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Topic: Stealth Surfer, Secure surfing & encryption protection

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bigpilot

Group: Members
Posts: 43
Joined: Jan. 2006

Posted: April 16 2006,09:44

To encrypt your files you could use TrueCrypt, but it's no use for anonymous surfing as the authorities can always trace web traffic back to an IP number, and therefore, a PC.

There are companies which offer secure browsing through VPN and the like but if you're breaking the law they'll hand over your surfiing history without even pausing for breath, and if you don't intend to do anything illegal, it isn't really necessary.

Aside from that, DSL running off CD or USB is already very good since you won't leave a trace of your surfing activities on the PC you browsed from.

humpty

Group: Members
Posts: 655
Joined: Sep. 2005

Posted: April 16 2006,09:45

are we getting a bit paranoid here ?

the only really good reason for myself as protection goes is if my pendrive was lost, in which case I'd probably go for something simple
like
this http://www.taiwan-technology.com/edit/p/news/t_11.htm
no need to over complicate things.

i don't think there is a perfect way for internet security, you need an
IP to go places, and some parties are good at tracking IPs, even if
it's not yours, they'll find you if they are desperate enough. Those
that can't will not usually bother.

macadavy

Group: Members
Posts: 23
Joined: April 2006

Posted: April 16 2006,19:47

Thanks bigpilot & humpty. Perhaps I am a _little_ paranoid. My intention is to see if there's any interest here in creating a free & open source software equivalent of StealthSurfer, which is mostly composed of freeware anyway and way overpriced IMHO.
There are legitimate reasons for protecting privacy (proprietary business info, e-mails to my sweetie that only she & me need see, etc.). The point, whether you've got something to hide or not, is can it be hidden from today's supersnoops - just on principle in the name of freedom.
The flash drive humpty refers to looks good.
I guess the ultimate failsafe would be a timer, e-mail client and encryption & secure delete programs packaged in a
Dead Man's Switch .
"Just because we're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get us!" Big Brother on the 'Net :;):

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macadavy

clacker

Group: Members
Posts: 570
Joined: June 2004

Posted: April 16 2006,20:16

macadavy, I know dsl comes with loopAES already included, and you can use that to encrypt whole disk drives or just create a large file that you can mount as a read/writeable drive. That would keep your cookies and files safe. It can also be used to encrypt the swap drive, if you have one. It would be possible to do a remaster and create an encrypted /home/dsl directory, but it would be a bit of tinkering and work.

I don't think the level of encryption you can get is up to par with what "today's supersnoops" have at their disposal to break it. How good are the people you're trying to hide things from though? Unless Mom just happens to be one of "today's supersnoops," your collection of encrypted love notes is probably safe with whatever you choose.

macadavy

Group: Members
Posts: 23
Joined: April 2006

Posted: April 16 2006,23:37

Thanks to all who've responded to this thread - I've learned a lot! Clacker & others have pointed out that what I want is probably already included. For example, if DSL can protect the /home & /opt files in a backup, it stands to reason that can be extended to encrypt other things. Still, I'm intrigued by the concept of a FOSS stealth surfer. I've got a lot to learn about Linux, DSL, .dsl & .uci packaging and putting it all together on a USB and/or flash drive. Should be interesting & will doubtless be a great learning experience... :cool:

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macadavy

14 replies since April 14 2006,22:21

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