IndependentBoffin
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Free onion routing and encryption tools
Dear all,
For those who are not aware of these free tools that would dramatically improve your computer security:
http://www.truecrypt.org/
Open source encryption tool with a plausible deniability feature, i.e. you can have a hidden volume with a separate password to your standard volume,
in case you have to reveal the password under duress.
Unlike closed source software, it is improbable that a hidden backdoor would exist as the code is open source.
http://www.torproject.org
Useful for visiting untrusted sites, hiding the origin of your traffic, bypassing internet censors in oppressive countries and anonymous surfing. Try
to contribute to the Tor network by letting your internet connection be a gateway. The benefits of doing so are outlined in the documentation. There
is a portable browser version that doesn't need installation.
Apologies if the mods think this post is inappropriate, but I think that it is crucial that people with an interest in subjects chemophobes fear do
not provide ammunition for authorities to take out of context to nail with in the event the excrement hits the fan.
E.g. in the current climate having documents on how to nitrate organics might be taken out of context as evidence of preparation/planning for a
terrorist attack, while having encrypted volumes on your hard disk will mean nothing if you do not reveal the password. Just remember to have good
physical security as well (the best passwords = useless if a hardware or software keystroke logger is installed or you write the password down on
paper). I have my own simple, personal hashing function I have memorised that converts a meaningful string of words into gibberish to generate
passwords.
To my fellow nerdy friends, all the best
IB
[Edited on 3-5-2011 by IndependentBoffin]
I can sell the following:
1) Various high purity non-ferrous metals - Ni, Co, Ta, Zr, Mo, Ti, Nb.
2) Alkex para-aramid Korean Kevlar analogue fabric (about 50% Du Pont's prices)
3) NdFeB magnets
4) High purity technical ceramics
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Wizzard
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TrueCrypt is a great program- We've used it with dozens of our customers.
Of note: Do not lose the password!! We had one customer make months of backups, only to need them and NOT have the password! There was no hope for
their data
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food
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FBI 'planted backdoor' in OpenBSD
UK jails schizophrenic for refusal to decrypt files
food for thought, that's all
@Wizzard - kind of a weak point in all these flawless schemes, the human factor. They ought to have kept their passphrase in a separate file. An
encrypted file, of course.
"Our cause is a secret within a secret, a secret that only another secret can explain; it is a secret about a secret that is veiled by a secret." - Ja
'far as-Sadiq, 6th Imam
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IndependentBoffin
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From the article:
Quote: |
E J Hilbert, a former FBI cyber-crime agent, said attempts were made to place backdoors in open source security codes but that these were
unsuccessful. "I was one of the few FBI cyber agents when the coding supposedly happened. Experiment yes. Success No," Hilbert said in a Twitter
update. |
Is it possible that a backdoor can be planted in open source code? Of course. Much less likely than closed source though.
In any case it is unlikely a back door will be used unless it is the most significant of cases, because the risk of its existence being revealed means
that other methods of accessing the encrypted data will be used, i.e. keystroke loggers or the UK RIPA act.
Interesting, so it is possible to be punished with no evidence for a hypothetical crime in the UK now. How far we have fallen from mens rea, actus rea
and innocent until proven guilty:
Quote: |
n his final police interview, CTC officers suggested JFL's refusal to decrypt the files or give them his keys would lead to suspicion he was a
terrorist or paedophile.
"There could be child pornography, there could be bomb-making recipes," said one detective.
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N.B. Avoid software from Steganos:
Quote: |
One file encrypted using software from the German firm Steganos was cracked, but investigators found only another PGP container.
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LOL I haven't travelled through an airport or near sniffer dogs recently but my rucksack, jacket and boots are probably loaded with nitro compounds
from all the licensed blast testing sites and gun ranges I have visited, the latter for proof-of-concept work or scoping out possible business
subcontractors, and the latter from my target shooting/clay pigeon shooting hobbies.
[Edited on 3-5-2011 by IndependentBoffin]
I can sell the following:
1) Various high purity non-ferrous metals - Ni, Co, Ta, Zr, Mo, Ti, Nb.
2) Alkex para-aramid Korean Kevlar analogue fabric (about 50% Du Pont's prices)
3) NdFeB magnets
4) High purity technical ceramics
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food
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I do actually agree with what you originally posted, "tools that would dramatically improve your computer security". Improve being the operative word
as opposed to ensure or guarantee.
There have been several interesting developments in network security and privacy recently that I've found interesting. One was Sony's response to the hackers who were reverse engineering aspects of one of Sony's gaming consoles. Another story was Google's ongoing compilation of an ethernet mac address to physical location database. When I'd initially heard criticisms of Google's roving wifi
sniffing I'd thought, 'so what', but this does have implications. It was only about a month or so ago that it became mandatory to associate your
youtube account with your google account. Which sort of ties those two stories together. Under the big G.
One network, privacy, and crypto story that's caught my eye recently is bitcoin, and other alternate, digital 'currencies'. Interesting potential
ramifications and very much off-topic.
caveat emptor of course with those linked stories; they do make a good read though
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m00nr4k3r
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http://www.i2p2.de/
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mr.crow
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Thanks, I do use TrueCrypt for all my chemistry related files. Like the offline copy of Rhodium... naughty. Highly recommend it.
There is always that bullshit argument of having nothing to hide. If anyone says that tell them to take off their daughter's clothes. Oh wait... we
already do that in airports with body scanners. Thanks guys.
Of course nerds think encryption is great, but proper application of a pair of pliers can get you to reveal the password.
Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble
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