Remaining anonymous on these forums

[ThePhantomToker]

For various reasons I like to remain anonymous on these forums. I also like to keep any traces of this site off my computer. In the interest of sharing I will describe my methods. Please keep in mind that I am no expert. If anyone notes a chink in my armor, please let me know. The programs and methods I use are as follows:

I have a 2gig USB pen drive set up with truecrypt traveler mode and a truecrypt volume. Inside that volume I have a tunneling proxy type program called Gpass and Firefox Portable with a couple of other programs.

Basically I mount the truecrypt volume from the pen drive, then start Gpass and run Firefox Portable from Gpass, and then surf as I normally would. When I'm done surfing I.C. Mag, for instance, I close Firefox Portable, close Gpass, dismount my truecrypt volume, stop my pen drive (safely eject), remove the pen drive from the USB port and I'm done.

The only trace of my activity left is a registry entry noting that I opened a truecrypt volume. As far as the pen drive goes it has the truecrypt traveler setup, and the encrypted volume. Given the strength of my password for that volume I'll be long gone before LEO could brute force it.

I also use a program called Ccleaner on my machine that cleans the hard drive of all kinds of files, as well as, cleaning the registry( oops there goes that truecrypt reg entry). The second program I use is called Eraser and it basically erases files and empty hard drive space by overwriting at an irretrievable level.

I'm not going to get into how to set this up as the folks at the respected software websites have all ready done a great job of this, but I will tell you that if you google the following you be well on your way:

Truecrypt
Gpass
Firefox Portable
Ccleaner
Eraser
Running firefox from a usb drive
Running Truecrypt from a usb drive

Peace TPT

 

[kmk420kali]

Can somebody please post a reliable link about how many ppl get busted for growing, from posting on a Message Board??

 

[ThePhantomToker]

I doubt that information would be available. I do know that in my area Leo will take your PC and use it as evidence of crimes related to conspiracy and distribution. I also find value in not having mj and related stuff on the PC my family uses.

 

[HeadyPete]

What does that do to your surfing speed? I tried Tor but it was worse than dial up.

 

[ThePhantomToker]

I tried tor as well, this is much faster. Its not like it not there, but not like tor either. sometimes I refresh the proxy tunnels if it seams to be under performing. Also you must be running usb 2.0, the 1.0 standard would be very slow.

Peace TPT

 

[Tony Aroma]

I'm guessing most of the people here are Windows users. But for us Mac users, it is much simpler. I use a program called JonDo (which I believe is also available for Windows and Linux). It's simple to install and set up, and offers several free proxy cascades to choose from. So all I have to do is go to my Network Preferences, switch to the predefined proxy settings, and launch Jondo. Everything I do after that is secure. When I'm done, I quit JonDo and reset my network settings.

As far as cookies and other traces left on my computer, the Safari browser has a Private Browsing option. Just turn it on with a menu selection and no record of any sites you visit is left on your computer. Please note that cookies and such are not erased until you quit Safari or turn off private browsing. I hear that a future version of Explorer will offer a similar private browsing option.

As far a speed goes, yes there is a noticeable slow down, but most of the time it's not that dramatic. Of course I don't use a proxy when I'm visiting high bandwidth sites, like for movies, so it's not really too annoying. The trade off for increased security is well worth the minor delays.

It doesn't require lots of extra software, or additional hardware, or really much effort at all once things are set up. I don't know about you, but the more complicated something is, the less likely I am to do it faithfully. And the more likely I am to forget one of the many steps involved in the process. So it is possible to keep it simple and still be safe and anonymous.

 

[ThePhantomToker]

I would love to be on a Mac, Tony. As far as ease of use, I set this up in under 1 hour. I can be online in say 30 sec. from inserting the USB drive, and I can have the drive back in my pocket in like 10 sec. . It is a little bit of a hassle but, what is peace of mind worth?

Peace TPT

 

[Pseudo]

sounds pretty complicated, ther must be a simpler way?

 

[TwoOhSix!]

Unless you have pictures of large commercial ops there's not much to worry about.

 

[CantBe2High]

Seems like ...

Seems like ...

Yeah, for some reason people on these forums who smoke and grow lots of weed tend to be paranoid. Go figure.

But sometimes they really ARE out to get you.

I was way too paranoid my first seed ordering and growing. In the end, it was too much summer heat that hurt my crop.

We all need to chill, but precautions are always a good idea online and offline.

 

[HappyHemphog]

You do realize that key encryption isn't enough to protect you? It's no different than a key to your car or your house which the courts can force you to provide. Sure, they can't force you to recite your "key" from memory, but they can hold you in contempt of court to "encourage" you to provide said key.

If your this paranoid, get off the Internet!

Of course all this is pointless as it's VERY unlikely that you will be discovered by posting on a MJ forum. Any evidence on a PC will be used in a supportive role and will NEVER be the reason someone gets popped. It's only after your under investigation that any attempt to monitor or retrace your online activity will occur, not before.

Until someone presents me with evidence that some random snooping of Internet traffic has led to the discovery and successful prosecution of a grower, this is little more than FUD.

If I was ever hauled before a judge because packet traffic originating from my IP address I would have a field day explaining all the instances that present reasonable doubt.

My Internet IP is shared with a number of neighbors.
I have an unsecured wireless router that ANYONE can surf from.

It cannot be proven that I was the person generating the traffic based on some random snooping of packet traffic.

So, there's no way in hell that posting on an MJ forum will lead to your arrest or conviction. If you go down, it will be from one of a million other reasons and the most likely one is someone ratted you out.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Can somebody please post a reliable link about how many ppl get busted for growing, from posting on a Message Board??

Sorry, I do not have any links but I am pretty sure the Italians busted a load of growers not that long ago after compromising a forum.

They are pretty hot busting our friends over there, the Italian Mafia do not like competition on their crap drug trade, so, like the Irish mafias, they do all they can to screw anybody growing decent stuff at home.

 

[Tony Aroma]

You do realize that key encryption isn't enough to protect you? It's no different than a key to your car or your house which the courts can force you to provide. Sure, they can't force you to recite your "key" from memory, but they can hold you in contempt of court to "encourage" you to provide said key.

If your this paranoid, get off the Internet!

Of course all this is pointless as it's VERY unlikely that you will be discovered by posting on a MJ forum. Any evidence on a PC will be used in a supportive role and will NEVER be the reason someone gets popped. It's only after your under investigation that any attempt to monitor or retrace your online activity will occur, not before.

Yes, this is all very true.

The method I described that I use will only do two things for you: Using a proxy will prevent this web site (or any other) from having a record of you visiting it. Every time you visit a web page, they have a record of your IP address (they have to know where to send the information). Using a proxy makes it look like you are visiting the site from a different address.

And using the private browsing option in my browser accomplishes the reverse, it prevents there from being a record on my computer that I visited a particular site.

Will these two safety measures keep you from getting busted? I doubt it. But if you do get busted for whatever reason and they take your computer, there will at least be no additional evidence to implicate you, or others, in anything else. So if you're not concerned about someone finding out what web sites you visit, like the police or your family, then don't worry about it. I agree with the other posts, that internet activity alone is very unlikely to get you into trouble. At most, it will only exacerbate the problem if you get busted for some other reason.

As for me, when it comes to this sort of thing, my motto is better safe than sorry. Putting a tiny amount of extra effort into remaining relatively anonymous can't hurt.

 

[yamaha_1fan]

You do realize that key encryption isn't enough to protect you? It's no different than a key to your car or your house which the courts can force you to provide. Sure, they can't force you to recite your "key" from memory, but they can hold you in contempt of court to "encourage" you to provide said key.

This may not be true. By providing a code from memory, you are incriminating yourself. I know I had a link to an article but I cant find it.

 

[Tony Aroma]

One other thing about security: If you're like me, you keep pictures, grow logs, etc. on your computer. That sort of thing is probably worse if you get busted than a record of the web sites you visited. To help keep that information from prying eyes, I keep it all in an encrypted, password-protected archive. I locate that archive and name it so it looks like a completely different type of file. Nothing is totally secure, but it would take some serious effort to find and extract that information on my computer. So it's just one more thing that helps me feel a little more safe and secure.

 

[ThePhantomToker]

HappyHemphog-Dude I never implied that you could get busted from going to a mj forum.

Originally Posted by HappyHemphog
You do realize that key encryption isn't enough to protect you? It's no different than a key to your car or your house which the courts can force you to provide. Sure, they can't force you to recite your "key" from memory, but they can hold you in contempt of court to "encourage" you to provide said key.

More over, in the good old U.S.of A. you can not in a criminal proceeding be forced to self incriminate. Something about the 5th Amendment, You can incriminate yourself through stupidity but no one will force you to be stupid.

Originally Posted by HappyHemphog
It's only after your under investigation that any attempt to monitor or retrace your online activity will occur, not before.

Exactly my point, why on earth if you're a grower, and Budda forbid you get busted, would you let Leo have additional evidence of your crimes by being sloppy with your computer. Kinda along the lines of throwing your trimmings in the trash.

Originally Posted by Tony Aroma
One other thing about security: If you're like me, you keep pictures, grow logs, etc. on your computer. That sort of thing is probably worse if you get busted than a record of the web sites you visited. To help keep that information from prying eyes, I keep it all in an encrypted, password-protected archive. I locate that archive and name it so it looks like a completely different type of file. Nothing is totally secure, but it would take some serious effort to find and extract that information on my computer. So it's just one more thing that helps me feel a little more safe and secure.

What he said.

Peace TPT