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They should have been careful to access the Gmail account only via TOR. One slip, and the game would be up. Actually, using Gmail was a reasonable COMSEC plan

They should have been careful to access the Gmail account only via TOR. One slip, and the game would be up. Actually, using Gmail was a reasonable COMSEC plan for what they were doing. Much safer than using his official email. Problem was, she couldn't restrain herself from frightening Jill Kelley into calling the cops. Once the FBI got on the case, Gmail was worthless. They'd see the unencrypted texts and get to correlate and trace the IP accesses, leaving no hope for the communicants to remain anonymous. Ultimately, this was a case of a general and a major letting their privates call the shots.

galapago 14y ago
Accessing Gmail using TOR is not practical because the account will be blocked from time to time (asking for some verification) thanks to the different exit nodes in different countries.
- Estragon 14y ago
  Don't you just keep hitting "change identity" in the tor browser bundle until that doesn't happen anymore?
s_henry_paulson 14y ago
Accessing anything from TOR in his position would be silly, because that sort of activity is likely to be picked up on many computers he might use. Why have to explain why you're trying to hide your tracks? I would buy a cheap tablet or an iPod touch or something, use it only at public wifi spots, only ever use it for this purpose, keep music or whatever on it as a cover, and wipe the device as frequently as possible. Not foolproof, but reasonably practical.
- cynwoody 14y ago
  I thought about that. But consider, if you are on a book tour or your job as DCI takes you from place to place. Investigators will map the location of each access point you used. Airports, coffee shops, hotels, whatever. Then they'll match their map up with the various possible suspects. They'll look at security cam video and inspect hotel guest lists and airline passenger manifests. Bingo! Thus, you need to be logging on from IP addresses that have no connection to you or your whereabouts. Maybe if you could arrange to VPN into a Russian office that does not keep logs and laughs at FBI subpoenas. Even then, there's the danger they traffic-analyze the data in and out of the VPN server.

galapago 14y ago

Accessing Gmail using TOR is not practical because the account will be blocked from time to time (asking for some verification) thanks to the different exit nodes in different countries.

Estragon 14y ago
Don't you just keep hitting "change identity" in the tor browser bundle until that doesn't happen anymore?

s_henry_paulson 14y ago

Accessing anything from TOR in his position would be silly, because that sort of activity is likely to be picked up on many computers he might use. Why have to explain why you're trying to hide your tracks? I would buy a cheap tablet or an iPod touch or something, use it only at public wifi spots, only ever use it for this purpose, keep music or whatever on it as a cover, and wipe the device as frequently as possible. Not foolproof, but reasonably practical.

cynwoody 14y ago
I thought about that. But consider, if you are on a book tour or your job as DCI takes you from place to place. Investigators will map the location of each access point you used. Airports, coffee shops, hotels, whatever. Then they'll match their map up with the various possible suspects. They'll look at security cam video and inspect hotel guest lists and airline passenger manifests. Bingo! Thus, you need to be logging on from IP addresses that have no connection to you or your whereabouts. Maybe if you could arrange to VPN into a Russian office that does not keep logs and laughs at FBI subpoenas. Even then, there's the danger they traffic-analyze the data in and out of the VPN server.