Live data from Hacker News

How to Leak to the Press

wired.com

101–104 of 104 posts

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#101
post #93
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ;)

they will catch you trying to get a dot-matrix printer working

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#102
post #55

FTA: "There’s another option I didn’t originally mention here — leaking over mail. Investigative journalist Julia Angwin of the Wall Street Journal points out that physical mail, dropped in a random post-box with a bogus return address, is perhaps the best way for anonymous one-way communication." DO NOT DO THIS! Every printer leaves a microscopic fingerprint on every printout. The printouts can be traced back to you…

I should mention that actual watermarks in digital media (images, audio, video, etc.) will not be removed by recompressing the media. These watermarks are specifically designed to remain readable through compression and simple transformations. This technology is widely available commercially, so presumably the government has even more robust versions.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#103
post #94
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You may stand out, but that isn't necessarily bad, so long as what they remember about you isn't enought to identify you and might even misdirect them into thinking muslim terrorist.

Re: How to Leak to the Press

#104
post #6

This advice is dangerous, because the author fails to mention other precautions the user can and should take, such as: * Use a Linux live CD on the "burner laptop" -- don't trust the preinstalled OS * Change the MAC address of the Wifi used to connect at the internet cafe * Use Tor, most easily via the Vidalia browser bundle The author also does not mention that leaking documents can expose the whistleblower via wate…

Buy a long-range WiFi antenna and connect from a distant location instead of going to an Internet cafe where you can be recorded by a lot of cameras in the way.

This! Who cares if the laptop is a "burner" if you were caught on Starbucks cameras opening a laptop minutes before the communication was sent, in a place you'd never normally go?

Or parking up and walking past the bank next to the coffeeshop a few more minutes before entering the coffeeshop?

You have to be even more paranoid if you are on a short list of people with access to the information - they will pull up all of your movements, possibly check traffic cameras for your care movements, etc.

Long range Wi Fi just makes so much more sense.

Post reply on HN