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Author: Subject: Free onion routing and encryption tools
IndependentBoffin
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[*] posted on 3-5-2011 at 12:02
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 :D

IB

[Edited on 3-5-2011 by IndependentBoffin]




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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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[*] posted on 3-5-2011 at 12:14


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 :P
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food
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[*] posted on 3-5-2011 at 12:54


Quote: Originally posted by IndependentBoffin  


Unlike closed source software, it is improbable that a hidden backdoor would exist as the code is open source.


FBI 'planted backdoor' in OpenBSD


Quote: Originally posted by IndependentBoffin  

while having encrypted volumes on your hard disk will mean nothing if you do not reveal the password.

IB


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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[*] posted on 3-5-2011 at 13:11


Quote: Originally posted by food  


FBI 'planted backdoor' in OpenBSD


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.

Quote:

UK jails schizophrenic for refusal to decrypt files


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.


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.


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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[*] posted on 3-5-2011 at 17:52


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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[*] posted on 9-5-2011 at 18:35


http://www.i2p2.de/
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[*] posted on 12-5-2011 at 06:58


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.




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