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Anonymous is not a club or group. Anyone claiming to be anonymous, is not. You can not join anonymous, you can only be anonymous.

Contents 1 Anonymous 2 Securing Your Online Anonymity 2.1 Personally Identifiable Information 2.1.1 DNS Resolution 2.1.2 Session Data, Tokens, Cookies, and Delicious Cake 2.1.3 Sensitive Applications and Javascript 2.2 Proxies 2.2.1 Common Misconceptions About Proxies 2.2.2 Public Proxies 2.2.3 JAP, TOR, Similar Services and Why You Should Never Use Them 2.2.4 Safer Proxy Solutions 2.3 Encryption 2.3.1 Overlooked Flaws in Encrypted Correspondence 2.3.2 Reliable Encryption Methods 3 See Also

Anonymous

You can read the Anonymous article on ED for some info, but most of it is just stupid.

Securing Your Online Anonymity

The following is an outline of information and brief methods on how to secure and maintain your anonymity and general privacy as you do whatever the fuck it is you do on the internet.
Being an outline, it will describe these methods in brief; the reason for this is that:

1. No one is going to hold your fucking hand.
2. This could change at any time.

What this means is that it is up to you to keep up to date on current methodologies and do your own research. The best anyone can hope to do in such an article is point you towards what you need to learn as closely as possible; you will still need to do the grunt work yourself.

Personally Identifiable Information

DNS Resolution

DNS or Domain Name System is a service that caches records of Domain names(google.com) and their respective IP adresses (74.125.127.100). In it's simplest form, it's a registry of names associated with addresses; it more or less tells your computer that "Post Office 1337" is at 666 Dead Beef Lane. Sort of. It's actually far more complex than that, but here's what you need to know about DNS:

How DNS works. Better example here.

1. You request site from your browser (google.com)
2. Your box looks in its DNS cache for the Domain (google.com)

   it finds and resolves the Domain Name (google.com) to the IP (74.125.127.100)

   or

   it doesn't find it

3. Your box then asks the DNS server
4. The DNS Server may or may not ask a few other servers: Read the Wikipedia Article.
5. At the end of all this shit, the DNS Server Resolves name to IP (google.com = 74.125.127.100)
6. Relays this back to your box
7. You access to site.

Note that this is a very, very loose description, but close enough that the key points are addressed.

This is what makes this so crucial to understand, at least conceptually

Logging of DNS requests at the ISP's DNS server tells them exactly what site you went to and when.

The precision of this logging is incredibly accurate.

Many applications will leak DNS requests by performing them directly, meaning that even though they don't see the traffic, they still see the lookup.

THIS IS BAD. You can use Privoxy to keep this from happening. Privoxy is compatible with SOCKS4-5 proxies including TOR.

Even if you are doing nothing wrong, do you really think that your ISP should know every obscure site you visit?

DNS alternatives to the server provided by your ISP.

OpenDNS - OpenDNS is a public DNS that anyone can use for free, and its quite robust and very customizable. You still have the same issue with the ISP, but at least they don't know your name.

OpenDNS also provides tools, reports, the ability to password protect said data, etc.

There's also another alternative, your own personal DNS Server.

If you have the resources, there are plenty available online. I'm pretty sure most Linux distros ship with one, but I could be wrong.

Session Data, Tokens, Cookies, and Delicious Cake

Cookies

Cookies are normally used to deliver custom, individualized content on a per user basis.

These are generally known as tokens, and may contain a UserID and a SessionID, as well as some other bits of data.

Some really shit developers are fucking morons, and sometimes store Usernames, Email Addresses, and even Passwords(Yes, I've seen it) in cookies.

These faggots can't dev their way out of a wet paper bag with Front Page, so don't expect to get lucky like that all the time. (Or unlucky.)

Generally(very) speaking, they allow a user to remain in an active session for an allotted period of time.

Cookies also serve many functions of which you might already be familiar:

Tracking

Advertising

Other shit I'm too tired to go into. Google it.

All you really need to know is that basically, clearing these out will help keep sites from tracking you over time. Well, immediately too, but advertising cookies and web beacons, for example, tend to track your movement across a variety of sites. What they then do is build a profile based of you based on your ID, which may include various locations you log in from. All of this data is collected and stored in a database, which is later used for a multitude of purposes. Most people think that the big deal is that some corporate bloodsuckers are profiling us blah blah. Scary, and more scary who can actually purchase that data (in some cases anyone). But what should bother the living fuck out of you is the fact that advertisement companies are served subpoenas all the time for their collected data. And if you don't believe that, there's always the Patriot Act.

Sensitive Applications and Javascript

Any website you allow to run Java, Flash or ActiveX and many other scripts applications that run within your browser can almost certainly find your real IP address, even behind most proxies. Try visiting DNSStuff.com behind a proxy with scripts enabled and disabled. There are a few other sites that have this functionality. You'll only really run into problems when a site forces you to allow scripts and plugins.

Random Proxy Detection sites. Some of these really suck.

lagado.com

darkc0de.com

all-nettools.com

What is my IP Address

Stellar Web Solutions

Proxies

Common Misconceptions About Proxies

The following is WRONG and if you think any of those are correct you should click here.

• When I'm using a proxy, no one can see my IP Address.
• Public proxies are there for anyone to use, so using them is a good idea.
• Paying for a proxy service is always the best way to go.
• Hundreds of people use the same public proxy I'm on, no one will know it was me.
• If the FBI wants to bust me, they will. I don't need proxies.

Public Proxies

Public Proxies are a poor choice for secure and anonymous internet activity. When you use a public proxy you renounce complete control of where the information is routed to and also who receives it. Not to mention they are usually slow and 98% of the time are banned everywhere.
To break it down simply:

IP Passthrough

Some Public Proxies, Socks5 included, leak your IP. They can do this by either being misconfigured, or having Transparent IP or IP Passthrough enabled. So it's like using a proxy, only by not using a proxy.

No control of the remote machine

This means that whoever controls that machine controls all that you see and do through that box, and the laws to which that person may be bound is greatly questionable. ISP's may play fast and loose with the law, but they are still bound by it. You can only hope the same for whoever has root access of the proxy.

Compromised Machines

Chances are exceedingly high that if you found the proxy using proxy hunting software or from a list of public proxies (which are compiled by other people doing the same) that the machine has been hacked or "rooted". Let me make this clear to you: we all know what anon does when it gets dox, and the hacker is definitely anon. Would you really post your dox openly on /b/ or /i/? What happens to your data when the admin finds out he's been rooted and a data forensics team comes in to investigate the compromised host? These are good questions to ask yourself.

Honeypots, Remote Sniffing, and/or Data Retention

Honeypots are, in a nutshell, machines that are either designed to appear compromised(ie. they've been hacked and a proxy has been installed on them) or appear to be vulnerable to some exploit with the purpose of detecting, diverting and/or studying the behavior of intruders. Honeypots are a great deal more than this, but that's outside the scope of this article.

See the wikipedia article on Honeypots for more info.

Remote Sniffing is another notable danger of public proxies, and basically means that someone in control or with access to the box in question scrutinizes or "sniffs" the transmitted data being routed through it. I say remote, because if the device isn't a traditional honeypot, then the person sniffing the packets probably is at another machine.

Data Retention, Anon's worst enemy when it comes to the use of any proxy system. Since you obviously don't control the public proxy, there isn't much of a way for you to know the server's access data retention services, backups, the type of data retained, etc. This could be nothing, or detailed enough to guarantee a lengthy prison sentence.

Plausible Deniability; a personal favorite of mine. Let's say, for example, the person that runs the proxy in question is none of the above. Instead, some nice anon has decided to set up his own personal box so that anyone who wants can use it for any purpose: a truly free proxy as a public service. This is where plausible deniability come in. Imagine for a second a random anon, he has some technical prowess, but probably no more than the average end user. He knows a little bit about networking, proxies, and related IT stuff, but can't root a box to make his own proxy or won't risk using a public. This guy is into all sorts of weird shit: CP, furfaggotry, "terrorist activity", hello kitty online, you name it. By setting up a public proxy and keeping an otherwise clean machine, he's free to do what he wants, because when the cops roll in all he has to say is "Check my browser logs officers, I only visit google, YouTube and Wikipedia. I do maintain a free public proxy though, but I never thought anyone on the internet would abuse it like that." And just like that, your IP along with hundreds of others is now under investigation for shit you didn't even do. Fuck, he could even obfuscate it even more by only logging access times and IP's, but not destinations. Keep that in mind, if you have a huge pipe consider setting up a TOR node or something similar to save yourself from some nasty implications down the road.

Please note a case like this is very unlikely to happen in a real-world scenario and is highly uncommon.

Unless you're the guy that wrote that bit in, because I happen to have a few pubs set up for just such a purpose ;)

JAP, TOR, Similar Services and Why You Should Never Use Them

Two services oft heralded as the end all, say all answer to everybody's anonymity problems. These are particularly notable because they are any but anonymous for a few reasons. Let's familiarize ourselves with what they are and what they claim to do.

JAP - the Java Anonymous Proxy

JAP claims that it "makes it possible to surf the internet anonymously and unobservably."

An interesting SecurityFocus.com article from 2003 talks about a court order from the German government that compells those in charge of the JAP service to retain and disclose information pertaining to a particular website.

A link from the JAP front page about there data retention policy leads to a page where one can find the following quote:

If they logged one website, then they'll log another. It's not possible to know which activity they are monitoring, or why, but seeing as how we do raids this puts us at an unacceptable risk by using JAP.

Not to mention java is slow as hell.

TOR - The Onion Router

TOR "is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet."

TOR is plagued by several vulnerabilities that are well known and of incredibly detriment to your potential anonymity. Take one look at this search from Secunia.com and you'll have all the reason to never use TOR again. TOR is pretty safe if you aren't doing anything you wouldn't mind someone else seeing. At best, it's useful if you are trying to evade access blocking software on a network, or maybe dodge the ever watchful eye of your ISP.

In a nutshell, these are the big ones: Flash apps, Java applets, compromised exit nodes, and javascript. They can all be used to leak your identity, and I'm pretty sure there was big news way back when about German police using them to catch some pedo's downloading CP.

Be very wary when using TOR, make sure it is configured correctly and every plugin is disabled. It's ok to use tor while raiding, but be aware it is not a completely safe alternative. It is also banned in many places and very very slow.

Safer Proxy Solutions

VPN's - Virtual Private Networks

VPN services are offered by a plethora of companies that operate in hundreds of countries globally. They are a sound alternative to "free" proxy solutions, with a few caveats.

You need to very careful when reading over the Legal, Privacy and User Policy sections. Some countries have laws absolving ISP's from needing to log information, but sometimes VPN's like SwissVPN do it voluntarily. Alternately, they could also have clauses explaining that they will immediately turn in lawbreakers, some only to their country and others to yours as well. Law is defined more or less as the VPN sees fit, with the order of either host or client country taking precedence.

Misconfiguration of PPTP settings, as well as some services can cause you to leak your IP if you disconnect, which is why it is preferable to connect to a VPN service from your router, using DD-WRT or a similarly robust firmware package.

You also need to shell out some cash to use a VPN service, and many of the better ones are expensive. It's usually a good idea to be generally distrustful of a VPN provider, or any ISP for that matter. Remember that they have their bottom line in mind and not you when you make a decision to purchase services from them.

Search For VPN Service Providers

WEP Protected Network Compromisation

Wired Equivalent Privacy or WEP (which it by no means is) encryption is one of the most easily broken encryption schemes to date, with plethora Live Linux CD's created for the sole purpose of doing just that. Some sites boast that this can be done in 10 minutes or less, and there are sites with maps created to help you locate networks in all areas.

WEP is older technology that only furries and niggers use, now being replaced by varying forms of WPA encryption, but it is amazingly prevalent even among larger businesses due to the furfaggotry and AIDS endemic to our current society. This is great, because the potential of having viable high speed proxies is greatly increased when coupled with the fact that high speed internet is the norm.

This will be an enormous resource to you if you have a laptop and can move about, or a decent antenna and NIC. Once you've compromised a wireless network, you'll more than likely be able to change the settings on the router. The general rule of thumb is that if the owner isn't smart enough to use WPA, they probably aren't smart enough to change the root password on their router. The implications of this are immense:

• Bittorrent
• Exploratory Hacking
• Raids
• Platform for launching other attacks, juicy ones that compromise clients on the router.
• FREE FUCKING INTERNET

Using DD-WRT to create subnets from Compromised AP's

Once you've compromised a few Access Point there's more you can do. With multiple IP's at your disposal, you can set up traffic splitting, create a VM server with it's own dedicated Internet connection, etc.

Useful Tools for WEP Cracking

Backtrack

aircrack-ng

Videos

DD-WRT

Hacking vs Hunting for Proxies

Proxy Hunting is the act of running port scans with to search for open proxies, it's a random process that when successful leaves you with a set of proxies of questionable reliability.

On the other hand, there are easily <9000 publicly listed exploits and vulnerabilities at sites like milw0rm, and it's ilk; all with corresponding google searches for vulnerable sites.

There are also free tools for noobs and skiddie little fucks that can't read, like The Metasploit Project.

With all these sites ripe to be fucking plucked from their shitty little shared webhosts, you can set up a few hundred of your own proxies over the course of a day or so.

With this easy to learn method you can have access to logs and the like, do your shit anonymously and clean up the evidence when you finish.

Encryption

Overlooked Flaws in Encrypted Correspondence

Key Distribution Methods

This is a particularly touchy subject for many, because most people are under the impression that once they've installed their cutesy encryption software, created and traded keys that now they are ready to chat and no one will know what they've said. Wrong. A major trapping of correspondence type software is that keys are transported over the same channel used to transport the encrypted messages. Let me explain:

You create two keys, a public key and a private key. Your Private Key is kept secret, and your public key is created to be sent to the recipient who uses it to read the data you send. He does the same for you, so you can read his crypto, but not his unique key. Starting to see the flaw in this system? When you traded keys, you did so over the internet; the internet your ISP provides. The same ISP that logs the details of your internet activity. So in essence while everything you say is encrypted, the chance that one of the two ISP's could have snatched that tiny snippet of text is remarkably high. This is really just scratching the surface of the issue, and its a bit more complex than this, but the point is the same. Your "safest" bet for this is to use a certificate authority, but then that means trusting a third party and relying on security that you have no control over. The question remains then, how to share the keys? Simply put, transport the keys through a different route.

This is just something to think about when you're all comfortable and thinking about how "secure" everything is. ;)

Weak Encryption Algorithms

Standards exist for a reason, they are known and verified methods reviewed by a large body of professionals, called peers.

This is important to note, because there are many known weak forms of encryption, we talked about WEP earlier in this article. These aren't really so much the concern of this section, however; many companies claim to have a "secret, proprietary and custom" algorithm used to encrypt data. This also is important to note, because "secret, proprietary and custom" means non-standard. The likelihood of their encryption being better is less than the likelihood that they *might* have modified a pre-existing algorithm and are really relying on a very weak methodology known as Security Through Obscurity. More often than not, modifying an algorithm weakens it; and their reluctance to publicize the work(and proof of its strength) doesn't really say much about how secure it is.

Exploitable Systems

If you've ever been to milw0rm, Secunia, read the FullDisclosure mailing list, or any InfoSec material you'll quickly see that there are literally millions of vulnerabilities and advisories for almost every software known to man. It's important to keep an eye on this, especially in the world of Cryptography. Breakthroughs might not come through every day, but when they do, they usually result in the whole system failing. Just remember to keep an eye on an RSS feed or two, and skim over the news once in a while.

Reliable Encryption Methods

Truecrypt - Excellent for HDD, Partition and OS encryption.

Supports a fuck ton of Encryption standards, not that pussy shit that posers use.

It's open source, so unfortunately you don't get that fuzzy feeling piracy gives you, but it's cool because you don't get that hungry nigger in the soup kitchen line to get some free chikinz feeling either.

It decrypts the drive entirely within volatile memory, and while there are ways to snatch your keys from it, the risk is negligible at best.

Seriously, you can hide a copious amount of CC, CP, etc with Truecrypt and no one would be the wiser.

Consider combining this with VMWare

With a Truecrypt and VMWare package, you can Create a large Truecrypt volume, install VMWare and a VMWare OS (XP, Vista, Linux, MacOS) inside of that. What you get is an encrypted operating system that's invisible until you run it. You can combine that with the WEP ideas I mentioned earlier for lots of fun.

Pidgin - Supports a fuck ton of chat protocols, with several encryption plugins available.

More importantly, it has support for SILC, a chat protocol much like IRC that supports more encryption methods than you'll ever need.

Miranda - Like Pidgin, but it supports far less chat protocols, and doesn't have SILC.

Plugins for Miranda.

Encryption for mIRC

FiSH

Mircryption

See Also

• /b/ article on ED
• /i/ article on ED
• Anonymous article on ED
• Anonymous article on Wikipedia