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7 Powerful Ways to Maintain Your Privacy and Integrity Online

Started by M O'D, June 14, 2013, 08:26:38 AM

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M O'D

7 Powerful Ways to Maintain Your Privacy and Integrity Online

QuoteEliot Estep
Activist Post

The recent NSA leaks from whistleblower Ed Snowden have publicly confirmed that digital privacy does not exist. The federal government and intelligence agencies have direct server access to the world's most popular sites and services including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and more. This means that all of your data when using these services including Skype, YouTube, etc has been compromised and can be used against you whenever strategically necessary.

Always remember, you are being recorded and monitored regardless of whether you have done anything wrong or not. This includes your emails, Internet activity, searches, banking activity, passwords, etc. Basically everything to build a complete profile about who you are, how you think, how you live, etc. This is very powerful data gathering and the goal of the intelligence agencies is nothing less than Total Information Awareness to be used to control and manage populations.

For these reasons, I have compiled some helpful tips to help you maintain your privacy and integrity when using the Internet. These are by no means comprehensive, but they can be quite useful and give you some semblance of peace when browsing.






1. Use StartPage.com for all your searches. Known as "the world's most private search engine", StartPage will allow you to search anonymously and securely through Google. It is probably the only search engine that does not collect or share any personal information about you. You can even access pages through a proxy quickly and easily. StartPage functionality can be easily added to your browser for all searches made through the address bar. If you value your privacy, this is really a no-brainer.

If you use Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. then everything you search is logged to your IP address and is used to build a comprehensive profile about all your online activity. This means that the government literally has the ability to know everything you've been interested in, how you type (thus, how you think), and much more. Protect your searches!

2. Consider using an Anonymizer such as Tor to protect your identity. Tor prevents anyone from learning your location, browsing habits, and is an extremely effective tool against network surveillance and traffic analysis. Tor is essentially a network of virtual tunnels run by volunteers that allows your real IP address to remain hidden and undetectable when browsing the Internet. It is used by whistleblowers, hackers, and all those who value anonymity. You can also use it to access sites that your ISP has blocked or banned. Keep in mind, if you use Tor to access personally-identifying sites like Facebook then you pretty much lose your ability to remain anonymous. Learn more about this powerful software and please use it responsibly! To get started quickly, please download the Tor Browser Bundle. Using this software wisely and effectively will likely require changing your browsing habits, so be aware of this.

3. Consider using a private and secure social network like Pidder. This is a private social network that uses encrypted communication and offers the ability to remain anonymous. If you are truly looking for ways to stay in touch with close ones in a uncompromised manner, this could be the site for you. While it will not have the userbase of Facebook, this is still an excellent alternative for secure social networking.

4. Use a firewall and a secure wireless connection. Protecting your inbound and outbound network traffic is essential. There are many free software options available for this. I cannot guarantee the integrity of these programs, but I personally recommend Little Snitch for Mac users. It appears that Outpost may be a good alternative for Windows. The key is to be able to see what services/sites are trying to send/receive data over your connection. The more stringent your firewall rules are, the better. Keep your computer clean by using some kind of anti-spam/spyware software and minimize your use of highly sketchy sites.

5. Delete your cookies regularly and log out of Facebook when you are not actively using it. Almost every time you visit a site, you download a cookie from that site, which is often used to track and collect data about you, the sites you visit, etc. Therefore, deleting cookies and temporary Internet files from your browser frequently is necessary. I recommend CCleaner as an effective way to do this. Most people leave a Facebook tab open and continue browsing, not realizing that every page that has a "Like" button actively logs and tracks their online activity. Facebook collects all your browsing data and then sells it to third parties, including passing it onto intelligence agencies. Therefore, when you are not actively using Facebook, be sure to log out! Why should they know everything you're up to online?

6. Cover up or disconnect your webcam when you are not using it. Did you know that your webcam can be secretly activated without you being aware of it? Hackers and intelligence agencies have the ability to do this, so effective countermeasures must be taken here. This can be done WITHOUT the indicator light coming on, so you won't even know that you are being watched or recorded. This is why I recommend taping over or covering up your webcam when you're not using it. Why take the risk? Do you really want the government to have the ability to spy on you while you are in your bedroom? The same thing can be done on cellphone cameras/microphones, so be aware of that too. The only way your phone cannot be used to track/record you is if the battery is taken out, which is another reason why many new smartphones come with non-removable batteries these days.

7. Learn to use secure email services like HushMail or encrypted email. Communicating using email is vital and part of our everyday lives. If we use services like Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo, those services are not secure and are compromised. Therefore, switching over to a secure service such as Hushmail can be valuable. Or learn how to use Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), which is a way to send encrypted email and files that only a trusted third party can open and view. Essentially, PGP uses public-private key cryptography, where you will give out your public key to trusted recipients. Messages can only be decrypted by using your special private key file (that you keep safe) and the sender's public key. You can even encrypt files so that only a specific person can open them. Learning to use PGP requires some technical knowledge but can be very useful for those who want to communicate securely and is well worth learning, in my opinion. Please see this tutorial or this video to get started. There are some excellent YouTube videos that can really help out with this.

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Be smart about how you communicate online. If you take no precautionary measures, then you should assume that your communications are being recorded and monitored at all times. Do not discuss illegal or secret activities on Facebook or through Skype or Gmail. Ultimately, we should be greatly decreasing our use of these compromised services altogether! Be aware of what you type and consider their ramifications if ever made public. We must exercise great discretion and discernment when it comes to our online activities now. The methods listed above are by no means comprehensive and are just a small way to boost your privacy. If you have other privacy tips, please mention them here in the comments for all to see and benefit from. In the end, it is all up to the user to do their part in maintaining their online integrity. Safe browsing my friends!

Eliot Estep: We are all divine beings of love at our core! I AM a genuine truth-seeker dedicated to living a life of joy, peace, and abundance. I value integrity, freedom, and creative self-expression above all. It is a privilege to be here during this time of great change. Let us prepare. Main areas of research: conspiracies, global affairs, extraterrestrials, spiritual advancement + Sun: ? + Moon: ? + Ascendant: ? + This article first appeared at Collective Evolution.


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aztecmermaid13

Although published a while ago, and aimed at small businesses, this article is simply written and lists some key issues we need to consider with securing email communications:

How To Secure Your E-mail
By Eric Geier | Published on: 05-Nov-08

As much as we use e-mail to conduct business today, most small businesses routinely send sensitive messages ?? often containing social security numbers, business deal discussions, corporate secrets or account updates and notices – without regard for security. Why? Mainly it's because they don't know better, or they don't know how to address the issue.

In this tutorial, we'll look at securing the connection between e-mail servers and e-mail software (i.e. Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird) and protecting the content and attachments of the messages we send and receive.

Understanding the E-mail Security Concerns
When you use e-mail software such as Microsoft Outlook or Thunderbird without proper protection, the account credentials that log you into the incoming and outgoing e-mail servers are sent in clear-text from your computer, over the local network and Internet, to your servers.

Any e-mail messages you send or receive are in clear-text as well. This means if you are surfing the net on an unsecured or unencrypted network, such as using a Wi-Fi hotspot or public Internet port, anyone with the right tools can capture the network packets and read your account credentials and messages.

To better understand what an eavesdropper can see on an unprotected network, we sent an e-mail (see Figure 1 in original article: link below) and captured its raw data packets as it was being received from the recipient's e-mail server.

As Figure 2 (in original article: see link below) shows, you can see the server login credentials. We opened Outlook and hit the Send/Receive button, which logged onto our e-mail (POP3) server and downloaded the e-mail awaiting pickup and displayed it in our inbox. Figure 3 shows the body of the message we had downloaded to Outlook, formed by the reorganized view that the raw data-capturing tool created.

If you are using a Web-based-only e-mail service, such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or AOL Mail, you also have a client-server security concern. As we'll discuss later, if you don't follow one important guideline when using Web-based e-mail services, your messages and login info can also be compromised when traveling to and from your computer and their Web/e-mail servers.

Moreover, if you use an e-mail application in conjunction with your Web-based e-mail service, you must make sure to secure both the Web access and the client application access.

You also need to be concerned about compromising the security of the e-mail messages you send, and any attachments they may be carrying, after they leave your e-mail server. This concern applies whether using computer-based e-mail software application or Web-based e-mail.

Even when you use encrypted connections to your e-mail servers, messages you send can still be in clear-text when they reside on your e-mail server and when they leave your server. For example, your messages may pass through other servers on the World Wide Web, during their travel to the recipient's server, which might be unsecured and monitored by hackers.

Additionally, the recipient may not use encrypted connections to his or her servers. Therefore, Joe Hacker could intercept the message you sent containing your sensitive information when the recipient downloads your message from his or her incoming e-mail server.

Now that we know the two main e-mail security concerns, we can address them, and encrypting the information is the solution. Even though Joe Hacker can pull network traffic from a wired network and intercept packets from Wi-Fi connections, everything is safe if the account credentials and e-mail messages are encrypted—Joe will see only a bunch of gibberish.

Using Encrypted Connections to Your E-mail Servers
If you only access your e-mail through a Web browser, all you need to do is make sure the connection is secured with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, in order to combat the client-server issue. The Web address should begin with https rather than http, and you should see a padlock icon displayed next to the address bar or on the status bar at the bottom of the browser.

If you use a software application, such as Outlook or Thunderbird, for e-mailing, make sure you configure the server connection settings with SSL enabled (see Figure 4 in original article via link below).

Instead of using the typical e-mail ports (110 for POP3 or 143 for IMAP4 and port 25 for SMTP), you should use port 995 for POP3 or 993 for IMAP4 on your incoming server and port 465 for your SMTP outgoing server. Your e-mail provider should be able to provide documentation on exactly how to configure client applications.

However, using encrypted connections depends on whether your e-mail provider supports them. If you find your provider doesn't support SSL connections for e-mail, you may want to find one that does. Many companies out there provide strictly e-mail service, which do support secure connections.

If you have your own Web site, make sure you sign up for a service that provides branded e-mail addresses, for example yournames@yourdomain.com. Some services provide e-mail addresses from only the domain of the host company, such as yourname@4Secure-mail.com.

Here are a few secure e-mail providers you may want to check out:
Neomailbox
Hushmail
4Secure-mail
LuxSci
Mailtrust
MailStreet

Encrypting Your E-mail Messages
As we'll discuss further, we can use encryption utilities that follow the OpenPGP standard, and digital certificates to encrypt sensitive e-mail we send and decrypt encrypted messages we receive. It is important to remember that both the sending and receiving parties must use e-mail software or a Web-based service that supports encrypted e-mails.

To use e-mail encryption, you create a public and private key, using a utility or service. You give the public key out to people that want to send you encrypted e-mails, which they load onto their e-mail client. Since the public key can only encrypt messages, you can even publish it on your Web site.

In fact, there are PGP directories out there where you can list your public key, so other people might find it easier. The private key is what you and only you keep, which has the decrypting power. You load it on your e-mail client so you can read messages that come encrypted with your matching private key. If you want to send someone encrypted e-mails, they have to send you their public key.

Here are a few companies that offer free e-mail encryption keys: Thawte, Comodo and Ascertia.

Wrapping it Up
Remember, e-mail security cannot be 100 percent guaranteed. Though your message may be safe during its journey over networks and the Internet, you don't know what will happen to the e-mail as it sits on the recipients' computer.

What happens if someone gets on their computer, or steals it, and looks through their old mail? Well, that is a whole other story. Securing our digital conversations and data takes a team effort. Do what you can do to help, starting by using secure e-mail connections and, when needed, use e-mail encryption.

Eric Geier is an author of many networking and computing books, including Home Networking All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies (Wiley 2008) and 100 Things You Need to Know about Microsoft Windows Vista (Que 2007).

The original article can be found here:
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/testdrive/article.php/3782976/How-To-Secure-Your-Email.htm