How to Evade Government Surveillance and Stay Anonymous Online
by Chris Dougherty, Contributor
Activist Post
January 4, 2013
Why stay anonymous online? In today’s society there are people and automated devices that are recording your deepest, most private thoughts and activities. Each day we voluntarily divulge the most intimate details of our lives through social networking accounts, email, banking apps, online games and more. In addition, governments and corporations can censor and block our traffic based on whatever standards are in place that day.
Government agencies, hackers and sophisticated bot networks are capturing every piece of digital data that we transmit through all of our Internet-connected gadgets. Smartphones, Smart TVs, computers, tablets, and so much more…they are all vulnerable, nothing is safe these days. Even your old clam-shell phone isn’t safe. This is because many phone providers route your calls over media using the Internet Protocol at some point within their network. For example, long distance providers transfer calls over VoIP all the time.
Whether you’re browsing the Web, signing up for a new online game, or simply checking your email, you are constantly leaving tracks and giving away information to anyone with access and the knowledge to analyze the traffic. Once the data is compiled the attacker can build an incredibly accurate profile of not only your online life but your real-world life as well.
I know, most people say, “Why would hackers want to hack into my life? I am not that important.” You have to understand that these “intruders into our lives” are scanning huge blocks of Internet addresses at a time. They don’t care who you are. Your computer is simply another target IP address as they scan through thousands of computers and devices in their search for more information. Once collected they take all the information and funnel it into databases where they can search through it later for high-valued loot.
Don’t believe me? Just read the following two stories about what our own government does:
NSA Utah Data Center Largest Spy Compound Ever – Part 1
NSA Utah Data Center Largest Spy Compound Ever – Part 2
So, the big question is, how can you stay anonymous online? Free from government censorship and potential eavesdropping from some hacker or three-letter government agency that wants to invade your privacy while you use your computer. In comes Whonix, the Anonymous Operating System!
Use Whonix, The Anonymous Operating System, Stay Anonymous Online
Whonix is a free, general purpose computer operating system based on Virtual Box, Linux and Tor. The purpose of Whonix is to allow Internet users the ability to stay anonymous online. This is most beneficial to users in regimes that censor and monitor access to the Internet, but it can also be used by anyone who values their privacy, or doesn’t want their activities tracked online.
By design, IP address leaks are meant to be impossible while using Whonix. The developers claim even malware with admin privileges can’t find the Whonix Workstation’s real IP address or location. This is because Whonix consists of two (virtual) computers. One machine acts as a gateway or router and runs only Tor, a sophisticated anonymity software. This machine is called the Whonix-Gateway. The other machine, which called the Whonix-Workstation, is on a completely isolated network that only allows Internet connections to be routed through the Whonix-Gateway.
Tor, the technology on which Whonix is built, is a free software, along with an open network consisting of thousands of computers located around the world. Together they strive to provide anonymity for individuals accessing the Internet. The Tor Project helps you defend against a form of network surveillance, known as traffic analysis, that threatens everyone’s personal freedom and privacy.
Tor helps to reduce the risks of both simple and advanced traffic analysis by distributing your Internet requests over several places on the Internet, so no single point can link you to your destination. The idea is similar to using a hard-to-follow series of roads while driving in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you.
Whonix automatically sets up an isolated network environment where your virtual “Workstation” can perform all normal Internet related tasks such as checking email, browsing web sites, blogging, connecting to corporate VPNs, etc. However all of that outbound traffic is then routed in such a way that it can only pass through your virtual “Gateway”, which encrypts the packets and sends them over several hops on the TOR network prior to landing at their final destination.
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| How Whonix Works: Figure 1 |
Once your traffic leaves the Whonix Gateway it is routed directly through the TOR network. Instead of taking a direct route from source to destination, data packets on the Tor network take a random path through several relays, so no observer at any single point can tell where the data came from or where it’s going. The relays even take additional steps to erase your tracks periodically along the way.
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| How Whonix Works: Figure 2 – Routing Through TOR |
In the event that the Workstation user initiates a request to a new website or Internet resource, the Gateway simply selects an alternate path through the TOR network as seen in Figure 3.
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| How Whonix Works: Figure 3 – Using An Alternate TOR Path |
There is a bit of a caveat to this system, however. As indicated by the red dotted-lines in the images above, the last hop in the TOR network passes the traffic in the clear to the final destination. One of the primary functions of this computer, as an exit node, is to decrypt the data packets before they are passed off to their final destination. This means this exit node could be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack, or it could have even been placed there for the specific purpose of monitoring exit traffic by a hacker or government agency. While the exit node would still have no information regarding the IP address or location of the original Workstation user, it would know the type of Internet request that they sent to the destination server.
This scenario can be averted by using SSH tunnels or a VPN on top of the TOR network. One would only have to install the appropriate software on the Whonix Workstation in order to provide an end-to-end encryption solution for the traffic. Another method to bypass the man-in-the-middle scenario would be to employ the use of TOR Private Bridges or Private Exit Nodes.
It is important to note however that Whonix can be effectively used by most people right out of the box for web browsing, blogging and private conversations.
In order to make use of Whonix you will need to download a free copy of VirtualBox from the link below:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Once VirtualBox has been downloaded and installed you can download the Whonix-Workstation and the Whonix-Gateway packages from SourceForge:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/whonix/files/whonix-0.4.5/
Once downloaded, just import the machine files into VirtualBox as-is and start them up, you don’t need to change any settings…also be sure to start the Whonix-Gateway machine before firing up the Workstation image.
The default login credentials for both virtual machines are as follows:
====================
Username: user
Password: changeme
Username: root
Password: changeme
====================
Once the images have completed the boot process you can login and run the “whonixcheck” command from the CLI (command line interface) in order to verify proper connectivity to the TOR network. The Workstation output should look similar to the following (click image to enlarge):
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| How Whonix Works: Figure 4 – Workstation output from the “whonixcheck” command. |
Be sure to watch for my article in the next few days detailing step-by-step instructions on how to install VirtualBox and Whonix on your computer. Let me know what you think of this anonymity solution in the comments below…
Chris Dougherty is a hacker and online security expert. Please visit his blog, www.VirtualThreat.com, for more excellent news and information about protecting yourself in cyberspace.
Protests continue in Yemen in pursuit of revolution’s unfulfilled demands [video]
PressTV
January 11, 2013
“The revolution will continue” was the chant which thundered the streets of the Yemeni capital on Thursday, as thousands of angry youth revolutionaries voiced their disapproval of allowing their revolution to fall short in meeting all their demands.
Although the revolution succeeded in ousting former long-time President Ali Abdullah Saleh, these protesters say they still got a long way to go before they can declare their revolution a success, as much of their demands remain unmet, two years after the uprising began.
Protesters also condemned the increasing presence of military checkpoints and armored vehicles in the capital Sana’a which they say has raised fear among residence.
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‘US will not go to war with Iran’ [video]
PressTV
January 10, 2013
A former US senator tells Press TV that in case Chuck Hagel gets confirmed by the Senate as the US Secretary of Defense, there would not be any plans by him for a war on Iran.
US President Barack Obama nominated former senator Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary. Obama chose Hagel on Monday to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon for his second-term, despite political uproar over the nomination. Obama said at a press conference in White House that Hagel, an outspoken critic of Israel, is “the leader our troops deserve,” praising his “willingness to speak his mind.”
The US President called the former Nebraska senator “an American patriot,” who earned “respect of national security and military leaders, Republicans and Democrats, including me.” Meanwhile, Israeli Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin has expressed worry over the nomination of former US Senator Chuck Hagel as the next American defense secretary, amid similar reactions invoked by the regime’s backers in the US.
Press TV talks with Mike Gravel, former US Senator in San Francisco, regarding the issue.
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Has the US Set a March Deadline for War on Iran?
AntiWar
December 7, 2012
Last month the US issued an ultimatum to Iran, demanding it fully cooperate with the IAEA by March or else face further action and possible measures at the UN Security Council. Micah Zenko, fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, speculates that this “could indicate that the Obama administration is moving toward the zone of immunity logic.”
Zenko is referring to the Israeli standard for deciding to go to war with Iran. Up to now, the Israeli standard to attack Iran is not when it has nuclear weapons or presents an imminent threat to Israel, but rather when Iran’s nuclear program is sufficiently advanced and redundant across the country – although not being weaponized – that Israeli military action would be inadequate to significantly retard it.
The US standard, at least as commonly understood, has been a little stricter. Washington has implied it will resort to war only if Iran is demonstrably weaponizing its nuclear program and on the verge of having a nuclear bomb.
Despite the semantic differences, the two postures are essentially the same. Both the US and Israel have ignored the legal standard for resorting to war – to block an imminent attack, i.e. self-defense – and crafted their own standard, which says they can bomb Iran to smithereens if they judge that at some point in the future Iran might be able to deter US or Israeli aggression. Iran must be kept weak and defenseless, the thinking goes, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to obliterate them at will.
This speaks to Iran’s nuclear posture, which is aimed at what is sometimes called “a breakout capability.” In an environment of constant threats of war, economic sanctions, and being surrounded by the US military, Iran has tried to abstain from developing nuclear weapons while having the know-how needed to get there; this essentially is an attempt to have a deterrent without actually having a deterrent. They don’t get in trouble for having a weapon, but they are able to ward off attack or invasion.
US intelligence corroborates this analysis. As James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, has repeatedly said, “We don’t believe they’ve actually made the decision to go ahead with a nuclear weapon.”
Just Keep Going 2 Rotterdam Metro [video]
We Are Change
January 10, 2013
Click the caption button for English subtitles.
http://www.twitter.com/wearechangerdam
http://www.wearechangerotterdam.tv
Here’s the original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o0oHlX8Kmxk
Begeleidende muziek: https://soundcloud.com/metanode
Iedereen die mee heeft gewerkt aan dit project: Hartelijk Dank!
Reporting From The Belly Of The Beast [video]
Press For Truth
January 9, 2013
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AERIAL SPRAYING Mobilization around the Cyprus Bases
From Giannis Ioannou
A protest demonstration at the British Akrotiri base against the aerial spraying is being organized by the Ecological Environmental Movement of Cyprus (Cyprus Green Party) for 4th July, as the British bases in Cyprus are alleged to be part of the HAARP (High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program), system aimed at controlling the climate of the planet. .
In recent times there has been a proliferation of information related to the activities of the British and the Americans through the bases in Cyprus, which are very likely affecting the climate on our island.
The Ecological Environmental Movement has in the past invited the Cypriot government to take action “to stop the use of the skies of Cyprus for suspicious American military experiments”. An announcement by the Movement states that “reports links American KC-10 and KC-135 aircraft with the HAARP programme and with chemtrails, that is to say spraying of the sky with aluminium and barium oxides.” The subject has occupied the European Parliament, many parliaments of European countries and researchers throughout the world.
HAARP, the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme, is a weapons system using electromagnetic energy which has been under development by the United States since 1987. The initial picture of programme that was encouraged was that it is a scientific programme aimed at selective modification of the ionosphere to improve telecommunications. But it soon became known that the American Pentagon was seeking to exploit the ionosphere for its own purposes. Even the official HAARP web page acknowledges that the system is also used for defence purposes.
The bases deny involvement
The Cypriot Parliament has recently involved itself in the subject. The parliamentarian Angelos Votsis brought it up for discussion on the Parliamentary Committee on the Environment. The parliamentarian said: “according to scientific specialists, when it is perfected, if it has not already been perfected, the system will be able to influence climatic conditions, suspend the functioning of, and destroy, every electrical device in a selected area, destroy telecommunications, intervene in the development of extreme weather phenomena, such as hurricanes but also lightning strikes of tremendous intensity and even influence human mental processes through the transmission of low-frequency waves similar to those already present in humans.”
The administration of the British bases was summoned to a session of the Parliament in order to state the official position on this information, but through a letter the reply was that they will not respond to the summons because they “have no involvement with the HAARP programme and have not been involved in any aerial spraying”.
The community president of Akrotiri Georgios Christou for his part said to “Simerini” (Today) newspaper that nothing that would arouse suspicions of aerial spraying during the flight of aircraft has been noticed by the residents of the area.
PN 