How to Leak to the Press • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#91

Post by btilly » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:16 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #90

btilly wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am positive that you have the facts about George W. Bush's military record wrong. The real story there is that all of the pertinent facts, with evidence, appeared in the BBC. Greg Palast was responsible for a lot of it. When CBS wanted to report on the story, they were given all of that, then went and did their own digging. In the process of digging they were given a perfect memo that they ran with without authenti…

I don't care about George W Bush's military record and I don't think it changes my point.

I do not disagree with your point, but your example undermined it. It is therefore an example that you should avoid in the future.

When I find out that I've had the facts on an important issue wrong, my response is to say, "Thank you," because I learned something.

shrug

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#92

Post by mseebach » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:18 PM UTC

EvilLook wrote: post #79

mseebach wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was found. Which is the point. Debian, which is much better known and in much wider circulation than Tails generated weak SSH keys for two years . Yes, it was indeed very big news . When it was found. After two years . Oh, and tin-foil-hat on: Do we know (actually know-know, not just assume, think, trust) that the weakness wasn't planted there?

TAILS is actually now done by the Tor Project, so I think they have a vested interest in vetting it before it is released. https://www.torproject.org/projects/projects&#x2F ;

And Debian doesn't have a vested interest in making sure a central security component isn't weakened?

Also, how do you know that Tor and Tails aren't infiltrated by the enemy (for any value of "enemy")?

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#93

Post by rexreed » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:47 PM UTC

sfall wrote: post #47

Ilmesnkie_Jones wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't you just buy a cheap printer with cash, use it, and then dump it as well, perhaps leave it in a charity bin somewhere. Printers are pretty cheap these days, and it seems that in order for any of the markings to be useful they would have to find the printer in question in your possession/prove it was your printer.

or buy a crappy one from goodwill or a pawn shop, pawn shop might have cameras goodwill probably not

An old dot-matrix or label / thermal receipt printer will do. Buy it at a Flea Market / yard Sale / hamfest / craigslist. Make sure you get a ribbon with it ;)

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#94

Post by rexreed » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

tomjen3 wrote: post #77

smackfu wrote: post #11

The Boston bombing also shows that you should cloak your identity physically. Hat and sunglasses at least. The one who didn't hide his identity is the one who was easily identified.

Hat and sun glasses? No, get a burka (the muslim body clothing that hides the entire body) -- not only will people want to avoid you, but they wouldn't even be able to write in the description what sex you are (and with a little bonus they might assume it is not a disquise in which case they are truly looking in the wrong direction).

Probably one of the easiest ways to stand out in a typical US crowd. More noticable than hat and sunglasses. If the purpose it to make video surveillance not as notable but also not attract attention than a large hat and sunglasses in hot weather or a scarf and hat in cold weather (even better) will do the trick. Also, modifying hair color and facial hair features is a good trick.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#95

Post by rexreed » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:53 PM UTC

skinnynerd wrote: post #51

digitalengineer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take in account they'll look at fingerprints, sweat, DNA, type of paper, ink and type of printer used. Spelling errors, how you wrote something, etc can also be used to identify you. (Every printer leaves it's own watermark). Perhaps best to print and use a old 2nd hand xerox machine to copy everything or fax it from a public faxservice.

There are plenty of old typewriters lying around. Although you would still have to take precautions like getting rid of it afterwards and make sure it does not make use of polymer tape ribbons (in which case you would have to destroy and discard that as well).

Even better, receipt / thermal printers. No ribbon and pretty much untraceable. Lots of them lying around second hand in flea markets and yard sales.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#96

Post by rexreed » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:57 PM UTC

jimworm wrote: post #32

ceautery wrote: post #22

"When you are done you must [...] turn off the Wi-Fi before turning off the computer and removing the battery. The dedicated computer should never be used on the network except when..." This is silly on a "behind 7 proxies" level. Just go the library. If you're worried that investigators are going to swoop down CSI style to track you down because of your important secrets, maybe you should speak to a psychiatrist.

Security cameras are quite often placed at the entrance/exit. Having your device connect and making a DHCP request as you walk in seems like a legitimate concern.

Connect from the parking lot.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#97

Post by mischanix » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 11:00 PM UTC

VikingCoder wrote: post #83

Pull the sim card, and smash THAT with a hammer. Don't just smash the whole phone - you're unlikely to destroy the sim card, which is the most incriminating part of your phone.

Or toss the whole thing in a fire.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#98

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jun 08, 2013, 12:24 AM UTC

btilly wrote: post #91

eli wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care about George W Bush's military record and I don't think it changes my point.

I do not disagree with your point, but your example undermined it. It is therefore an example that you should avoid in the future. When I find out that I've had the facts on an important issue wrong, my response is to say, "Thank you," because I learned something. shrug

[deleted]

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#99

Post by IgorPartola » Sat, Jun 08, 2013, 12:34 AM UTC

Honest question: what prevents someone from feeding misinformation to the press if all IDE tidying info is stripped away? If the journalist has no way to contact you, why should they trust your leak? Could the FBI or NSA send out bogus leaks and the go after journalists that publish the fake info for revealing what they believed to be confidential information?

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#100

Post by nkurz » Sat, Jun 08, 2013, 12:45 AM UTC

Peroni wrote: post #2

Out of curiosity, why not just send a letter in the post? Pretty hard to trace an anonymous letter. EDIT: Just spotted the update. Question answered.

Or maybe not that hard.

"Feds: Postal Service photographs every piece of mail it processes"

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/woman-arrested-for-ob...