Internet security

[Docd187123]

Posting this here as the other section didn’t get traffic




looking to beef up my internet security and have a few questions. I’m looking into running TOR on a live OS like Tails. I also want to run the signal through a VPN provider, paid for with anonymous bitcoin. Ideally, I like the idea of running VPN over Tor so that I have the anonymity of TOR with the encryption and privacy of the VPN. My issue is this, everywhere I look, it says TOR won’t access .onion sites running this method since the final exit node of the internet traffic would be the VPN and not a TOR exit node. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Are there any workarounds to this that someone is aware of?

 

[Sdryx]

Posting this here as the other section didn’t get traffic




looking to beef up my internet security and have a few questions. I’m looking into running TOR on a live OS like Tails. I also want to run the signal through a VPN provider, paid for with anonymous bitcoin. Ideally, I like the idea of running VPN over Tor so that I have the anonymity of TOR with the encryption and privacy of the VPN. My issue is this, everywhere I look, it says TOR won’t access .onion sites running this method since the final exit node of the internet traffic would be the VPN and not a TOR exit node. Can anyone confirm or deny this? Are there any workarounds to this that someone is aware of?

No idea what “Tails” is...

But you MUST run TOR over a VPN. TOR in and of itself IS NOT ANONYMOUS! When you are getting forked through random nodes, if you happen to get forked through a “spying” node set up by a hacker or the FBI, they can then see everything you are doing. So a VPN will hide your identity when you get forked through a “spy” node that is watching you.

Paying them by bitcoin won’t save you either. They still have your real IP address and thus can locate who you are anyways even if you pay with bitcoin. The VPN service will always know your identity via your real IP address, which LE can request and then go to the corresponding ISP to get your identity. The VPN is only good so long as the company won’t give up your information to a law enforcement request. So why not just run with a very well known and reputable VPN company. Go with a very well established one, NOT a new or cheap one.

 

[Sk8man101]

It was my understanding the the VPN hides what your doing from your ISP.
Your TOR is what hides you from the site you accessing and the only way you can be tracked threw a tor is if you happened to be running threw THREE different spy nodes at the same time. And then once you click on another page it will just reset you threw different nodes again making it practically impossible for any agency to track what your doing.

For example: if you want to be anonymous, use a tor. If you don’t want your ISP to know your using a TOR, run a VPN on top of that.

Am I mistaken here?

 

[Sdryx]

It was my understanding the the VPN hides what your doing from your ISP.
Your TOR is what hides you from the site you accessing and the only way you can be tracked threw a tor is if you happened to be running threw THREE different spy nodes at the same time. And then once you click on another page it will just reset you threw different nodes again making it practically impossible for any agency to track what your doing.

For example: if you want to be anonymous, use a tor. If you don’t want your ISP to know your using a TOR, run a VPN on top of that.

Am I mistaken here?

How much resources and spy nodes do you think the FBI can set up... as many as they want is the answer. I bet they have something like a data center with a million virtual computers running spy nodes. So passing through 3 of them does not seem “impossible” if you ask me. It just takes a single click of bad luck to hit 3 spy nodes on that final click of your darknet transaction that has the order and the address listed... so even on VPN and TOR, send your contact information via PGP encryption over the darknet.

This is the most important part: YOUR VPN COMPANY ALWAYS KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. You are not anonymous when your IP address hits their servers. You become anonymous AFTER leaving their servers. So, the FBI can make a request with the logged VPN IP address, the VPN company then looks up that it was YOU, they then pass that info to the FBI and now your VPN company just ratted out your real IP address. Then they go to your ISP who gladly gives up your name and address.

Solution: don’t go with a VPN company unless they are BIG on customer anonymity. Apple for example won’t give shit to the FBI... ever. Google on the other hand will give you up without a second thought. Research your VPN companies and go with a PAID one that has a long standing history that you can research.

 

[Docd187123]

No idea what “Tails” is...

But you MUST run TOR over a VPN. TOR in and of itself IS NOT ANONYMOUS! When you are getting forked through random nodes, if you happen to get forked through a “spying” node set up by a hacker or the FBI, they can then see everything you are doing. So a VPN will hide your identity when you get forked through a “spy” node that is watching you.

Paying them by bitcoin won’t save you either. They still have your real IP address and thus can locate who you are anyways even if you pay with bitcoin. The VPN service will always know your identity via your real IP address, which LE can request and then go to the corresponding ISP to get your identity. The VPN is only good so long as the company won’t give up your information to a law enforcement request. So why not just run with a very well known and reputable VPN company. Go with a very well established one, NOT a new or cheap one.

Tails is a live operating system. You run it off a usb drive or dvd disc. Nothing you do ever gets stored on the hard drive bc it only runs off RAM. There’s never any history of what you did on the computer bc it’s erased after the computer is shut down. Tails also comes packaged with the TOR browser, has a good password keeper program, and has a PGP encryption app for messaging. Pretty sweet setup if you ask me.

My understanding and correct me if wrong is this:

The only thing one really worries about with TOR is the exit node. If the first or second node is compromised it’s.not so big a deal since the information is encrypted at that point. The exit node is where the information gets decrypted and where problems can happen.

The work around to VPN having your real IP is to download it through

 

[Sdryx]

The only thing one really worries about with TOR is the exit node. If the first or second node is compromised it’s.not so big a deal since the information is encrypted at that point. The exit node is where the information gets decrypted and where problems can happen.

Could be true. But the FBI could easily be that last exit node as well. Or a hacker...

The work around to VPN having your real IP is to download it through

You can never work around a VPN. You are only as hidden as they choose to make you. You go by a VPN’s “reputation” just like how we avoid Google for email. Not just because it’s not encrypted, but also because Google is well known to give up people’s info.

Think about this... when you connect to the VPN, they can log your true IP before it’s masked since THEY are masking it only AFTER it leaves their foreign servers. You can buy everything anonymously but they will always be able to log anyone’s original IP address that comes through, it won’t matter. Now if they get an LE request for something, they have the ability to look up the original IP address before it was masked.

Then LE gets your real info from ISP based on your IP address given up by your VPN.

You are trusting your VPN service.

Tails is great for when LE seizes your computer. Usually if they have a warrant for your computer... they have already built a case against you based on your documented online activity or post office activity or both. Although yes it will do what it’s supposed to do... you would be already “dead” in court before seizing your computer if they already had enough to get a warrant. So I wouldn’t even waste my time with that. Just my opinion as I wouldn’t advise anyone to go with “less” security. More is always better.

 

[Docd187123]

Could be true. But the FBI could easily be that last exit node as well. Or a hacker...

Very true which is why I’m trying to ascertain what security procedures are best.

You can never work around a VPN. You are only as hidden as they choose to make you. You go by a VPN’s “reputation” just like how we avoid Google for email. Not just because it’s not encrypted, but also because Google is well known to give up people’s info.

Think about this... when you connect to the VPN, they can log your true IP before it’s masked since THEY are masking it only AFTER it leaves their foreign servers. You can buy everything anonymously but they will always be able to log anyone’s original IP address that comes through, it won’t matter. Now if they get an LE request for something, they have the ability to look up the original IP address before it was masked.

Then LE gets your real info from ISP based on your IP address given up by your VPN.

You are trusting your VPN service.

What I meant was, you can download your VPN through TOR and pay for it with anonomyzed bitcoin or monero. When I connect to the VPN at anytime, I make sure I’m on a public WiFi access not my personal home WiFi.

Tails is great for when LE seizes your computer. Usually if they have a warrant for your computer... they have already built a case against you based on your documented online activity or post office activity or both. Although yes it will do what it’s supposed to do... you would be already “dead” in court before seizing your computer if they already had enough to get a warrant. So I wouldn’t even waste my time with that. Just my opinion as I wouldn’t advise anyone to go with “less” security. More is always better.

Tails is great bc keystrokes can’t be tracked, no information is saved on your hard drive, it all gets wiped down after powering down, etc. if a case is built against me and a warrant is issued for my computer, it means that they want more evidence against me and are hoping they get it off my computer correct? Well tails just makes sure there’s nothing there for them to find (provided all the proper precautionary steps are taken as well). I don’t think it alone is going to save my ass, but it’s just an added layer of security.

 

[Sdryx]

public WiFi access not my personal home WiFi.

Makes sense.

it means that they want more evidence against me and are hoping they get it off my computer correct?

Not necessarily, they might just be very thorough in trying to gather all the evidence. All they need is to convince a jury. So they will get any and all evidence possible just to be thorough.

Here’s an analogy: they don’t necessarily need the murder weapon if they have a video of you killing the person. They will issue a warrant for finding the weapon regardless just to be thorough.

Here’s another analogy: they spied on your web traffic, documented your unencrypted illegal purchases, waited for the package to arrive at the post office, opened and documented the drugs in the package, then proceeded to deliver the package to you. Upon the controlled delivery, they arrest you and take every computer in the home.

They don’t need the computers to bust you at this point. It’s just further documentation to support the case.

I don’t think it alone is going to save my ass, but it’s just an added layer of security.

This should always be the standard, despite my personal opinion that I personally wouldn’t waste my time with Tails. My own personal opinion is if they have enough for the warrant, they already got you... with internet stuff anyways.

 

[Docd187123]

Makes sense.



Not necessarily, they might just be very thorough in trying to gather all the evidence. All they need is to convince a jury. So they will get any and all evidence possible just to be thorough.

Here’s an analogy: they don’t necessarily need the murder weapon if they have a video of you killing the person. They will issue a warrant for finding the weapon regardless just to be thorough.

Here’s another analogy: they spied on your web traffic, documented your unencrypted illegal purchases, waited for the package to arrive at the post office, opened and documented the drugs in the package, then proceeded to deliver the package to you. Upon the controlled delivery, they arrest you and take every computer in the home.

They don’t need the computers to bust you at this point. It’s just further documentation to support the case.



This should always be the standard, despite my personal opinion that I personally wouldn’t waste my time with Tails. My own personal opinion is if they have enough for the warrant, they already got you... with internet stuff anyways.

Yea the analogies do
Make some sense.

Most of the places I’ve looked to for help with this suggest only running TOR through TAILS or a virtual box, with tails being the better and easier option most of the time. It’s already on my usb drive installed and doesn’t take much extra effort to use so I’ll continue doing it that way. It’s iust got a ton of extra features that I feel added extra security layers.