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Network
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Use a VPN
Using a VPN has two main benefits: 1. Enhanced Privacy: By changing your IP address with one used by thousands of people a VPN make it harder to link your different online activities and identities. 2. Bypassing restrictions: By routing using datacenters networks and different countries you can avoid firewalls often put in place by either your government or your ISP.
It is important however to understand that if not used correctly you might lose the privacy benefits a VPN provides. If you use the same VPN exit node for different activities, it could potentially link those activities together. Bypassing restrictions also requires a certain understanding of the different VPN protocols and configurations.
We recommend IVPN, Mullvad, NYM or ProtonVPN.
Pompompurin arrest
Pompompurin was the administrator of the first version of Breachforums, a hacking forum made after the arrest of raidforums owner. Pompompurin was caught because of multiple stupid OPSEC mistakes. However, two main ones was that he didn't activate his VPN kill switch and he used the same VPN exit node for his criminal activities and on his personnal google account.
That's why it is recommended to use a different exit IP for different activities. It is also recommended to enable the VPN kill switch so that if your VPN disconnects temporarly your real IP is not revealed.
Use an alternative DNS
An alternative DNS has two main benefits. First, it prevents your ISP from knowing which websites you visit. Second, it can block trackers and ads at a lower level than what your ad blocker can achieve. Third, it permite to bypass restrictions and firewalls made by your ISP or government on certain websites.
We recommend AdGuard DNS, Cloud9 or selfhosting your own DNS server using Pi-hole or AdGuard Home.
Be cautious of what your browser fingerprint is revealing
Your browser fingerprint is a combination of various attributes such as your browser type and version, language, IP address, operating system, installed plugins, timezone, screen resolution, and more. This means that even if you use a VPN, if you visit a malicious page this page can determine your timezone (so your really rough location), software and hardware.
While those do not de-anonymize you they sure can identify you between almost all of the internet users because those combinations of fingerprints are most of the time unique. The danger with this is account correlation between your different account and networks as long as you use the same system and browser.
Randomize your hardware MAC addresses
WiFi broadcasts your wireless network adapter MAC address and Bluetooth broadcasts your Bluetooth adapter MAC address. Both can be used to track your devices without any interaction or special tools. This method is used, for example, in shopping centers to identify customers, where they go and how much time they spent there. It can also be used in forensic analysis to, for example, find an individual that used a public wifi network.
If you are using Linux, MacOS, or GrapheneOS, your operating system might already be configured to randomize your wifi MAC address. For Bluetooth, modern systems often randomize addresses used during advertising and connection attempts protecting you from some tracking attempts. However, not all Bluetooth identifiers are randomized. Device names, service UUIDs, and manufacturer data can still create trackable fingerprints.
I can't speak for every operating system, so you should check your settings to make sure those features are active.
Use TOR, but not only TOR
Tor prevent account correlation, traffic correlation and most of the time and against most adversaries it hides the origin of the traffic well.
It is important, however, to understand that even though TOR is advanced, it is not infallible. Vulnerabilities have been found and used in the TOR browser by law enforcments in the past. Using tor on an insecure system could also cancel out most of its protections for certain threat models. This is the reason you need to understand the different layers of network and system protection if your threat model requires it.
PlayPen Operation
The PlayPen case demonstrates why TOR alone is not the ultimate solution. In 2015, the FBI operated this dark web site for two weeks after seizing it, deploying a Firefox vulnerability that also affected TOR that revealed the real IP addresses of visitors. This case highlights that TOR can be compromised, emphasizing the need for additional security layers beyond just using Tor.
Use multiple hops
If your government, ISP or a malicious actor has a system in place to record and / or analyse internet traffic using a single hop VPN or Proxy doesn't protect your privacy. While they can't decrypt the data, the malicious actor can see the timing and volume of traffic, which can be used to make educated guesses about the content, origin and destination of the data creating a pattern that can be linked to your internet usage.
Using multiple hops in different jurisdictions with different surveillance alliances can help mitigate this risk by routing your traffic through several servers before reaching its final destination, making it more difficult to trace.
Disable WIFI and Bluetooth
While randomizing your MAC address can help protect your privacy at lower threat levels, disabling WiFi and Bluetooth when not in use provides an additional layer of security by preventing any potential tracking. Bluetooth also has had famous vulnerabilities that could be exploited to get access to your device in the past so disabling it removes this attack vector.
If you want to disable them only when not in use Graphene OS has a setting just for that.