5 ms·

Drive to a state you don't live in, boot Tails from CD-ROM, connect to a hacked VPN account through someone else's wifi, then run everything through Tor. Then m

by jrcii 10y ago

Drive to a state you don't live in, boot Tails from CD-ROM, connect to a hacked VPN account through someone else's wifi, then run everything through Tor. Then make sure you're using default browser configuration and resolution as not to be foiled a la panopticlick. Even then I wouldn't be so sure you're anonymous.

walrus01 10y ago
And all of the above while avoiding security cameras that will capture your license plate, and using a $200 thinkpad you bought for cash. Oh, and you drove to another state, you DID leave your tracking device (LTE smartphone) at home, right?
- ashmud 10y ago
  And anti-facial recognition (e.g., face paint). Burner phone if you have to.
  - walrus01 10y ago
    And you paid for gas and everything else in cash only, right? It's trivially easy to track a person's movements if they use credit/debit for most payments.
    - martin1975 10y ago
      Suppose you did all that. And maybe you even pulled it off, and left no tracks. Something else happens, and this is what many fail to realize - human nature kicks in and you get high on your own success. Therein lies your downfall. Name one relatively successful person who's done something wrong or criminal who hasn't been caught by the most insanely stupid mistake, even after not being caught for days, months, years even. This is why privacy, while it is a legitimate need to shield things like personal info, bank accounts, bills, your own home or communication with coworkers, friends, family, etc, when it is used to shield illegal activities, almost always, if not always, it is to the detriment of the person. Now, some will cry foul to what I said... "If you're careful enough, you will never get caught".. or the best one, "If you've a group of people to support you (i.e. mafia style :), organized efforts are harder to break"... or "if smart people who are wicked join you..." etc. Go ahead, try it, I double dog dare you. Come post on HN how it went. Or maybe we'll read about you on Ars or HN, but not from your direct reporting.
      - thaumasiotes 10y ago
        > Name one relatively successful person who's done something wrong or criminal who hasn't been caught by the most insanely stupid mistake, even after not being caught for days, months, years even. This is an extremely fallacious argument. How are you supposed to know who they are before they've been caught?
        martin1975 10y ago
        I know some who are... active, but not caught. That's what I meant. Do you? :)
      - bitL 10y ago
        The point is to avoid a Stasi-like spying future and to CYA. What if the official "PC" public opinion changes in 5 years dramatically and a witch hunt starts on anyone expressing a certain opinion that was considered normal in the past? Look at what happened to Brendan Eich. So officially you can generate "approved" traffic by visiting "safe", publicly endorsed and usual established sites and in private you can browse whatever you wish, e.g. discuss political issues without a fear of repercussions, invent a new science that would pose problems to established ones and group with similarly-minded people as much as you wish without blowing your cover. Frankly, what I am doing is none of your business if I try to adhere to the golden principle as much as I am capable of; I don't need my biometrics taken by Facebook, stylometry learned by Google, coding style footprint generated by GitHub , my online history stored by my ISP, my opinions revealed by Reddit etc. And for your point - I am sure we hear only about the "stupid" ones that made a silly mistake; we would never hear about the clever ones that can restrict themselves when they don't have 100% control of the situation. They do exist. And most men can't even spot clear signals when their wife is cheating on them, not mentioning the ones that can blend in perfectly... Often the balance of power is achieved by secrets the ones in power know on each other via MAD, so when there is no deviating data, there is no secret to crucify you for.
      - nickpsecurity 10y ago
        I know lots of criminals that are still free even with shitty OPSEC. Many do their stuff openly. Some are clearly CI's given they get busted regularly but are always free and operating. FBI says for every one they convict there's almost 10 times as many they miss due to lack of evidence or resources. So, between all that, I think you're dramatically overestimating how effective both police and surveillance dragnets are. ;)
    - MaulingMonkey 10y ago
      Cash? Those bills have serial numbers on them! I'm not sure exactly how frequently they're checked or scanned by banks, but a scanner in the ATM you withdrew from + scanning the daily deposits by the gas station would paint a pretty clear map, even if a few of them get tendered back out as change, and a few more aren't tracked due to OCR failures. Best stick to bills tendered as change only. Although who knows what red flags someone trying to hide their spending habits might be able to trip, alerting the feds that someone frequenting your favorite restaurant is trying to hide their trail...

by jrcii 10y ago

walrus01 10y ago

And all of the above while avoiding security cameras that will capture your license plate, and using a $200 thinkpad you bought for cash. Oh, and you drove to another state, you DID leave your tracking device (LTE smartphone) at home, right?

ashmud 10y ago
And anti-facial recognition (e.g., face paint). Burner phone if you have to.
- walrus01 10y ago
  And you paid for gas and everything else in cash only, right? It's trivially easy to track a person's movements if they use credit/debit for most payments.
  - martin1975 10y ago
    Suppose you did all that. And maybe you even pulled it off, and left no tracks. Something else happens, and this is what many fail to realize - human nature kicks in and you get high on your own success. Therein lies your downfall. Name one relatively successful person who's done something wrong or criminal who hasn't been caught by the most insanely stupid mistake, even after not being caught for days, months, years even. This is why privacy, while it is a legitimate need to shield things like personal info, bank accounts, bills, your own home or communication with coworkers, friends, family, etc, when it is used to shield illegal activities, almost always, if not always, it is to the detriment of the person. Now, some will cry foul to what I said... "If you're careful enough, you will never get caught".. or the best one, "If you've a group of people to support you (i.e. mafia style :), organized efforts are harder to break"... or "if smart people who are wicked join you..." etc. Go ahead, try it, I double dog dare you. Come post on HN how it went. Or maybe we'll read about you on Ars or HN, but not from your direct reporting.
    - thaumasiotes 10y ago
      > Name one relatively successful person who's done something wrong or criminal who hasn't been caught by the most insanely stupid mistake, even after not being caught for days, months, years even. This is an extremely fallacious argument. How are you supposed to know who they are before they've been caught?
      - martin1975 10y ago
        I know some who are... active, but not caught. That's what I meant. Do you? :)
    - bitL 10y ago
      The point is to avoid a Stasi-like spying future and to CYA. What if the official "PC" public opinion changes in 5 years dramatically and a witch hunt starts on anyone expressing a certain opinion that was considered normal in the past? Look at what happened to Brendan Eich. So officially you can generate "approved" traffic by visiting "safe", publicly endorsed and usual established sites and in private you can browse whatever you wish, e.g. discuss political issues without a fear of repercussions, invent a new science that would pose problems to established ones and group with similarly-minded people as much as you wish without blowing your cover. Frankly, what I am doing is none of your business if I try to adhere to the golden principle as much as I am capable of; I don't need my biometrics taken by Facebook, stylometry learned by Google, coding style footprint generated by GitHub , my online history stored by my ISP, my opinions revealed by Reddit etc. And for your point - I am sure we hear only about the "stupid" ones that made a silly mistake; we would never hear about the clever ones that can restrict themselves when they don't have 100% control of the situation. They do exist. And most men can't even spot clear signals when their wife is cheating on them, not mentioning the ones that can blend in perfectly... Often the balance of power is achieved by secrets the ones in power know on each other via MAD, so when there is no deviating data, there is no secret to crucify you for.
    - nickpsecurity 10y ago
      I know lots of criminals that are still free even with shitty OPSEC. Many do their stuff openly. Some are clearly CI's given they get busted regularly but are always free and operating. FBI says for every one they convict there's almost 10 times as many they miss due to lack of evidence or resources. So, between all that, I think you're dramatically overestimating how effective both police and surveillance dragnets are. ;)
  - MaulingMonkey 10y ago
    Cash? Those bills have serial numbers on them! I'm not sure exactly how frequently they're checked or scanned by banks, but a scanner in the ATM you withdrew from + scanning the daily deposits by the gas station would paint a pretty clear map, even if a few of them get tendered back out as change, and a few more aren't tracked due to OCR failures. Best stick to bills tendered as change only. Although who knows what red flags someone trying to hide their spending habits might be able to trip, alerting the feds that someone frequenting your favorite restaurant is trying to hide their trail...