Discourage the pantie sniffers

30 comments on “Discourage the pantie sniffers ”

• Comments are now closed

1. Jim Nald 1

   13 October 2013 at 9:12 pm

   “And there are now plenty of encryption programs, many new, and of varying quality.”

   Where do I start? I’d like to encrypt stuff I send over the internet … y’know, just to keep the jobs growing for NSA.
   • lprent 1.1

     13 October 2013 at 9:21 pm

     Well a good basic one would be to simply pay for a VPN provider like http://bolehvpn.net/ and come out on to the net from somewhere like Singapore, Berne, or Luxemberg

     I should have pointed out that since the pantie sniffers tend to be concentrated in the US so avoid their excessively compliant companies…
   • r0b 1.2

     13 October 2013 at 9:36 pm

     Keith Ng has been running a useful series on security tools:

     http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/ich-bin-ein-cyberpunk/
     http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/btw-the-nz-police-can-use-prism-against-you/
     http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/the-gift-that-keeps-on-making-me-barf/
     http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/the-big-guns-truecrypt-and-tails/

     See also:

     http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/06/encrypted-e-mail-how-much-annoyance-will-you-tolerate-to-keep-the-nsa-away/
     • karol 1.2.1

       13 October 2013 at 10:00 pm

       Thanks r0b. I think I should encrypt email etc. But started reading the bottom linked article. At this time of night, it starts getting too technical for a non geek.

       I just started thinking, I’ll take the click on all kinds of diversionary whacky sites option.
       • billbrowne 1.2.1.1

         13 October 2013 at 10:19 pm

         It’s not so much the technical side as the human interaction side – you’ve got to get your recipients and senders to do the same thing. All of them, or it’s just too hard.

         So it’s just too hard.
         • Draco T Bastard 1.2.1.1.1

           13 October 2013 at 11:01 pm

           Yep, that’s always been the problem I’ve had in using encrypted email.
         • karol 1.2.1.1.2

           14 October 2013 at 8:46 am

           Well, yes, billb. That’s where I started thinking it was getting too complicated.
2. Rogue Trooper 2

   13 October 2013 at 9:20 pm

   I was alerted by the headline which grasped my attention, or my attention grasped it.
3. billbrowne 3

   13 October 2013 at 9:23 pm

   Well, you could do a little bit by changing ts from http to https
   • lprent 3.1

     13 October 2013 at 9:25 pm

     Exactly. I should put this site back to being able to operate on https as a small contribution.
     • Lanthanide 3.1.1

       13 October 2013 at 10:02 pm

       Make it the default?
       • lprent 3.1.1.1

         13 October 2013 at 10:18 pm

         May as well. Maybe be tonight. I had a technical problem last time and was short of time to deal to it.
4. ghostrider888 4

   13 October 2013 at 9:28 pm

   sssshhhh…can you hear something…
5. joe90 5

   13 October 2013 at 10:13 pm

   Scaremail!!.

   http://bengrosser.com/projects/scaremail/
   • billbrowne 5.1

     13 October 2013 at 10:17 pm

     Ha, welcome to every junk mail filter in the known universe.
     • joe90 5.1.1

       13 October 2013 at 10:25 pm

       Yup, I think I’ll be sticking with my web accounts.
       • David H 5.1.1.1

         14 October 2013 at 9:08 am

         They’re also handy when you have a system crash and no back up. lol
6. Descendant Of Sssmith 6

   13 October 2013 at 11:13 pm

   A nice little summary of several encryption programs and their pros and cons.

   http://dottech.org/105656/windows-best-free-encryption-software-review/
7. infused 7

   13 October 2013 at 11:34 pm

   I came here hoping to find websites of pantie sniffers. I am disappointed.

   On a serious note, it depends what you are doing, whether it matters or not.

   * VPNs log all your shit at the other end, so they are hardly reliable. Unless you vpn, over vpn, over vpn, but then you have the tor network. A slow piece of shit.
   * PGP has back doors
   * browse using SSL if at all possible (google/facebook supports it)
   * Email encryption will be a headache, as encryption was an afterthought
   * Securemail sites are being shutdown all the time, so I wouldn’t bet on them. Hushmail has backdoors.

   You have more to be worried about from malware and rootkits than you do govt spying. Why you might ask? Because you probably don’t even know you have a rootkit installed (AV won’t remove it) and it’s sending your every keystroke overseas.

   Encryption is rather pointless when you are being key-logged isn’t it? My point is, if you don’t know how to use any of this stuff, you probably have other issues to sort out first, mainly your PC security.

   What I suggest is:

   1) Grabbing a copy of combofix and running this on your computer (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/) Run this and let it go nuts. This will remove any malware/rootkits. It is the best tool for removing this. If you know how to run it in safe mode, all the better.

   2) Update your machine to the latest versions of service packs/security updates. Most data theft is done through malware/security holes. So make sure that’s sorted.

   3) Browse sites using SSL if at all possible

   4) Use pass phrases (google it)

   5) Make sure your browser is up-to-date

   To be honest, that will do more than encryption will for the average joe.

   Security program wise, I recommend you have installed:

   * Malware Bytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (Run a scan once a week)
   * Microsoft Security Essentials http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows/security-essentials-download

   Just don’t be stupid on the internet.
   • David H 7.1

     14 October 2013 at 9:25 am

     I prefer Avast for Anti Virus, and it has a nifty software updater. http://www.avast.com
     I also use Ccleaner to clean up all the crap http://www.piriform.com
     And I have Peerblock running too
     Apart from that I have a firewall in the modem, But Windows is do dumb that it cant detect it and moans about no firewall luckily win 7 has the sensible option to turn off the moans.

     Oh and Backup to an external drive! This is most important!
     • infused 7.1.1

       14 October 2013 at 1:42 pm

       Windows uses WMI hooks to detect programs using/replacing the firewall… so if it’s complaining, it’s probably not windows that’s the problem, but the software you’ve installed that replaces it.
   • Tracey 7.2

     14 October 2013 at 11:08 am

     Thanks infused

     Just run the first thing you suggested
8. Paul Campbell 8

   14 October 2013 at 12:23 am

   encrypting VOIP is actually easy, after all if you have Sky all your TV is encrypted, far more bandwidth – large secret primes are what stop you from watching the rugby without paying – that little card you plug into your sky box has a public key on it, the private one is in a vault back at the sky office, they get it out once a month when you pay your bill.

   finding other people who use the same crypto for VOIP is a bit harder though and if your VOIP goes through some central clearing house you’re pretty much screwed – on the other hand if you go peer to peer it’s much harder for the GCSB/NSA and friends to track you down, we know they drop prisms in key fibre points which is great if your tapping client server traffic to google or facebook, not so great if the packets take some other more direct route.

   Ah you say peer-to-peer, VOIP – I know I’ll use Skype – it’s pretty much accepted that microsoft have given the NSA a skype back door, remove it from your machine now – it’s probably about time to roll our own
   • infused 8.1

     14 October 2013 at 12:41 am

     Well it is hard to crypto voip actually. It depends on your supplier. Once your call hits the supplier, it’s just moved to another supplier. Maybe it’s encrypted, maybe it’s not. You’d have no idea.

     I’d say it’s not, because it’s huge overhead and rather complex since there are so many different systems out there.
9. Tracey 9

   14 October 2013 at 7:59 am

   Infused

   nothing to hide so nothing to fear assumes competent ethical people are accessing our info.

   according to the defence dept bradley manning had a low iq and was mentally unstable yet they let him continue to access private info.

   spying systems are only as good or trustworthy as the humans working the system.

   Thats where one of the problems with all of this lies.
10. Tracey 10

    14 October 2013 at 8:01 am

    Infused

    thanks for that link. I just cant get my head around the other stuff but your post was helpful
    • infused 10.1

      14 October 2013 at 1:44 pm

      Well if you have any questions, I’m more than happy to answer them.

      Combofix is a very brute force method of removing malware/rootkits. It does a very good job.
11. yeshe 11

    14 October 2013 at 10:15 am

    Lprent .. with respect, are you sure it’s a Tom Scott cartoon ? Not his drawing style at all, and it has Murdoch on right hand side ??? Great humour, fascinating post thx .. but ??
12. Chooky 12

    14 October 2013 at 10:25 am

    As a non- geek person interested in democracy and NZ’s sovereignty …..thanks for the whole post Lprent.!!!…(good references which i will show a geeky friend…but which i am too much of a tech retard to use)

    Lets hope the next Labour /Green govt does a complete overhaul of the illegitimate spying on NZers and exposes the spies and their political and vested interest enablers and collaborator networks….so we can shun them ( also names those NZers who have illegitimately been spied upon in the past)

    …… the spies are the ones who should be outed for the public good of all NZers and the sovereignty and economic integrity of OUR country!

    ….ironically those who really are up to no good will not be using the internet or cellphones….. or they are part of this present oligarchy cabal which is spying on those ordinary NZers who disagree with and would threaten their illegitimate interests.

    It is a pity there is not spyware out there which exposes the spies and brings the exposure back to the spyers( “panty sniffers”).

    Lets hope Peter Dunne is out the next election ….also John Key!
13. greywarbler 13

    14 October 2013 at 11:52 am

    Nice line. go and click on that site with questionable political afflictions….

    We really need a few more pathetic paranoid dickheads in the police and other security agencies exposing their group stupidity in believing that a few drunk and doped hoons talking about catapulting buses onto planes is a credible threat…. Or that having orderly protests is intimidation to businesses, and creates a clear and present danger to our democracy…

    And funny that. I was just looking at photos of the 1981 Springbok anti-apartheid protests and the beautifully dressed police with long thick coats, helmets with clear riot shields, and long batons with handles at a right angle, enabling a choice of action as hammer, poker, or hitter. And boots to kick with. And fairly big blokes, milk fed and powerful. No wonder they rushed off to the Ureweras and Dotcom’s mansion, haven’t had such a testosterone-tingling time since 1981.

    And pictures of women with blood trickling down their faces. Some of it caused by the milk fed, beefy audience of male jerks who wouldn’t know a principle from a pimple. I have seen them being interviewed in a rehash on tv of the time – they still hold a grudge that they didn’t get to see the game.

    Now that is something to undermine democracy and society – very sad that we can get this elaborate tangle of propaganda and excuses for 21st century skullduggery.

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS