Protecting your anonymity on the internet

**Manuel I Komnenos** · July 09, 2011, 09:55 AM

I'm interested in finding ways to protect my anonymity on the internet, for example hiding my IP and so on but I have no clue about how you can do that. Any help will be appreciated guys!

I'm using the Opera explorer and I downloaded a program called OperaTor which generates random IPs and was showing that I live in Las Vegas etc, however it was kinda annoying because surfing on sites was slower and I couldn't watch Youtube videos because Javascript was disabled.

**Veliky Kaiser Theos** · July 09, 2011, 10:58 AM

Software like that and their website based equivalents are the only easy way I'm aware of, and there's no way of fixing the speed issues. If you want to use javascript, use a website based one.

**Manuel I Komnenos** · July 09, 2011, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by J.Philp

Software like that and their website based equivalents are the only easy way I'm aware of, and there's no way of fixing the speed issues. If you want to use javascript, use a website based one.

And except from surfing with an internet explorer, is there any other way hackers can steal your IP etc from your emails, bittorrent programs etc?

**Darkpriest667** · July 09, 2011, 12:10 PM

unplug the ethernet and discontinue your credit cards.

The basic fact remains the simple adage. There is no such thing as a secure system.(which reminds me of a funny story) The Pentagon has been hacked publicly 4 times in the past 2 years.

As far as basic security goes there are programs that allow you to hide your IP address but they will interfere greatly with your ability to surf browse and play games.

Browsers FF is the only one I know of that allows for "private browsing" which gives you a fair level of anonymity.

To expand on the funny story. When I was working with combat troops in South America and Africa during one of the expeditions another computer tech that was working with us was bragging to me how he built his hard box(a military term for very durable laptops) a bullet proof system. A former navy seal said its "bullet proof huh?" the tech responded "yes its absolutely secure no one can break into this system" The ex seal proceeded to pull out his .45 1911 and put 5 rounds into the laptop obliterating it after the 3rd round. I laughed for about 30 minutes.

Bulletproof systems real and virtual dont exist. EVERYTHING can be exploited or hacked.

**Manuel I Komnenos** · July 09, 2011, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Darkpriest667

unplug the ethernet and discontinue your credit cards.

The basic fact remains the simple adage. There is no such thing as a secure system.(which reminds me of a funny story) The Pentagon has been hacked publicly 4 times in the past 2 years.

As far as basic security goes there are programs that allow you to hide your IP address but they will interfere greatly with your ability to surf browse and play games.

Browsers FF is the only one I know of that allows for "private browsing" which gives you a fair level of anonymity.

To expand on the funny story. When I was working with combat troops in South America and Africa during one of the expeditions another computer tech that was working with us was bragging to me how he built his hard box(a military term for very durable laptops) a bullet proof system. A former navy seal said its "bullet proof huh?" the tech responded "yes its absolutely secure no one can break into this system" The ex seal proceeded to pull out his .45 1911 and put 5 rounds into the laptop obliterating it after the 3rd round. I laughed for about 30 minutes.

Bulletproof systems real and virtual dont exist. EVERYTHING can be exploited or hacked.

Thanks for the info. I believe you but anyway, I'm looking for basic security and anonymity because I don't have any top secrets on my hard drive.

If a decent hacker wants to hack you, he'll probably manage that whatever you do but my IP is currently visible to virtually everyone on the internet. You can easily figure out where I am and trace my pc.

**Freddie** · July 09, 2011, 05:03 PM

To be fair you can only get geographical location but your not going to get a GPS pin point location from an IP address. Years ago I was playing Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy online with a friend who lives about 45 minutes from my house and one of the mods commented we must have lived very close to each other due to out IP address being similar but the reality is the only you ISP can tell anyone where you live and what your address is.

For me there are bigger issues with the internet then knowing that sites like Google are collecting data about my search habits I far more concerned about malware and key loggers and especially key loggers since I do a lot of internet banking and share trading these days I don't want my passwords getting out to anyone.

**GrnEyedDvl** · July 09, 2011, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by Freddie

To be fair you can only get geographical location but your not going to get a GPS pin point location from an IP address. Years ago I was playing Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy online with a friend who lives about 45 minutes from my house and one of the mods commented we must have lived very close to each other due to out IP address being similar but the reality is the only you ISP can tell anyone where you live and what your address is.

You can get within a few miles with an IP, depending on the provider. With the actual IP address the mod was correct, IP addresses on the same subnet will go through the same endline router. The closer the IP, the closer the person generally. People that have the first 3 octets the same but the last one different, are all on the same final hop.

For me there are bigger issues with the internet then knowing that sites like Google are collecting data about my search habits I far more concerned about malware and key loggers and especially key loggers since I do a lot of internet banking and share trading these days I don't want my passwords getting out to anyone.

Put your name in this site and see what you get.
http://www.zabasearch.com/

**JaNuZ99** · July 09, 2011, 08:27 PM

offtopic:

Originally Posted by GrnEyedDvl

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=green]
Put your name in this site and see what you get.
http://www.zabasearch.com/

that site just scared the

out of me.... it was very.. precise...

on topic:

To the OP, there are measures you can take, which in a way you have already taken.

I'm using the Opera explorer and I downloaded a program called OperaTor which generates random IPs and was showing that I live in Las Vegas etc

OperaTo is a plugin for your browser that acts as a proxy. Those of us who are very paranoid use proxy chains, which is one one proxy connectected to another,connected to another, and so on. However those said people enjoy slower speeds as there is more and more lag since your computer is essentially connecting to the target website through a series of intemidaries (also being used at the same time by thousands or millions of users;depending on popularity).

The proxys deal with the IP issue (somewhat). As for information control. Knowledge is your best friend. Knowing things about Phisers (you can do a quick google search to know what that is) and long passwords are your best friends (even supercomputers can take a few days if the password is over 9 characters).

Also some secuirty softwares offer web-protection to make it harder to get your information online.

**Darkpriest667** · July 09, 2011, 09:14 PM

Originally Posted by JaNuZ99

offtopic:

that site just scared the

out of me.... it was very.. precise...

on topic:

To the OP, there are measures you can take, which in a way you have already taken.

OperaTo is a plugin for your browser that acts as a proxy. Those of us who are very paranoid use proxy chains, which is one one proxy connectected to another,connected to another, and so on. However those said people enjoy slower speeds as there is more and more lag since your computer is essentially connecting to the target website through a series of intemidaries (also being used at the same time by thousands or millions of users;depending on popularity).

The proxys deal with the IP issue (somewhat). As for information control. Knowledge is your best friend. Knowing things about Phisers (you can do a quick google search to know what that is) and long passwords are your best friends (even supercomputers can take a few days if the password is over 9 characters).

Also some secuirty softwares offer web-protection to make it harder to get your information online.

I always recommend 13 ... my secure passwords are 17 and 19. However you are right 9 is pretty good as long as its #s abcs and ~!@s

Originally Posted by GrnEyedDvl

Put your name in this site and see what you get.
http://www.zabasearch.com/

Not that accurate. It knows my name and has 2 addresses I haven't used in almost a decade and a phone number that I haven't had since 2001.

They also don't seem to want to GIVE the information away.. 40 bucks just to find someone? LOL

Originally Posted by Freddie

For me there are bigger issues with the internet then knowing that sites like Google are collecting data about my search habits I far more concerned about malware and key loggers and especially key loggers since I do a lot of internet banking and share trading these days I don't want my passwords getting out to anyone.

If you are worried about Google tracking your data that much or any web browser you might as well sign off now and unplug that ethernet (or god forbid wireless) connection you're using. Cause that kind of information sharing is not going to stop.

**chriscase** · July 12, 2011, 01:36 AM

The Internet is not anonymous, and it never has been. Don't do anything on the Internet you aren't prepared to have go public, because it already is. Every router, every web server, practically every device connected to the Internet logs its traffic. In many cases, that log is required by law to be archived for a certain period of time.

If you are worried about your money, don't use the same computer you bank and shop on for gaming, surfing, and downloading free porn. Protect every account you have with a different strong password - DO NOT use the same password for a bank account that you do for any other site. Do not store your logon credentials on your system, in a text file or cached in an insecure helper application. If you must, use a secure password manager like Password Safe.

When it comes to rootkits and malware, don't install or execute any software on a sensitive system unless you trust its source. If you want a slutty playground PC, isolate it from the rest of your LAN, wipe it with a factory image on a regular basis, and do not under any circumstances use it to access any sensitive account over the Internet.

As far as locating you by IP, who cares? Are you really worried someone will find out what postal code you live in? It's hard for me to see what difference that makes unless you are really getting under someone's skin and you think they are going to go all Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back on you. But if you care that much, you could look into a wireless WAN card. I doubt anyone who isn't an employee of your wireless provider is going to be able to figure out much about your location from whatever IP your wireless provider gives you.

When it comes to software and services that promise to "make you anonymous" or "clean up" your PC, be very, very cautious. Nothing says "guilty" like crawling all over a bunch of ads that promise to let you do whatever you want on the internet without detection. Sites that promise that are likely to be riddled with malware and bugged on top of that. The bulk of data that's collected about what everybody is doing is so huge that a little harmless hanky-panky will go unnoticed in the noise, but subscribing to a "hide my identity and let me do whatever I want" site is likely to get your activity logged and scrutinized in considerably more detail.

Oh yeah, if you are NATted behind a few routers, some basic security is already taken care of for you, though you do have to be concerned that those routers do not get compromised.

But the basics are what you ought to be most concerned about: Don't execute stupid crap on your PC, use anti-virus software and a host-based firewall, be cautious about what you click on, back up your important data, and be prepared to re-image your system at any time.

**Kanaric** · July 12, 2011, 02:59 AM

Looking up that extra bit of nasty porn are we?

**Taiji** · July 12, 2011, 04:55 AM

http://www.bluetack.co.uk/forums/ind...CODE=02&qid=30

Check that out if you like

**Guy** · July 12, 2011, 09:36 PM

Ixquick is a great search engine which seems to be what you're looking for partially. I recommend it to anyone wishing to exercise a bit of liberty rather than having Google snoop down your neck.