How to protect yourself from hackers and cyber spies.
Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license
I am currently beginning to research the topics of computer data security and privacy online. After whistle blower and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Edward Snowdon leaked classified information about US global infrastructure and domestic online surveillance practices in June 2013,[1] it is obvious that anybody using the internet is subject to meta data-mining, a target for governmental and corporate snooping, harassment, and hacking. All Facebook users have their browser activities recorded even after the person has logged out of Facebook. They want to know what your consuming, so they can feed you more crap! Sorry for the vulgare language, but someone has to say it as it is…that’s really fucked up! Please consider getting off that app! I promise you will be OK. In fact, your well-being will likely increase…In the Heath section of the Harvard Business Review, in an article entitled “A New, More Rigorous Study Confirms: The More You Use Facebook, the Worse You Feel,” I was not surprised to learn that Facebook use is associated with a decrease in overall health and well-being.[2] I have never been a Facebook fan. I deleted my account for good in 2015 mostly because of my research and film work in China. FaceCrap is a like a black-hole vortex that sucks your life force and energy.
Honestly, I love not being on FaceCrap…
Another thing I love is listening to podcasts on The Intercept (TheIntercept.com). Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras are the three co-founding investigative journalists of The Intercept. These investigative reporters are some of the boldest in the world as far as I know. Jeremy Scahill is the host of the podcast entitled “The Intercept” on The Intercept (theintercept.com). “The Intercept” is a show on contemporary U.S. politics, U.S. domestic and international surveillance, and U.S. wars in the middle East, Africa, Irak, Somalia, and around the world. Jeremy Scahill is also the director of “Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield,” an academy award nominated film. “Citizenfour” directed by Oscar winning director Laura Poitras is on the topic of the NSA spying scandal and reveals in detail the first few hours and the first few days of Edward Snowdon’s whistle blowing story. Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald traveled to Hong Kong to meet up with Edward Snowdon. “Citizenfour” presents this unusual encounter. “Deconstructed,” the only other podcast on The Intercept, is hosted by journalist and artist Medhi Hasan. What I love about “Deconstructed” is that it is edited in a really creative, and radical way, always with humor, which makes the whole learning process on intense political truths enjoyable, fun and addictive... I always learn so much from listening to these shows...I was recently listening to the episode of May 25 2018, 6:00 a.m. of “Deconstructed” entitled: “Edward Snowdon on Privacy in the Age of Trump and Facebook.” In this interview conducted by Medhi Hasan with Edward Snowdon in exile in Moscow, Snowdon introduces his new app Haven. This new open source app protects your privacy and detects intrusions. Snowdon explains that this app uses the tools that enable surveillance (mics, cameras. etc.) and re-purposes them. “Haven turns any Android phone into a motion, sound, vibration and light detector, watching for unexpected guests and unwanted intruders.”[3] Out of curiosity, frustration and rebellion, I am super excited to check this app out!
Cyber security means staying up to date, learning and understanding how to protect yourself from cyber-attack, identity theft, and ransomware. I just recently learned that there is a tool on smart phones which permits you to erase your phone’s information remotely in case of theft. I actually remember reading that gang members use it to delete all sensitive information on their phone when seized by the police. Also, things not to do would include to not do your banking without a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on a pubic WIFI on your lunch hour for example. Public WIFI is a porous network environment in which your private information is not protected. Get off Facebook. And I am sorry to say that LinkedIn is not safe either. I deleted my account. I am going to close my Gmail account. I recently installed a VPN on my computer. The VPN hides the computer’s IP address and offers privacy online. Moreover, unlike a regular internet connection, a VPN connection is encrypted. However, it is best to use a VPN in combination with an anti-virus or antimalware software. I have been reading articles on the blog of the website of my VPN provider NordVPN (https://nordvpn.com) to understand how the VPN works and how to optimize my privacy and security online. I am currently starting to investigate which anti-virus or antimalware software is best for my professional needs. I am currently using the free trial of Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac.
I learned that the browser makes a considerable difference in how secure your online experience will be, especially in regard to corporate snooping and data-mining. I learned to stay away from Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Firefox seems to be the browser of choice for online privacy. Tor was also promoted as an option to explore on the NordVPN blog. However, after speaking with a few computer geeks it seems that Tor may also be problematic in regard to privacy and it appears to be highly controversial; associated with Tor is the deep web or dark web, which is something I had never heard about before…and it has to do with anything rotten and/or nasty. No matter what you want to read online, it’s none of any bodies business, whether you’re a journalist, environmental activist, human rights lawyer, or entheogen geek.
I have to say again that I was not surprised, and probably even chuckled when I heard about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. “Facebook, for example, exposed data on up to 87 million Facebook users to a researcher who worked at Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy employed by the Trump campaign.”[4] GlobalResearch, the Center for Research and Globalization makes the connection between Facebook and the CIA. “CIA and the world’s largest ad agency network, WPP (WPPGY), have been in bed together on a social media data-mining venture since at least January 2009.”[5] After installing my VPN, I went into the menu and turned on Kill Switch, CyberSec, Connect on Start options.
[1] https://theintercept.com/2018/05/25/deconstructed-the-edward-snowden-interview/
[2] https://hbr.org/2017/04/a-new-more-rigorous-study-confirms-the-more-you-use-facebook-the-worse-you-feel
[3] https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
[4] https://theintercept.com/2018/05/25/deconstructed-the-edward-snowden-interview/
[5] https://www.globalresearch.ca/social-media-is-a-tool-of-the-cia-facebook-google-and-other-social-media-used-to-spy-on-people/5606170
Honestly, I love not being on FaceCrap…
Another thing I love is listening to podcasts on The Intercept (TheIntercept.com). Jeremy Scahill, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras are the three co-founding investigative journalists of The Intercept. These investigative reporters are some of the boldest in the world as far as I know. Jeremy Scahill is the host of the podcast entitled “The Intercept” on The Intercept (theintercept.com). “The Intercept” is a show on contemporary U.S. politics, U.S. domestic and international surveillance, and U.S. wars in the middle East, Africa, Irak, Somalia, and around the world. Jeremy Scahill is also the director of “Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield,” an academy award nominated film. “Citizenfour” directed by Oscar winning director Laura Poitras is on the topic of the NSA spying scandal and reveals in detail the first few hours and the first few days of Edward Snowdon’s whistle blowing story. Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald traveled to Hong Kong to meet up with Edward Snowdon. “Citizenfour” presents this unusual encounter. “Deconstructed,” the only other podcast on The Intercept, is hosted by journalist and artist Medhi Hasan. What I love about “Deconstructed” is that it is edited in a really creative, and radical way, always with humor, which makes the whole learning process on intense political truths enjoyable, fun and addictive... I always learn so much from listening to these shows...I was recently listening to the episode of May 25 2018, 6:00 a.m. of “Deconstructed” entitled: “Edward Snowdon on Privacy in the Age of Trump and Facebook.” In this interview conducted by Medhi Hasan with Edward Snowdon in exile in Moscow, Snowdon introduces his new app Haven. This new open source app protects your privacy and detects intrusions. Snowdon explains that this app uses the tools that enable surveillance (mics, cameras. etc.) and re-purposes them. “Haven turns any Android phone into a motion, sound, vibration and light detector, watching for unexpected guests and unwanted intruders.”[3] Out of curiosity, frustration and rebellion, I am super excited to check this app out!
Cyber security means staying up to date, learning and understanding how to protect yourself from cyber-attack, identity theft, and ransomware. I just recently learned that there is a tool on smart phones which permits you to erase your phone’s information remotely in case of theft. I actually remember reading that gang members use it to delete all sensitive information on their phone when seized by the police. Also, things not to do would include to not do your banking without a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on a pubic WIFI on your lunch hour for example. Public WIFI is a porous network environment in which your private information is not protected. Get off Facebook. And I am sorry to say that LinkedIn is not safe either. I deleted my account. I am going to close my Gmail account. I recently installed a VPN on my computer. The VPN hides the computer’s IP address and offers privacy online. Moreover, unlike a regular internet connection, a VPN connection is encrypted. However, it is best to use a VPN in combination with an anti-virus or antimalware software. I have been reading articles on the blog of the website of my VPN provider NordVPN (https://nordvpn.com) to understand how the VPN works and how to optimize my privacy and security online. I am currently starting to investigate which anti-virus or antimalware software is best for my professional needs. I am currently using the free trial of Bitdefender Antivirus for Mac.
I learned that the browser makes a considerable difference in how secure your online experience will be, especially in regard to corporate snooping and data-mining. I learned to stay away from Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Firefox seems to be the browser of choice for online privacy. Tor was also promoted as an option to explore on the NordVPN blog. However, after speaking with a few computer geeks it seems that Tor may also be problematic in regard to privacy and it appears to be highly controversial; associated with Tor is the deep web or dark web, which is something I had never heard about before…and it has to do with anything rotten and/or nasty. No matter what you want to read online, it’s none of any bodies business, whether you’re a journalist, environmental activist, human rights lawyer, or entheogen geek.
I have to say again that I was not surprised, and probably even chuckled when I heard about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. “Facebook, for example, exposed data on up to 87 million Facebook users to a researcher who worked at Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy employed by the Trump campaign.”[4] GlobalResearch, the Center for Research and Globalization makes the connection between Facebook and the CIA. “CIA and the world’s largest ad agency network, WPP (WPPGY), have been in bed together on a social media data-mining venture since at least January 2009.”[5] After installing my VPN, I went into the menu and turned on Kill Switch, CyberSec, Connect on Start options.
[1] https://theintercept.com/2018/05/25/deconstructed-the-edward-snowden-interview/
[2] https://hbr.org/2017/04/a-new-more-rigorous-study-confirms-the-more-you-use-facebook-the-worse-you-feel
[3] https://guardianproject.github.io/haven/
[4] https://theintercept.com/2018/05/25/deconstructed-the-edward-snowden-interview/
[5] https://www.globalresearch.ca/social-media-is-a-tool-of-the-cia-facebook-google-and-other-social-media-used-to-spy-on-people/5606170
RSS Feed