Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Be anonymous

kg.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 260 posts

Re: Be anonymous

#241

Post by justsomehnguy »

michaelt wrote: post #233
justsomehnguy wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lel, how? John Doe from WI, paid his dues. Once a year "John Doe" receives the e-mail with WHOIS info and a question if that info is still valid: > We are required by ICANN to send you the whois information for these domains once a year. If the information is correct, no action is needed. Otherwise please visit our website and update your whois information That's all. Just don't use GoDaddy or some other shit registr…

> Lel, how? Your adversary disputes the ownership of example.com claiming they're the real John Doe, but the victim of a crazy stalker-hacker who hacked their e-mail and forced them to change address and phone number. The registrar looks at the details they have on record. The adversary can't prove any of the details - but neither can you.

While true this is the risk you took when you punched in info you can't prove if the need arise.

Re: Be anonymous

#242

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

missingrib wrote: post #226
cywick wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it just means they couldn't have stopped digging at that point. Having dramatically reduced the search scope to a small number of people, they would have just needed to find one other small piece of evidence to narrow down the group suspects further.

What type of evidence could they have found?

Depends how much of his shit they tossed, and for how long.

People he spoke to, witnesses they could....encourage....

Re: Be anonymous

#243

Post by sedatk »

Havoc wrote: post #206
sedatk wrote: post #155

That article is full of terrible advice. Example: > Don't use Gmail -- use ProtonMail "ProtonMail logged IP address of French activist after order by Swiss authorities" https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-addre...

They don't log by default, but were legally compelled to do so in this instance. Which is about as good as it gets. Unless you know of a reputable email provider that ignores court orders? (bit of an oxymoron)

I agree that ProtonMail and GMail are not the same in terms of privacy protections. But, the article implies that the bulk of advice provided in the article is somehow a guarantee to anonymity. A reader may easily assume that ProtonMail doesn't log any IP addresses at all based on that misconception. ProtonMail even used to claim exactly that in their sales page until that incident I linked to.

In fact, the article is the anti-thesis of itself. Blanket anonymity advice is the worst anonymity advice.

Re: Be anonymous

#244

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

hsbauauvhabzb wrote: post #129
ipaddr wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just some suggestions for the connection part. Using a phone is probably the first mistake. If you are going to use your home network you are better off using a machine you control and an operating system that is open source. I suggest these steps: Step 1: Connect to a popular vpn. Step 2: Connect to tor Step 3: Get free vps or pay with cryto you trade for gift cards purchased or some other method Step 4: Connect to…

Iirc phones will broadcast previously connected access point max addresses. I doubt gp truly understands what it takes to be anonymous (imo it’s probably impossible).

You're going to call out someone for being uninformed,

but you can't find the "Don't automatically connect to this network" flag that stops a device from doing what you described?

Don't tell people what is and isn't possible unless you're sure.

Your opinion is purely speculation, and only true for people of your skillset.

Re: Be anonymous

#245

Post by CRConrad »

sundvor wrote: post #174
adelie wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is essentially the premise of Neal Stephenson's Fall or Dodge in Hell.

Reading this now, am 3/4rds into it - bit of a slow burn, but highly fascinating.

IMO by ¾ it had gone south; the best bit was around (or just before?) the middle, the youngsters driving through rural Facebook Country. The end was too much silly in-game mechanics for my tastes. Bit of a surprise, really; the rest of his works have held up all the way through for me.

Re: Be anonymous

#246

Post by CRConrad »

bee_rider wrote: post #55
propesh wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kidding aside, this is exactly how it will go down. Politician in a scrape of financial corruption or etc.? Deepfake s*x video or other viral blatant misinformation & obfuscation; what's the risk? Upside, no one knows what to believe. Exactly what various "countries" are doing. It will be extreme; to the point where, don't believe half of what you actually see.

It should be noted that this is a pretty bad end state. Reporting is already an extremely weak force for preventing corruption on the part of the powerful. Journalists entering a state of total uselessness is only going to make the problem bigger. In a realm of total bullshit the winners are the one who are best at lying. "I don't know what to believe and everyone involved is probably corrupt" is usually just an excu…

> In a realm of total bullshit the winners are the one who are best at lying. "I don't know what to believe and everyone involved is probably corrupt" is usually just an excuse to disengage and follow base instincts.

Yeah, that's how you win referenda and presidential elections nowadays.

Re: Be anonymous

#247

Post by CRConrad »

jimkleiber wrote: post #116
bee_rider wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be noted that this is a pretty bad end state. Reporting is already an extremely weak force for preventing corruption on the part of the powerful. Journalists entering a state of total uselessness is only going to make the problem bigger. In a realm of total bullshit the winners are the one who are best at lying. "I don't know what to believe and everyone involved is probably corrupt" is usually just an excu…

> It should be noted that this is a pretty bad end state I agree. The parent poster didn't ask what's the downside, and I think it's this: when no one knows what to believe and starts to distrust most things, society may start to fall apart, as society relies on us trusting each other. So while I think disinformation is one of the best privacy strategies (not so different from differential privacy efforts by Google a…

> when no one knows what to believe and starts to distrust most things, society may start to fall apart, as society relies on us trusting each other.

A similar take from YouTube (about modern-day Greece) that I happened to come across just this morning: https://youtu.be/404IeUzGNZ4

Re: Be anonymous

#248

Post by CRConrad »

SergeAx wrote: post #204

> Sure, a "bad guy" could use that info and blackmail her This is the place where I lost OP. How can anybody be blackmailed with publicly available info? On the topic: I believe that the serious level of anonymity makes life extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable. Always using VPNs, keeping small hosts in different places as exit points, checking and rechecking everything when connecting to WiFi or roaming. Keeping…

> How can anybody be blackmailed with publicly available info?

By pointing out to people who haven't gone looking for that info, or who might have come across it but not connected it to you, that it is indeed about or by you.

Re: Be anonymous

#249

Post by CRConrad »

fallmonkey wrote: post #163

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…

> 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.

Me too.

> So all the good reputation and bad reputation followed me through, and surprised me in best and worst way.

Not so much for me, AFAIK. I think quite simply, pretty much nobody could be bothered to look for it.

Re: Be anonymous

#250

Post by CRConrad »

drsnow wrote: post #139
jrd259 wrote: post #120

I miss the point of this discussion. Does the HN readership really include a substantial number of drug lords, cyber criminals, spies, informants or live under a regime where they fear for their lives from state actors? I'm not cheating on my taxes or my spouse. Are there really many people being paid in cybercash from a genuine need to avoid state or corporate interest?

all of those are genuine needs

"Genuine", sure, but justifiable? Most reasonable people would want drug lords and cyber criminals to get caught.
Post reply on HN