Guide to Staying Secure in the Steroid Underground

[Millard]

Bruce Schneier is one of the world's top cryptography experts. He's also an outspoken critique of the NSA's / federal government surveillance.

He recently published a guide on how to stay secure from an "adversary" like the NSA. If it's good enough to thwart the NSA, I figured it might be suitable for many people in this sub-forum.

His five steps aren't easy to follow. But many - some more than others - would probably be well-advised to take on the task of implementing Schneier's recommendations especially if you value anonymity and freedom.

https://www.schneier.com/essay-450.html

1) Hide in the network. Implement hidden services. Use Tor to anonymize yourself. Yes, the NSA targets Tor users, but it's work for them. The less obvious you are, the safer you are.

2) Encrypt your communications. Use TLS. Use IPsec. Again, while it's true that the NSA targets encrypted connections—and it may have explicit exploits against these protocols—you're much better protected than if you communicate in the clear.

3) Assume that while your computer can be compromised, it would take work and risk on the part of the NSA—so it probably isn't. If you have something really important, use an air gap...

4) Be suspicious of commercial encryption software, especially from large vendors...

5) Try to use public-domain encryption that has to be compatible with other implementations....

Some tools used by Schneier: GPG, Silent Circle, Tails, OTR, TrueCrypt, BleachBit

 

[Hueghe]

Some good info, thanks Millard.

 

[Singularity]

Excellent advice!
TrueCrypt is an awesome program- it's free, easy to use, cross-platform functional and very effective.
TrueCrypt - Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Disk Encryption Software
Remember, there's no such thing as being too careful and with the availability of free tools like this, there's no reason not have this one in your toolbox. -just my .02

 

[MassTurk]

I only use Tor browser but at the end you give up info to your source anyway, its a risk reward issue