Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-18 Thread sourcexorapprentice
A correction and addendum brought to my attention, thanks!
1. MAC changing -- Do it anyway, you're more likely to be tracked down that 
way than cameras, excellent Qubes documentation on that:
https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/anonymizing-your-mac-address/

You can confirm it works by randomizing it and connecting to your wifi 
router first before trusting it works in public. Macchanger is excellent 
software, I just mean my neophyte self messing up or using incompatible 
hardware.

2. VPN setup -- It's easy to make mistakes and let it leak what you're 
doing, but there's a Github project on this you may want to checkout:
https://github.com/tasket/Qubes-vpn-support



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Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-17 Thread sourcexorapprentice
China changes everything, as 799 hinted at thinking about what threads 
you're concerned about.

For "they certainly won't be after me" as a foreigner in China I just used 
my home internet with a VPN and skipped Whonix. If I was going to get in 
trouble/deported, it wouldn't have anything to do with my computer's 
privacy/security. It would be because I posted something critical on 
Facebook, or some operational security mistake like a critical blog/forum 
post using the same pseudonym I registered someplace else with my real name 
and email.

In China, using Whonix out of the box and accessing Tor is a bad idea and 
is dangerous for your personal security. Entry node IPs are public and they 
will know. Both Tor and VPNs are quasi-illegal, but there's a difference. 
Tor screams out that you're a dissident or criminal. VPNs instead suggest 
you're streaming Netflix or looking at pictures of cats on Facebook. A VPN 
might land a local Tibetan/muslim in prison, but nothing happens to 
foreigners using a VPN (which is everyone, and they're not going to deport 
everyone).

For "most secure" in China, I would put a VPN VM behind sys-net, and then 
use Qubes settings to attach whonix-gw behind the VPN and use whonix-ws for 
browsing (https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/vpn/). For China, NordVPN supposedly 
works best, but I've never had issues there using ExpressVPN. For the 
paranoid, consider for a moment that China blocks other VPNs but not these 
two... So, you just connect the whonix-gw through the VPN and now you have 
reasonable Qubes security and reasonable privacy from the whonix-ws. Whonix 
uses Tor and prevents identification of your true IP/Mac/host DNS/hardware 
is the purpose of Whonix using a gateway (GW) and a workstation (WS). Using 
Whonix on Qubes alleviates some of the pitfalls of your hardware concerns, 
identified here: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Security

For public Wi-Fi, your card's MAC accessing a VPN would still be seen. 
Scrambling your Wi-Fi card's MAC address using macchanger is easy to screw 
up and some cards don't play nice. Pretty useless anyway, a cafe in China 
is going to have at least two cameras on you inside and the streets are 
covered in cities so a directional antenna only brings attention to 
yourself. Just be mindful of what's recording your screen.

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Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-16 Thread O K
No, I will only be using the computer on public networks, not a private one 
so router, phone, etc is not an issue.  I'm talking about if someone were 
to become a target because, let's say, he was in China speaking out against 
the gov't - the gov't could identify what network and computer that traffic 
was coming from, hack into his computer and they're off to the races. 
 Obviously China, N. Korea, etc can probably get into any computer, server, 
etc. they want (N. Koreans hacked into Universal studios or whatever studio 
that was), and they certainly won't be after me, but I'm talking from a 
security standpoint.

On Friday, August 16, 2019 at 12:54:45 PM UTC-4, 799 wrote:
>
>
>
> O K > schrieb am Fr., 16. Aug. 2019, 18:17:
>
>> Well I'm not as concerned about people monitoring/intercepting the 
>> content of my communications, just about identifying information about the 
>> hardware of my computer being accessible.
>>
>
> Why? If someone can't identify you, why should he make the effort to find 
> a way into your Qubes machine to get the hardware info? If it is an attack 
> which you're not the specific target, there are easier options, like 
> hacking your router or maybe one of your "smart" home devices.
>
> I know it's not easy to acquire info about someone's computer from the 
>> internet, and if the computer's running Qubes I would imagine it's harder, 
>> but I think it can be done (definitely Mac address but possibly more info).
>>
>
> Yes. Using Qubes will increase your security to a reasonable secure level 
> (if you use it correctly).
>
> [799]
>

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Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-16 Thread 799
O K  schrieb am Fr., 16. Aug. 2019, 18:17:

> Well I'm not as concerned about people monitoring/intercepting the content
> of my communications, just about identifying information about the hardware
> of my computer being accessible.
>

Why? If someone can't identify you, why should he make the effort to find a
way into your Qubes machine to get the hardware info? If it is an attack
which you're not the specific target, there are easier options, like
hacking your router or maybe one of your "smart" home devices.

I know it's not easy to acquire info about someone's computer from the
> internet, and if the computer's running Qubes I would imagine it's harder,
> but I think it can be done (definitely Mac address but possibly more info).
>

Yes. Using Qubes will increase your security to a reasonable secure level
(if you use it correctly).

[799]

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Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-16 Thread O K
Well I'm not as concerned about people monitoring/intercepting the content 
of my communications, just about identifying information about the hardware 
of my computer being accessible.  I know it's not easy to acquire info 
about someone's computer from the internet, and if the computer's running 
Qubes I would imagine it's harder, but I think it can be done (definitely 
Mac address but possibly more info).

On Friday, August 16, 2019 at 11:57:19 AM UTC-4, 799 wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 16 Aug 2019 at 16:52, O K > wrote:
> > Which qube is most secure when it comes to keeping any identifying info 
> about my computer
> > invisible from anyone on the internet (or if not completely, which qube 
> does this the best)?  Thanks.
>  
> I would say that the safest way to assume, that there is no invisibility.
> But using a Whonix DVM -> whonix-dvm-ws-14-dvm will likely be a good 
> option.
> You might want to learn about this here:
> https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Qubes/DisposableVM
>
> Addtionally you might want to ask yourself: What are the threads your 
> protecting against?
> And then try to figure out what is the weakest part in your setup.
>
> [799]
>
>

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Re: [qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-16 Thread 799
On Fri, 16 Aug 2019 at 16:52, O K  wrote:
> Which qube is most secure when it comes to keeping any identifying info
about my computer
> invisible from anyone on the internet (or if not completely, which qube
does this the best)?  Thanks.

I would say that the safest way to assume, that there is no invisibility.
But using a Whonix DVM -> whonix-dvm-ws-14-dvm will likely be a good option.
You might want to learn about this here:
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Qubes/DisposableVM

Addtionally you might want to ask yourself: What are the threads your
protecting against?
And then try to figure out what is the weakest part in your setup.

[799]

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[qubes-users] Which qube is most secure for internet use?

2019-08-16 Thread O K
Which qube is most secure when it comes to keeping any identifying info 
about my computer invisible from anyone on the internet (or if not 
completely, which qube does this the best)?  Thanks.

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