The following is a basic guide to cybersecurity in the very real possibility of participation in progressive politics leading to attacks from Neo-Nazi/white supremacist/“alt-right” groups, who are used to the methods of cyber-warfare, including doxxing, the practice of exposing an individual's private information to a group that may use that information harass or kill the person. Donald Trump has also made it clear that he is opposed to net neutrality and privacy alike, and he has previously demanded private information on those who resist him, so this guide will hopefully be valuable in defending yourself against government incursions as well. Nothing described in this guide is prohibited by law, and the guide is not to be used for illegal purposes. Odd Tales Productions and all associated individuals do not and will not encourage or condone illegal acts undertaken using the contents of this guide.

 

THE TIPS:

 

• Secure your existing accounts. Complicate all your passwords, store vital information on paper only, enable 2-factor authentication on email/social media/etc. if possible with a phone you know is safe. Maximize privacy settings on social media and make sure things like your phone number and home address aren't publicly accessible from there.

• Encrypt files you wouldn't want people stealing in the case of hacking or malware. Store files on flash drives, the more portable the better. If you want to be extra safe you can encrypt the drive as well as the files. Windows and Mac have built-in ways of encrypting files, and software like BitLocker and VeraCrypt can be used to encrypt drives.

• Keep your anti-malware software online and up to date (do regular sweeps with MalwareBytes on top of a defense program), and practice good Internet common sense. Be careful which emails you open, which links you follow from emails, and never download (much less torrent) bad shit. Bad links and bad downloads leading to spyware and IP address traps are one of the primary tools used by Nazis to obtain information on people.

• Use a VPN. VPNs are networks that you buy for a subscription fee (ExpressVPN is recommended) which anonymize your Internet traffic and scramble your IP address, making the physical location of your traffic harder to trace. VPNs hide your Internet traffic from your Internet Service Provider (ISP), which is valuable as ISPs will not hesitate to surrender or sell your information if they deem it advantageous or profitable. VPNs are dedicated to anonymity and erase any server records, unlike ISPs. (You'll still need to get Internet from an ISP on top of this—and it is recommended that you do research on the VPN you end up using to make it will work.)

• Use Tor as your browser. Tor anonymizes your Internet traffic and scrambles your IP address like a VPN, but it also gives you access to .onion links, which are hidden websites constituting the so-called “darknet”; while it is true that the darknet has been used for criminal activity, it offers important anti-censorship services as well. Onion sites can be of use if you wish to use encrypted email services for maximum security. Your ISP can still tell if you are using Tor, even if they can't see your history on it, but using a VPN on top of Tor prevents them from seeing its usage as well. (You may wish to keep another browser around anyway as Tor hides your identity by disabling a lot of browser components that can be used to expose your identity, including the parts that let you watch YouTube.)

• Use Tails OS as an operating system. Tails can be installed like any other Windows or Mac OS, and can also run on top of your normal OS if you run it in a virtual machine (i.e. a computer inside your computer where the hardware is emulated). Tails is equipped with a variety of pre-installed tools to help anonymize and encrypt your identity, including Tor, and the OS itself is designed around security. (Might not make a great gaming OS, though.)

• Take note that some services record your search history independent of your ISP. If you are logged into Gmail all the time, for example, there is a server with your search history on it tied to that account.

• Follow Solo's Maxim: “Don't get cocky, kid.”

• In sum: malware defense and anonymizing your identity will help keep you safe if you are targeted by the Nazis or Trump, but it won't do anything if you wait too long to protect yourself.