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Be anonymous

kg.dev

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Re: Be anonymous

#161

Post by cellis »

soheil wrote: post #156
cellis wrote: post #38

As careful as some of the things he suggests are...if you're truly wanted by a state-level actor or sufficiently motivated attacker, you won't be able to hide by simply using VPN and Tor. Especially if you're running something with many transactions like AlphaBay. You would need to obfuscate quite a bit more: - if you're using VPN traffic but most people "around" you aren't, you're a suspicious node; your ISP could e…

Why is this comment the top comment when it's a bunch of conjectures, scare mongering tactics and half-truths at best? Sure if you're on tor and no one else around you is then you stand out, so what? Now there is a faint signal that there is something suspicious going on. To assume one could with sufficient accuracy narrow down a target based on a weak signal like that to see what they're up to is like assuming we're…

I’ll start out by saying I agree with you on Tor being a layer in a “defense in depth” strategy but to imply my response to this is fearmongering is quite premature. Feel free to give a point by point rebuttal for the community. I have given quite a bit of thought to how to stay anonymous even though I use my real name and identity here, and have no real issues with government.

Tor is the definition of deceptively simple, and there are a lot of impressionable people who read articles like this on the web when they’re first starting out who could easily be lulled into a false sense of security and then start transacting on the darknet and think they can’t be touched. OGs on HN know better and remember the threads where tptacek and cperciva would routinely dismantle this notion of tor or VPN anonymity/security.

Re: Be anonymous

#162

Post by drewcoo »

In the world of global governmental (often extra-legal) surveillance, aren't attempts to be anonymous likely to make you a person of interest?

Re: Be anonymous

#163

Post by fallmonkey »

On personal anecdotes, I've used the same internet identity across all platforms and it's not hard to locate my real life identity from there...since like 20 years ago when I got on the internet. So all the good reputation and bad reputation followed me through, and surprised me in best and worst way.

There're times when I wished I had concealed myself saying certain things (or just haven't said it), and times when I felt the joy of recognition when people connected dots about me and became closer friend. Now as I'm getting old, it's just a habit, no longer about risks or rewards.

Yet, both younger me and older me will probably be very indecisive about doing this if they've never done it and are told about all the fortune/misfortune this has brought to me, including meeting my wife and thinking about suicides.

Re: Be anonymous

#166

Post by notsoanonynous »

pzs wrote: post #160
notsoanonynous wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tor is amateur hour. The Feds can easily deanomymize things where a server is up 24/7 servicing requests. The author of this article is also very wrong: Anonymity is not on a spectrum. It’s all or nothing. Like a Mario game where any mistaken encounter makes you start over (and that’s if you don’t get in trouble for what you did). First step is to understand that any system could be bugged. Every IRL confidant could…

How do you pay for Google Play gift cards (which you mentioned before Step 1) without creating a link to yourself?

Buy on Craigslist. Go to a store. Or, as mentioned previously, pay a homeless guy to go into the store and buy it.

It’s a modular system. The key is Kerchkoff’s principle — I can describe it to you all day long, but as long as I don’t reveal each identity from the other, you all won’t know what projects I am doing, even if they earned $97 million already.

Re: Be anonymous

#167

Post by notsoanonynous »

Riverheart wrote: post #125
notsoanonynous wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tor is amateur hour. The Feds can easily deanomymize things where a server is up 24/7 servicing requests. The author of this article is also very wrong: Anonymity is not on a spectrum. It’s all or nothing. Like a Mario game where any mistaken encounter makes you start over (and that’s if you don’t get in trouble for what you did). First step is to understand that any system could be bugged. Every IRL confidant could…

Not nearly on the level as what is being suggested but my company has had several anonymous surveys and I started thinking about writing style when taking them. If you're prone to certain phrases, words, use of contractions or lack thereof, especially when the pool of people is small and you're providing critical (but needed) criticisms, you could potentially be identified by your immediate supervisor. Introducing ty…

I am open to ideas for how to mitigate this remaining vulnerability even further

Re: Be anonymous

#168

Post by coolspot »

pc86 wrote: post #150
panqueque wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry, we're all on the list already.

Kind of makes the concept of lists pointless, doesn't it?

~150 people commented on this post is manageable number. Narrow it down by sophistication in the topic.

Re: Be anonymous

#169

Post by notsoanonynous »

majormajor wrote: post #115
notsoanonynous wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tor is amateur hour. The Feds can easily deanomymize things where a server is up 24/7 servicing requests. The author of this article is also very wrong: Anonymity is not on a spectrum. It’s all or nothing. Like a Mario game where any mistaken encounter makes you start over (and that’s if you don’t get in trouble for what you did). First step is to understand that any system could be bugged. Every IRL confidant could…

> 3. Pay and get paid in cryptocurrency. Have smart contracts send you the money (think Richard Heart’s Hex origin address, but actually anonymous). My first question about this plan is "what are you getting paid for and how do you advertise your services"? You need to never meet the people paying you in person, and ideally you are selling some purely digital good. So, something like underground illegal programming o…

I thought it was obvious, but I guess not.

No, you don’t do work for money. You start an open source project and get many people to run your software. You meanwhile generate as many early rewards as you can (you can even do it under multiple accounts) and when the ecosystem is up and running, you’ll be the mysterious founder, generating millions (or billions) in passive income.

Sounds familiar? It should…

Simply never move money using your first few accounts, and whoever early people you pay, have them stake your currency for a long time, and borrow against it on decentralized lending marketplaces, to avoid spooking people that the mysterious founder has moved their money.

Re: Be anonymous

#170

Post by mqnfred »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #28

I'm sort of the opposite. I make sure that I can be found and attributed. I deleted my last anonymous account, a couple of years ago. In the Days of Yore, I was pretty much "Dick From the Internet." A real neckbeard troll. There's a lot of reasons that I do it. The biggest, is that I want to be in control of my narrative. I learned from a couple of folks that are really good at curating their SEO results. Also, these…

You’ve said it better than I could have.

Many people on HN probably know your handle/identity, if only by virtue of you referring to it in your comments somewhat systematically.

You manage your identity with an SEO mindset indeed. I do not mean to offend, but it does read just as fake as any SEO search results.

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