Cyber security month is wrapping up. Don’t forget to:
Buy a thinkpad x230 and install heads. Write protect the flash chip. Put nail polish on the screws and take high resolution pictures to ensure signs of tampering. Do NOT use a HDD or SSD. They have DMA so a malicious firmware could do a lot of damage, use of USB is preferred since they do not have DMA. Completely remove the microphone, sound card, webcam and the WWAN card from the laptop. Remove the fan to prevent binary acoustic data transmission. Replace the default wifi card with a supported atheros card. Disable wifi when not in use, preferably by physically removing the card. Make your own independent Linux distro from scratch. Most Linux distros value convenience over security and will thus never have good security. Your only option is to make your own. Use musl instead of glibc, Libressl instead of openssl, sinit instead of systemd, oksh instead of bash, toybox instead of gnu coreutils to reduce attack surface. Enable as little kernel modules as possible. Use a hardened memory allocator. Apply strong SELinux and sandboxing policies. Restrict the root account heavily to make sure it never gets compromised. Disable JavaScript and CSS in your browser. Block all FAGMAN domains in your hosts file. Monitor all network requests. Do not use a phone. Never speak near anyone who owns a phone, they are always listening. Never use any non-corebooted technology made after 2006. Never leave your devices unattended. Tape triple layer aluminum foil all around your room as tempest shielding. Type really quietly as defense against audio keylogging. Use ecc ram to minimize rowhammer and rambleed. Encrypt everything multiple times with various different encryption implementations. Compile everything from source. Use hardened compilation flags. Always read through the source before installing something if possible. Only use the internet when absolutely necessary.
We find ourselves in the midst of an information war, whether we chose to participate or not. On one side are the data extractors - the tech giants, advertisers, data brokers and other entities that see our personal information as a commodity to be harvested and traded. Their aim is to scoop up every byte of data they can about our online activities, locations, interests, relationships and more.
On the other side are individuals seeking to retain ownership and control over their own digital footprints and identities. For them, privacy is not about hiding anything illicit, but rather about exercising autonomy and self-determination in an increasingly digitized world. They understand that our data, in aggregate, reveals intimate details about our lives, and they do not want to relinquish it without fair compensation or say in how it is used.
Like any war, this conflict involves tactics and strategy. The extractors deploy surveillance technologies, terms of service agreements and lobbying efforts to legalize ever more intrusive forms of profiling and tracking. Individuals employ tools like encryption, anonymous networks and strategic obfuscation to cloud their movements and activities online.
Ultimately, it is a clash over power and information asymmetry. Who gets to see under the veil that individuals try to retain over their own lives and decisions? In whose interests will the vast troves of personal data being amassed be put to use? This information war will shape how privacy and transparency are balanced for years to come.
I’m sorry you had to find out this way. But an app downloaded via the App Store cannot provide you anonymity. By that point they already have your MAC address, IP address, stylometry, name and billing address, location data, Face ID, etc.
When’s the last time the FBI stopped a crime?
The Maine shooter was (as always) known to law enforcement, previously committed to a mental institution and prohibited from owning firearms. If only the FBI would stop spying on Catholics, concerned parents at PTA meetings, and Maga patriots maybe they’d actually stop real terrorists for a change rather than trying to create them.
Using the web while connected to a VPN is like asking a friend to move to a more private location before having a sensitive conversation. Sure others might not hear what you’re saying but you really have to trust that friend. And what good is it if your other devices are listening as well?
Using E2E to encrypt a conversation or AES to secure your files is no different than putting a lock on your car, locking your front door, or securing your valuables in a safe. Encryption is a simple act of self-defense that we employ every day without a second thought. Far from being the realm of criminals, encryption brings the age-old right to privacy and self-protection into the digital world. Just as physical locks deter crime without depriving law-abiding citizens of liberty, so too does encryption enable trust and safety online while upholding fundamental freedoms. The tools of encryption empower people to take responsibility for their own security. Making encryption user-friendly and accessible to all is not a danger, but a noble endeavor that benefits society.
Encryption was once the exclusive domain of governments, banks and other large institutions. The average citizen saw encryption as something esoteric, only used by spies and criminals. But today, encryption is everywhere. It secures our online banking, our private communications, even our everyday browsing. Strong cryptography is no longer just for the elite few - it now protects the digital lives of people from all walks of life. The power and promise of encryption belongs to the people. Its preservation is a right that we must continue to defend against those who would weaken it. The spread of encryption is a victory for liberty in the digital age.
Unbelievable
Using Digital Ocean or Vultr to torrent? Don’t count on it.
https://whoisyourvpn.com/article/digital-ocean-vultr-torrent-p2p/
The individual IP result page should look better and more responsive on mobile. Making small improvements here and there.
Firefox accounts renamed Mozilla accounts - What you need to know
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-accounts-renamed-mozilla-accounts
The end of the free internet is over, and that’s a good thing
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/17/23921752/x-not-a-bot-charge-new-users-elon-musk
Comcast customers have reported that Comcast DNS is hijacking kiwifarms.net domain resolution and redirecting them to 104.225.12.42.
If you are experiencing this error, either change your settings, complain to Comcast, or change your DNS to either https://1.1.1.1 or https://dns.google or any other DNS from https://privacytools.io/encrypted-dns. 
65,000 Armenian Christians forcefully removed from Azerbaijan in “ethnic cleansing.” No global outrage. Why?
Since the beheaded babies story has now been recanted and debunked, I’m getting throwback vibes from when the Ukrainians accused the invading Russian forces all sorts if atrocities then it came out that Ukrainians had tortured and killed prisoners of war. 🤣🤣
People are saying the recent Hamas attacks are “Israel’s 9/11”. This is true, especially the part about both events being examples of significant intelligence blunders resulting in the deaths of civilians. That and they’re both funded by the CIA.
Same people falling for the beheaded babies psyop have Ghost of Kiev stickers on their cars.
Kinda funny how the media will show the death of George Floyd over and over with a ticker of the Covid death count underneath. They absolutely love death. But won’t show images of dead Israeli women and children. 🤔
The MSM is saying that parents should warn their children to stay off social media because Hamas are broadcasting their violence in unprecedented ways on social media - yet not one single picture of a beheaded person.