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Chapter 13 – Operating systems Last but not least operating systems. Windows is the default, used by everyone os and for that reason many many bad actors have focused their efforts on getting into and getting around Windows defenses. By default this makes Linux distributions safer. They are by no means fully secure but the simple fact they are just not the focus is a bonus. Getting into the different distros of linux is where things get interesting. For anyone wanting to test out and “learn...

Chapter 12 – PGP & Encryption PGP stands for pretty good privacy, and it is a tool used to encrypt, sign and verify. It does this by creating two keys a private key and a public key, the private key as its name implies you keep to yourself and keep it secure. The public key you share with anyone wanting to send you encrypted messages/emails. Anyone can encrypt a message to you using your public key a message they can not even decrypt (unless they also encrypt it for themselves) the only...

Chapter 11 – Email Protonmail – A privacy focused company, they offer multiple private friendly services buneled all together, their email is end to end encrupted with “zero access encryption” meaning not even protonmail can see your emails. A great option as an email by itself, fully featured and reliable but the fact even the free version comes with proton drive storage space, vpn services and a calendar it is hard to beat. It also uses pgp encryption which I will get into a bit later , prot...

Chapter 10 – Crypto At one point all crypto was private those days are long gone, for started because most were never meant to be private, Bitcoin has an open blockchain anyone can view, it has just become much easier to track with tools specifically designed to follow transactions around. That goes for the other top coins, eth, doge, lite coin. There are ways to make those coins more secure (less traceable) but the added issues of governments cracking down on exchanges have caused a lot of the...

Chapter 9 – Messengers Signal – Cutting edge of private communication, everyone should be on it, does require number It has become the standard of messaging, and even has proxies for censorship circumvention. A lot of other apps are still not living up too such as where they store your info and what info is stored “When you use Signal, your data is stored in encrypted form on your devices. The only information that is stored on the Signal servers for each account is the phone number you regist...

Chapter 8 – Passwords and 2fa Password managers are a great tool everyone should be using. They keep track of all your accounts while also being able to provide and use very secure passwords that you do not even need to try to remember. For this I recommend Bitwarden it has a free and a paid version, I use the free version daily, it will sync across all your devices, and generate passwords for you. You can even set it to auto fill on your phone, so you don’t need to keep toggling apps. I recomm...

Chapter 6 – VPN with Tor Tor itself does not recommend this unless you are an advanced user, here is why “Most VPN/SSH provider log, there is a money trail, if you can't pay really anonymously. (An adversary is always going to probe the weakest link first...). A VPN/SSH acts either as a permanent entry or as a permanent exit node. This can introduce new risks while solving others. “ So, if you wish to use a VPN I would ensure it is very trusted, if it is, then I would use it as a connection bloc...

Chapter 5 – VPN’s A vpn is almost solely a privacy tool, and a good one at that. (can also be used get around reign blocked content) When connecting to a vpn from your house, what is happening is instead of computer > ISP>webpage you are now doing, computer>ISP>VPN>webpage You are not hiding the fact that you are connected to the internet but what you are doing on it. The ISP (internet service provider) can see that you have connected to a VPN but can not see anything after ...

Chapter 4 – Advanced Browsers Here I will explain how Tor, and I2P work as well as some use cases for them. Tor – Mission statement: “To advance human rights and freedoms by creating and deploying free and open source anonymity and privacy technologies, supporting their unrestricted availability and use, and furthering their scientific and popular understanding.” How it works, Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows you to improve your privacy and security on the Internet. Tor work...

Chapter 3 – Browsers Your browser has a lot of identifying information and can lead to many attack possibilities from trackers big tech and your local government use to profile you. To hackers trying to trick you into visiting their fake site and download viruses. For the upmost of anonymity and with very good security the Tor browser is possibly the only answer, and for that will be covered later in its own section. For those that want/need faster speeds and being able to connect to website...

Chapter 2 – Threat Models What is a threat model? A threat model is a list of the most probable threats to your security and privacy endeavors. You first need to decide what your probable threats are as well as anything specifically you would like to protect. Here are some examples: A hacker targeting you to try to gain access to your devices/profiles. Big tech such as Apple, Meta(facebook) tracking your every move on the web and using that data for targeted adds. Your identity, you may wan...

Prologue This is intended as an introduction to privacy and anonymity, the why, what tools, and how it is done. I hope to lay out a multitude of ways people allover the world are maintaining privacy and anonymity, using many different tools. I do not plan on going into the finer details of how tools work, more of an understanding of what should and is being used as well as why its being used. This is in part to get the info I have absorbed and the research I have done onto paper in a high level...

First blog post, mostly a test but here we are. I hope to write privacy focused ideals regarding anonymity, privacy and security. Maybe walk-throughs on tools, use cases etc ...