Crypto-Anarchism

Use of Tor and e-mail crypto could increase chances that NSA keeps your data

"Using online anonymity services such as Tor or sending encrypted e-mail and instant messages are grounds for US-based communications to be retained by the National Security Agency even when they're collected inadvertently, according to a secret government document published Thursday. The document, dated July 28, 2009, bears the signature of US Attorney General Eric Holder. It's hard to read the documents and not be struck by the irony that use of these services may subject people on US soil to a much higher likelihood that their communications will be retained by an agency that's supposed to focus on foreign targets." Continue reading →

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Onion Pi turns Raspberry Pi into Tor proxy and wireless access point

"A good project for users looking to anonymize their Internet traffic, 'Onion Pi' requires just a Raspberry Pi, a few standard peripherals, and some work in the command line. 'Using it is easy-as-pie,' Adafruit wrote. 'First, plug the Ethernet cable into any Internet provider [sic] in your home, work, hotel or conference/event. Next, power up the Pi with the Micro USB cable to your laptop or to the wall adapter. The Pi will boot up and create a new secure wireless access point called Onion Pi. Connecting to that access point will automatically route any web browsing from your computer through the anonymizing Tor network.'" Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Internationalization’s New Best Friend

"Bitcoin makes it easy to move funds around the world and convert it into and out of fiat currencies in a very private fashion. There's nothing to declare at borders, as with cash or precious metals, since the value exists 'out there' in the Internet. All you have are the keys to access those funds when desired. And, best of all, it allows frequent travelers and permanent travelers (PTs) to build up a readily accessible 'emergency account' that can't be easily identified, let alone stolen. However, the trick to getting all these privacy benefits is to use it properly." Continue reading →

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When You Need To Disappear

"Whistleblower Edward Snowden needs to disappear if he is to avoid kidnapping, assassination, extradition, or deportation to the United States. If you’re ever faced by a situation in which you need to disappear, right away, what would you do? Perhaps someone is bent on revenge and has threatened to kill you. Perhaps you’re caught in an impossible personal or financial situation and you feel that 'going underground' is the only way out. Or perhaps like Snowden, you find yourself an enemy of the state. If you’re in such a situation, privacy may be a matter of life or death. You need to be prepared to act quickly, and when the time comes, not to hesitate." Continue reading →

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Agorism’s Tech Triumvirate

"Both Bitcoin and Bitmessage rely on Internet access to function, and despite valiant efforts by supporters to create ad-hoc networks for protesters, it's still often within the State's power to prevent reliable access to many. The third emerging technology relevant here is Meshnet. Meshnet is a free and open-source project that aims to provide robust network access in the face of deliberate attempts by 'authorities' to restrict Internet access and censor online speech. Meshnet works by dynamically creating networks of wireless routers. Each router becomes a node in the network, relaying connectivity to other routers in its physical vicinity." Continue reading →

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The Rise of the Anti-State Cyber-Warrior

"What is it about this new direction in war that makes it so different? First, it is not a battle that is waged by governments against other governments. It is a battle of the individual against the state. It is a battle that the state has a difficult time protecting against because it has a difficult time understanding from where an attack might emerge and it has a difficult time understanding the nature of the attack once the attack itself is observable. Among current, early cyber-warriors leading attacks, I have in mind such men as Julian Assange, creator of Wikileaks, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous developer of Bitcoin and Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Grows Up

"According to the official count, 1200 enthusiasts, techie geeks, trendy investors, eccentric entrepreneurs, crypto hackers, small-government aficionados, and a few downright weirdos had descended on the Bay Area for America's first big bitcoin conference, which, for a $300 fee, promised participants a hard look at the not-so-hard future of money. In one way it was like a rich guy's LAN party, a chance to put a face to people who had known each other mainly through internet forums. But it also had the vibe of one of those night-long infomercials about the Next Big Thing." Continue reading →

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Tor: The Onion Router

"With the ever expanding surveillance systems being employed in the United States and around the world, the ability to use the internet anonymously is becoming increasingly important, especially for activists, or anyone who is not okay with your Search Engine provider, ISP (Internet Service Provider) and your government knowing everything about your internet use. Here, I will go into brief detail about the technical aspects of Tor, give reasons why you should use Tor and finally guide you through the installation of the Tor browser and how to contribute to the network by setting up a relay." Continue reading →

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Don’t Make it Easy for Governments to Compile Your Digital Dossier – Part II

"The Onion Router (Tor) was originally a research project of the US Naval Research Laboratory and was developed as a third generation anonymity software. Today, the Tor Project is an open source application and is used worldwide by private citizens, the military, journalists, law enforcement officers, and activists. Tor is arguably one of the most anonymous Internet anonymizers available. As the above diagram illustrates, users, via a Tor client, make a random connection to the first of three remote servers. The remote servers can be operated by anyone – virtually anywhere in the world. The three servers, also known as nodes, are encrypted." Continue reading →

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Julian Assange on Bitcoins and Gold

"Bitcoin actually has the balance and incentives right, and that is why it is starting to take off. No central nodes. It is all point to point. One does not need to trust any central mint. If we look at traditional currencies such as gold, we can see that they have sort of interesting properties that make them valuable as a medium of exchange. Of all metals it is the easiest to chop up into fine segments. You can test relatively easily whether it is true or whether it is fake. You can take chopped up segments and you can put them back together by melting the gold. You can take it and put it in the ground and it is not going to decay like apples or steaks." Continue reading →

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