater speed.

JAP uses something better than onionrouting... assuming your goal is NOT to be traced.  (I could care less about this.. I was just using it to bypass my school firewall)

It uses mixmastering... IE your computer takes info... splits it up randomly and sends it at random intervals... then each node mixes it up more... until its finally mixed back at the last node.  (Of course... each time the info is being encrypted and decrypted).

It has a backdoor (Which has been used once by German Authorities)... but theoretically... if you use their paid service... it would be next to impossible to trace... even if the authorities forced ALL the nodes to open their records.

Hmm I might look into JAP.

[briann]

Hmm I might look into JAP.

Here is the website.
http://anon.inf.tu-dresden.de/index_en.html

When you do research.. you WILL see people saying: 'dont use it... since the German Gov Backdoored it' (giving them a method to analyze traffic (NOT DECRYPT IT)).  Understand that the Germ Gov. only used this backdoor ONCE and they had to analyze traffic for a month), and when it was used... it became analyzable to the same extent as an oinionrouting system like TOR is all the time.

NOW... if you use the JonDonym, you can use three of these mixes (Called cascades) at a time in THREE different countries.  It might theoretically be possible to get these 3 governments to cooperate... but even then... it would be very difficult... if not impossible to get enough information to trace the packets.

Info on these mixes can be found here:
https://www.jondos.de/en/status

I will say that when I started getting death threats to myself and people I knew.... I started looking into this kind of stuff.  I have since backed off... but things may change in the future.

[The One and Only Mo]

What can they possibly charge me with?

[White Israelite]

What can they possibly charge me with?

Well, if you are infected with spyware or malware/browser hijackers or trojans, you can be held responsible for the activity.

For example, when I worked on a customers computer, their computer was so infected with malware that it was sending out all kind of advertisements for products we don't need to mention in the forum. My ISP turned off our account and I had to explain the situation to them.

In a case in Arizona, Matt Bandy, a minor (I think he was 16 years old) was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

http://www.justice4matt.com/MattsStory.html

He was infected with a trojan, and his computer was being used to distribute the material. He was able to prove this in court but still received lifetime sex offender status.

There are all kinds of liability someone opens themselves up to without proper protection or they are unaware they are infected with malware/trojans or viruses.

[The One and Only Mo]

What can they possibly charge me with?

Well, if you are infected with spyware or malware/browser hijackers or trojans, you can be held responsible for the activity.

For example, when I worked on a customers computer, their computer was so infected with malware that it was sending out all kind of advertisements for products we don't need to mention in the forum. My ISP turned off our account and I had to explain the situation to them.

In a case in Arizona, Matt Bandy, a minor (I think he was 16 years old) was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

http://www.justice4matt.com/MattsStory.html

He was infected with a trojan, and his computer was being used to distribute the material. He was able to prove this in court but still received lifetime sex offender status.

There are all kinds of liability someone opens themselves up to without proper protection or they are unaware they are infected with malware/trojans or viruses.

So how can we protect ourselves?

[SW]

What can they possibly charge me with?

Well, if you are infected with spyware or malware/browser hijackers or trojans, you can be held responsible for the activity.

For example, when I worked on a customers computer, their computer was so infected with malware that it was sending out all kind of advertisements for products we don't need to mention in the forum. My ISP turned off our account and I had to explain the situation to them.

In a case in Arizona, Matt Bandy, a minor (I think he was 16 years old) was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

http://www.justice4matt.com/MattsStory.html

He was infected with a trojan, and his computer was being used to distribute the material. He was able to prove this in court but still received lifetime sex offender status.

There are all kinds of liability someone opens themselves up to without proper protection or they are unaware they are infected with malware/trojans or viruses.

So how can we protect ourselves?

Don't break the rules and laws. So nothing will happen to you

[~Hanna~]

What can they possibly charge me with?

Well, if you are infected with spyware or malware/browser hijackers or trojans, you can be held responsible for the activity.

For example, when I worked on a customers computer, their computer was so infected with malware that it was sending out all kind of advertisements for products we don't need to mention in the forum. My ISP turned off our account and I had to explain the situation to them.

In a case in Arizona, Matt Bandy, a minor (I think he was 16 years old) was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

http://www.justice4matt.com/MattsStory.html

He was infected with a trojan, and his computer was being used to distribute the material. He was able to prove this in court but still received lifetime sex offender status.

There are all kinds of liability someone opens themselves up to without proper protection or they are unaware they are infected with malware/trojans or viruses.

So how can we protect ourselves?

Don't break the rules and laws. So nothing will happen to you

DIdn't you read what he wrote here? The computer got an infection, picked up adware, etc and was sending out child porn....

[SW]

What can they possibly charge me with?

Well, if you are infected with spyware or malware/browser hijackers or trojans, you can be held responsible for the activity.

For example, when I worked on a customers computer, their computer was so infected with malware that it was sending out all kind of advertisements for products we don't need to mention in the forum. My ISP turned off our account and I had to explain the situation to them.

In a case in Arizona, Matt Bandy, a minor (I think he was 16 years old) was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

http://www.justice4matt.com/MattsStory.html

He was infected with a trojan, and his computer was being used to distribute the material. He was able to prove this in court but still received lifetime sex offender status.

There are all kinds of liability someone opens themselves up to without proper protection or they are unaware they are infected with malware/trojans or viruses.

So how can we protect ourselves?

Don't break the rules and laws. So nothing will happen to you

DIdn't you read what he wrote here? The computer got an infection, picked up adware, etc and was sending out child porn....

Sorry, didn't read it fully. But if I have a virus on my PC (laptop) I bring it to a PC specialist who repair it. Or try to format your PC. I am not that specialist in that things... Just telling you what I do.

[White Israelite]

Hey Briann, I am using JAP now, I bought a paid account and it seems pretty fast, but the anonymous meter is pretty low on the paid services?

[The One and Only Mo]

What I'm asking is if anybody can tell me what the best anti-virus software is

[White Israelite]

What I'm asking is if anybody can tell me what the best anti-virus software is

NOD32 or Kaspersky.

Check this out as well for keeping your computer clean

http://newgon.com/w/images/Guide_to_Computer_Security.pdf

[White Israelite]

There are other threats out there that may affect encryption.

A university showed how memory can be dumped and important encryption keys can be found in virtual memory by using a memory dumper program or even physically removing the RAM while the powers still on. This is known as COLD boot.

[SW]

I am using AntiVir. http://www.free-av.de/
It's a German Anti-Virus software.

[Cato]

On the subject of encryptment, I have a PIM installed and running on an encrypted drive, but it has the nasty habit of saving a backup in My Documents, which is on the unencrypted C drive. I've tried several different PIM's, and they all seem to do the same, though some give the option of an additional backup into the encrypted drive, which helps a bit. Palm OS, on the other hand, collapses it it can't find the backup in My Documents, and won't make a copy anywhere else. Has anybody any reliable ways of moving My Documents to another (encrypted) folder? There is some discussion of this on the Internet but none seem reliable in what is after all a risky business..