Anonymity: Fact v Fiction

Saturday, April 12, 2008

—






















It's easy to hide in a crowd. That is the mentality that most people bring to their computer every time they browse, post, or YouTube. Your average internet user assumes that all their actions online are private and anonymous. This is a falsehood. Every action you make could be traced if a person was to dig deep enough.

So how do you protect yourself and your client when creating or posting content to the NET? There are a couple ways:

1. —When you put information out on the web assume your opposition can see it.

• NEVER post anything on the internet that you would not like your opposition to see. (NEVER!!!) This seems obvious...but it needs to be driven into your mind. People are constantly posting private information to the internet (especially on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace) and then they get upset when others see this information. The best way to protect you and your client is to have some common sense: When you put information out on the web assume your opposition can see it.
  

2. —A small amount of cover will throw off 99% of queries.

• People are lazy. If you cover your tracks just a bit you will through 99% of people off your scent. Most of this step comes back to common sense. If you are posting a comment - consider using and alias...not your real information. If you are working on an internal project, keep the links and discussion away from social networking sites. Register domains by proxy (see next item).
  

3. Register all domains by proxy.

• When you register any domain (I suggest using www.godaddy.com to register domains) your information is put into a WHOIS database unless you register by proxy (also called privately). When you register privately, you purchase the domain through a third party some company like (Domains By Proxy). This will allow your personal information to stay hidden and not directly tied to the domain you purchased.
  

4. Use proxy servers if you want your posts to not be traced back to your IP. (Advanced)

• When you browse the net, your WAN (wide area network) IP address is visible and can be traced. Sites like Wikipedia.org will even post your IP if you make a comment or change to an article. (These IP addresses are like your home mailing address...except digital). To hide your IP from prying eyes you can use proxy servers and a Firefox plugin called TOR. Once you have TOR installed it will appear on the bottom right hand side of your Firefox browser allowing you to enable or disable it on the fly. First you will ned to configure your TOR plugin to use an internet proxy. A list of free internet proxies can be found here.

5. People are your biggest security threat...and your biggest threat to anonymity.

• Machines are relativity quiet...people talk. Think about the information you include in emails and posts...do you really trust that intern with your business? (Enough said)

The big point I am trying to make here is that the Internet is a NOT a private place. Be careful what you post, be mindful what you say...and just use common sense. PROTECT YOU AND YOUR CLIENT ABOVE ALL ELSE.
(Pictures to and setup instructions for all of these tools to come).

-LJ

Labels: anonomous, anonymity, domains, godaddy, media, online, PR, press, proxy, web 2.0

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12, 2008 at 11:25 AM. There are . If you want, you can leave your own response by clicking here. You may also send this post to a friend of yours via email, or bookmark it for yourself by using icons below;