The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Online Anonymity | How I learned to start worrying and love privacy - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

March 15, 2021


      <https://anonymousplanet.org/guide.html>

Table of Contents

    Introduction:
    Requirements:
    Understanding some basics of how some information can lead back to
you and how to mitigate those:
        Your IP address:
        Your DNS requests:
        Your IMEI and IMSI (and by extension, your phone number):
        Your Wi-Fi or Ethernet MAC address:
        Your Bluetooth MAC address:
        Your Operating Systems and Apps telemetry services:
        The Wi-Fis and Bluetooth devices around you:
        Your Metadata including your Geo-Location:
        Your Smart devices in general:
        Your Devices can be tracked even when offline:
        Your RFID enabled devices:
        Your Files Properties/Metadata:
        Malware:
            Malware in your files/documents:
            Malware and Exploits in your apps and services:
        Watermarking:
            Pictures/Videos/Audio:
            Printing Watermarking:
        Your Pixelized/Blurred Information:
        Your Anonymized Tor/VPN traffic:
        Your Crypto currencies transactions:
        Your CPU:
        Malicious/Rogue Wi-Fi Access Points:
        Malicious USB devices:
        Your Cloud backups/sync services:
        Your Digital Fingerprint, Footprint, and Online Behavior:
        Your Clues about your Real Life and OSINT:
        Your Face, Voice, Biometrics and Pictures:
        Your Browser and Device Fingerprints:
        Phishing and Social Engineering:
        Local Data Leaks and Forensics:
        Bad Cryptography:
        No logging but logging anyway policies:
        Some Advanced targeted techniques:
        Some bonus resources:
        Notes:
    General Preparations:
        Picking your route:
            Timing limitations:
            Budget/Material limitations:
            Skills:
            Adversaries (threats):
        Steps for all routes:
            Get an anonymous Phone number:
            Get an USB key:
            Find some safe places with decent public Wi-Fi:
        The TAILS route:
            Persistent Plausible Deniability using Whonix within TAILS:
        Steps for all other routes:
            Get a dedicated laptop for your sensitive activities:
            Some laptop recommendations:
            Bios/UEFI/Firmware Settings of your laptop:
            Physically Tamper protect your laptop:
        The Whonix route:
            Picking your Host OS (the OS installed on your laptop):
            Linux Host OS:
            MacOS Host OS:
            Windows Host OS:
            Virtualbox on your Host OS:
            Pick your connectivity method:
            Get an anonymous VPN:
            Whonix:
            A note on Virtualbox Snapshots:
            Download Virtualbox and Whonix utilities:
            Virtualbox Hardening recommendations:
        Tor over VPN:
        Whonix Virtual Machines:
        Pick your guest workstation Virtual Machine:
            If you can use Tor:
            If you cannot use Tor:
            Linux Virtual Machine (Whonix or Linux):
            Windows 10 Virtual Machine:
            Android Virtual Machine:
            MacOS Virtual Machine:
            KeepassXC:
            VPN client installation (cash/Monero paid):
            Final steps:
        The Qubes Route:
            Pick your connectivity method:
            Get an anonymous VPN:
            Installation:
            Lid Closure Behavior:
            Connect to a Public Wi-Fi:
            Update Qube OS:
            Setup the VPN ProxyVM:
            Setup a safe Browser within Qube OS (optional but recommended):
            Setup an Android VM:
            KeePassXC:
    Creating your anonymous online identities:
        Understanding the methods used to prevent anonymity and verify
identity:
            Captchas:
            Phone verification:
            E-Mail verification:
            User details checking:
            Proof of ID verification:
            IP Filters:
            Browser and Device Fingerprinting:
            Human interaction:
            User Moderation:
            Behavioral Analysis:
            Financial transactions:
            Sign-in with some platform:
            Live Face recognition and biometrics (again):
            Manual reviews:
        Getting Online:
            Creating new identities:
            The Real-Name System:
            Overview:
            How to share files or chat anonymously:
            Redacting Documents/Pictures/Videos/Audio safely:
            Communicating sensitive information to various known
organizations:
            Maintenance tasks:
    Backing-up your work securely:
        Offline Backups:
            Selected Files Backups:
            Full Disk/System Backups:
        Online Backups:
    Covering your tracks:
        Understanding HDD vs SSD:
            Wear-Leveling.
            Trim Operations:
            Garbage Collection:
            Conclusion:
        How to securely wipe your whole Laptop/Drives if you want to
erase everything:
            Linux (all versions including Qubes OS):
            Windows:
            MacOS:
        How to securely delete specific files/folders/data on your
HDD/SDD and Thumb drives:
            Windows:
            Linux (non Qubes OS):
            Linux (Qubes OS):
            MacOS:
        Some additional measures against forensics:
            Removing Metadata from Files/Documents/Pictures:
            TAILS:
            Whonix:
            MacOS:
            Linux (Qubes OS):
            Linux (non-Qubes):
            Windows:
        Removing some traces of your identities on search engines and
various platforms:
            Google:
            Bing:
            DuckDuckGo:
            Yandex:
            Qwant:
            Yahoo Search:
            Baidu:
            Wikipedia:
            Internet Archive:
    Some low-tech old-school tricks:
        Hidden communications in plain sight:
        How to spot if someone has been searching your stuff:
    Some last OPSEC thoughts:
    If you think you got burned:
        If you have some time:
        If you have no time:
    A final editorial note:
    Appendix A: Windows Installation
        Installation:
        Privacy Settings:
    Appendix B: Windows Additional Privacy Settings
    Appendix C: Windows Installation Media Creation
    Appendix D: Using System Rescue to securely wipe an SSD drive.
    Appendix E: Clonezilla
    Appendix F: Diskpart
    Appendix G: Safe Browser on the Host OS
        If you can use Tor:
        If you cannot use Tor:
    Appendix H: Windows Cleaning Tools
    Appendix I: Using ShredOS to securely wipe an HDD drive:
        Windows:
        Linux:
    Appendix J: Manufacturer tools for Wiping HDD and SSD drives:
        Tools that provide a boot disk for wiping from boot:
        Tools that provide only support from running OS (for external
drives).
    Appendix K: Considerations for using external SSD drives
        Windows:
            Trim Support:
            ATA/NVMe Operations (Secure Erase/Sanitize):
        Linux:
            Trim Support:
            ATA/NVMe Operations (Secure Erase/Sanitize):
        MacOS:
            Trim Support:
            ATA/NVMe Operations (Secure Erase/Sanitize):
    Appendix L: Creating a mat2-web guest VM for removing metadata from
files
    Appendix M: BIOS/UEFI options to wipe disks in various Brands
    Appendix N: Warning about smartphones and smart devices
    Appendix O: Get an anonymous VPN
        Cash-Paid VPN (preferred):
        Self-hosted VPN on a VPS paid with Monero (for skilled users
familiar with Linux):
    Appendix P: Accessing the internet as safely as possible when Tor
and VPNs are not an option
    Appendix Q: Using long range Antenna to connect to Public Wi-Fis
from a safe distance:
    Appendix R: Installing a VPN on your VM or Host OS.
    Appendix S: Check your network for surveillance/censorship using OONI
    Appendix T: Checking files for malware
        Integrity (if available):
        Authenticity (if available):
        Security (checking for actual malware):
            Anti-Virus Software:
            Manual Reviews:
    Appendix Q: How to bypass (some) local restrictions on supervised
computers
        Portable Apps:
        Bootable Live Systems:
        Precautions:
    Appendix R: What browser to use in your Guest VM/Disposable VM
    Acknowledgements:

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Online Anonymity | How I learned to start worrying and love privacy

Alberto Cammozzo

Giovanni Biscuolo

tags

participants (2)