Paranoia and Urban Myths

[nuisance]

OK, there seems to be alot of paranoia around some areas of activism. So here's a thread were that you can out anything that you've heard in regards to sercurity culture, that is complete folly or over exagerrated.
Also, if you want to know if something you've heard is true you can put it to the user of the board to answer.

[jake williams]

I see your point, but I think it's valuable in the context of security culture to be a little more paranoid than you have to be. Like I think it's worth erring on the side of caution.

[griffjam]

A handbook on security culture
http://www.animalliberationfront.com/ALFront/ELF/sec-handbook.pdf

Some reasons why you should practice SC
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/2009/02/22/aeta-arrests/
http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=2219
http://freemarie.org/about/

Just because you think everybody is after you, doesn't mean they're not.

[Bilan]

and just because people are after you, doesn't mean you should join the ALF.

Security culture is really important. I'll sticky this thread and leave it open to anyone who has any questions on Security Culture, and others can point out over exaggerations in terms of security culture.
stickied.

[Holden Caulfield]

and just because people are after you, doesn't mean you should join the ALF.

On a serious note the Animal Liberation 'Activists Handbook' is a fucking good read, those guys might be way off in what they are fighting for but in terms of getting it done in a safe and secure way they are pretty top notch.

I say that the Activists Handbook is definately worth while!

[leveller]

Paranoia and actual need for security is a thorny issue

Take a look at that vile Redwatch site and there seem no end of comrades happy to smile for an unknown camera. (dissapointed to not find myself on it, must try harder)

And there are shots from within meetings, if they can get in then the G men can.

Organisations should take care i think to take an interest in people taking pictures at things like the SWP's Marxism event

[Rory]

Paranoia and actual need for security is a thorny issue

Take a look at that vile Redwatch site and there seem no end of comrades happy to smile for an unknown camera. (dissapointed to not find myself on it, must try harder)

And there are shots from within meetings, if they can get in then the G men can.

Organisations should take care i think to take an interest in people taking pictures at things like the SWP's Marxism event


One of my comrades and I confronted someone taking pictures of the crowd at the closing rally, thinking he was acting suspiciously and told him to put the camera down. He's now on redwatch as a red from Marxism... Sometimes people are just taking photos.

[leveller]

Good Point Rory.

Theres a fine line between paranoia and caution, thats difficult to walk, if i were in charge of security i'd have designated photographers for the left press, and ask attendees to refrain from taking photos citing flash photography as a distraction to speakers.

[Atrus]

On the topic of Redwatch, is it dangerous?
For example; if my name and picture were on there, would I have reason for concern?

[It isn't, but I'd like to know to what extent I should be cautious of them]

[SubcomandanteJames]

On a serious note the Animal Liberation 'Activists Handbook' is a fucking good read, those guys might be way off in what they are fighting for but in terms of getting it done in a safe and secure way they are pretty top notch.

I say that the Activists Handbook is definately worth while!

I actually have a lot of respect for the Animal Liberation Front. :mellow:

But oh well this isn't the thread for that conversation. But yes, they have superb literature.

[ellipsis]

Sometimes I think that UAVs are reading my lips via laser microphones... does that make me paranoid? that reminds me that i need a wearable white noise generator.:D

Also I have heard from a former ALF member that the government can listen through your cell phone, even when you are not making a call and even if it is turned off. also track your position.

[heylelshalem]

i was arrested and held for three days a while back due to some group i was involved with on the internet. They never really gave me a reason as to why....that freaked me out quite a bit.

[heylelshalem]

Sometimes I think that UAVs are reading my lips via laser microphones... does that make me paranoid? that reminds me that i need a wearable white noise generator.:D

Also I have heard from a former ALF member that the government can listen through your cell phone, even when you are not making a call and even if it is turned off. also track your position.

they can't do that. but they CAN easily listen in on cell phones by use of a device that can intercept the signal between your phone and the tower that receives it...they also CAN track your position when you use your cell phone by tracing the signal and triangulating. Its scary shit but its pretty true.

SO if you own a cell phone don't discuss anything on it that you don't want heard.

[ellipsis]

i was arrested and held for three days a while back due to some group i was involved with on the internet. They never really gave me a reason as to why....that freaked me out quite a bit.
God, that is my ultimate fear. But it never comes up when I have my ID run so I guess that's a good thing.

[ellipsis]

Did people hear about how protesters like two years ago reported seeing and hearing miniature insect like surveillance drones some action? Check out wired's report (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/insect-drones-s/)

[proudcomrade]

Did people hear about how protesters like two years ago reported seeing and hearing miniature insect like surveillance drones some action? Check out wired's report (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2007/10/insect-drones-s/)

Fash would've had a field day with these things back at the Bay of Pigs... :castro:

[vivapalestina]

On the topic of Redwatch, is it dangerous?
For example; if my name and picture were on there, would I have reason for concern?

[It isn't, but I'd like to know to what extent I should be cautious of them]


It is a little bit scary. A comrade of mine had his home address, with directions of how to get to it, put up on that site. so, they're ain't afraid of pushing the envelope.

[Red Saxon]

...Do these morons really have nothing better to do than archive leftists on the Internet?

[ellipsis]

...Do these morons really have nothing better to do than archive leftists on the Internet?

Well that and commit acts of violence against leftists they find through the internet.

[Kowalski]

does anyone use things like torproject and GnuPG (maybe with supporting soft like GPGshell etc)?

I think gpg-email is good enough for discuss exact details of actions or important things in organised struggle's strategy and tactics among your comrades.

[Animal Farm Pig]

GnuPG and PGP are nice for emails-- because emails are typically living and going through servers that you don't own they're extremely vulnerable to intercept. PGP can fail because of the people using it. I've noticed a lot of people will receive a PGP encrypted file, unencrypt it, and leave it sitting in plaintext on their hard drive. This will make communications vulnerable if someone confiscates your computer.

Think that won't happen? It happened to about a dozen of my comrades who had their computers seized by a European police agency in a coordinated raid. They hoped to use the data for a politically motivated prosecution.

We were lucky. Those comrades were using SafeGuard Easy full disk encryption. I recommend full disk encryption for anyone who is concerned about communications and data security. You can use SafeGuard, TrueCrypt, PGP Full Disk, BitLocker, dm-crypt... they're all pretty good.

Also, if you're not using it already, it's worthwhile to use Skype for secure communications. All traffic is encrypted. It's actually a bit more secure to use Skype voice rather than text chat-- it's much easier to technically to capture keystrokes via a secretly installed keylogger than to do good audio bugging.

If you want to go to very high levels of security, there is one issue with Skype that I can see. Skype is peer-to-peer. You connect directly to people you communicate with instead of going through an intermediary server. It makes it very easy to do traffic pattern analysis to determine who is communicating with whom at what time. They don't know what you're saying, but they know who you're talking to. If you want to eliminate this possibility, you can use a VPN service. I've heard good things about Ipredator.

You should also work on securing your home network. If you have to run a wireless router, make sure you're using WPA encryption-- NOT WEP! WEP is insecure. Your WPA password should be complex-- including upper and lower case letters, numbers, special characters. You should not be able to find your WPA password in any dictionary. At higher levels of paranoia, you may want to look into using an old machine as a dedicated intrusion detection system. Snort is popular. You just need to make sure your network is setup properly for it to be able to do its job.


With respect to mobile phones-- your mobile phone is a listening and tracking device. Even when you think it has been turned off. If you want to have a secure meeting, remove the battery from your mobile before beginning to travel to the meeting.

[Leninade]

Err, I'm new here and I apologize if this is a stupid question but... has anyone actually had problems? I see no 50-page threads on guns, bombs and guerrilla tactics like I'd see on your typical right wing site so if the FBI is bothering your community just for being leftists that's kind of completely insane of them.

[ellipsis]

Err, I'm new here and I apologize if this is a stupid question but... has anyone actually had problems? I see no 50-page threads on guns, bombs and guerrilla tactics like I'd see on your typical right wing site so if the FBI is bothering your community just for being leftists that's kind of completely insane of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Austin

and yes the FBI sucks like that.

[HalPhilipWalker]

I remember when Sherman Austin got nailed. He wasn't even the one who had distributed the material; he merely hosted another site on his servers that posted it up there. Regardless, he still got a SWAT team up in his house, seizing his computers, and sending him to federal prison. :scared: It is not something that you want to see happen to you.

[PhoenixAsh]

Mobile phones can be remotely and undetectedly activated to send all your sms messages to a third party.

You will never, ever...know this until its brought up in trail or during investigations.


* Also...I have heard that they are currently developing chipsets that do not require the phone battery to continu operation of the tracking...

* I have also heard that some phones can, either already or in the future, be switched remotely to function as a microphone.

Neither of these I have heard through friends in the community but through tech curiculum at university....which I sometimes sneak into because they have free coffe :-)

[Dimmu]

Mobile phones can be remotely and undetectedly activated to send all your sms messages to a third party.

You will never, ever...know this until its brought up in trail or during investigations.


* Also...I have heard that they are currently developing chipsets that do not require the phone battery to continu operation of the tracking...

* I have also heard that some phones can, either already or in the future, be switched remotely to function as a microphone.

Neither of these I have heard through friends in the community but through tech curiculum at university....which I sometimes sneak into because they have free coffe :-)

Yeah, mobile phones is the best way to get yourself tracked..

[citizen of industry]

I've heard that if you file a request to see your FBI file they have to send it to you. But that if you file a request and you don't have a file, the FBI will open one on you. Probably true.

[Flying Trotsky]

There is obviously such a thing as being paranoid- we can't go dashing for our bunkers and fallout shelters every time a plane goes by.

At the same time, we do have to accept that there are people out there who would like to harm us. Fascists, capitalists, the state- you get the idea. Let's not forget how the FBI did all in its power to break apart the Black Panther Party...

[runequester]

Go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation site and search for the SSD project.

Surveilance Self Defense. There is a wealth of information on security, and lack thereof, of computer systems, how to better protect yourself, etc.

Learn and adopt.

ADMIN EDIT: https://ssd.eff.org/

[ellipsis]

I've heard that if you file a request to see your FBI file they have to send it to you. But that if you file a request and you don't have a file, the FBI will open one on you. Probably true.

You can do this, its called the Freedom of Information Action (FOIA). You can submit them to any government agency, for example the local police department, and request any type of information.

What they release and how much is •••••••••••• varies per request.


Go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation site and search for the SSD project.

Surveilance Self Defense. There is a wealth of information on security, and lack thereof, of computer systems, how to better protect yourself, etc.

Learn and adopt.

PM me the link and I'll post it for you.

[anarcho-dystopian]

"the only way to keep a secret is don’t tell anybody."

-Charlie Beckwith (founder of Delta Force)

[PC LOAD LETTER]

Mobile phones can be remotely and undetectedly activated to send all your sms messages to a third party.

You will never, ever...know this until its brought up in trail or during investigations.


* Also...I have heard that they are currently developing chipsets that do not require the phone battery to continu operation of the tracking...

* I have also heard that some phones can, either already or in the future, be switched remotely to function as a microphone.

Neither of these I have heard through friends in the community but through tech curiculum at university....which I sometimes sneak into because they have free coffe :-)
The cellphone remote mic trick was used to get a recent mafia conviction in New York ... a few years back

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/06/12/02/0415209/fbi-taps-cell-phone-microphones-in-mafia-case

[AtarashiiSekai]

I just saw that Redwatch site... Do they post pictures and names so people can incite violence against them? That's sick... just disgusting.