“Welcome to ‘How to Triforce’ advanced”
Transcript of the first OnionIRC class on anonymity and privacy.
From the introduction:
Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many lessons to come here on the OnionIRC, coming to you live from The Onion Routing network! This lesson is an entry-level course on Anonymity and Privacy.
Some of you may be wondering why we are doing this. What motivates us? Some users have shown concern that this network might be “ran by the feds” and other such common threads of discussion in these dark corners of the web. I assure you, our goal is to educate. And I hope you came to learn. No admin here will ask you something that would compromise your identity nor ask you to do anything illegal. We may, however, give you the tools and knowledge necessary to commit what some would consider a crime. (Shout out to all the prisons out there that need a good burning!) What you do with the knowledge you obtain here is entirely your business.
We are personally motivated to participate in this project for various reasons. Over the last five years we have seen the numbers of those aligning with Anonymous soaring, while the average users’ technical knowhow has been on the decline. The average Anonymous “member” believes that DDoS and Twitter spam equates to hacking & activism, respectively. While this course is not covering these specific topics, we think this is a beginning to a better understanding of what “hacktivism” is & how to protect yourself while subverting corrupt governments.
Okay, enough with the back story. I’m sure you are all ready to start learning.
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An important but somewhat jumpy discussion of OpSec (Operational Security) occurs between time marks 0:47 and 1:04.
Despite what you read in these notes, you have a substantial advantage over the NSA or any large organization when it comes to Operational Security.
You and you alone are responsible for your OpSec.
All large organizations, including the NSA, are vulnerable through employees (current/former), contractors (current/former), oversight committees, auditors, public recruitment, etc. They all leak, some more than others.
Given the NSA’s footprint, you should have better than NSA-grade OpSec from the outset. If you don’t, you need a safer hobby. Try binging on X-Files reruns.
The chat is informative, sometimes entertaining, and tosses out a number of useful tidbits but you will get more details out of the notes.
Enjoy!