They’re Watching You (3#3)

Previously Posted – Part 1 Article – Browser Protection Previously Posted – Part 2 Article – More Add-Ons for Firefox In one of my previous lives, all the mobile devices were heavily re-engineered prior to being used – now this may seem to be slightly “over the top”, but believe me a laptop, PC or other mobile device can be remotely activated and controlled without you realising it; it is very easy to do and was mentioned by Snowden ! Follow these steps to ensure that it’s not possible for you to be spied upon and listened to – Physically Remove your Laptops Internal Wi-Fi card – buy an external USB WiFi card and use that when you need to – remove it when you don’t need Wi-Fi. Cover Your Laptop Webcam – Not being paranoid, but the Snowden revelations (and others) have shown that there are many operations secretly recording webcam feeds – yours could be one of them. Physically Remove your Laptops Internal MICROPHONE – If you don’t ever use it, you may as well get rid of it use a plug in headset when you need one. Turn OFF Your Computer When Not in Use – Not using your computer, turn it off completely (and remove that new external WiFi card),  you can guarantee no apps will secretly be “phoning home.” Encrypt Important FILES – If your laptop is ever lost, compromised or stolen, your files will remain un-readable – but be careful how and where you store your encryption keys – never keep them on the same device. Same goes for sending important files over the Internet – send them as encrypted files. Encrypt Your Hard Drive – “Full Disk” encryption for your computer – if you’re not a “techie” pay for a CESG or other Gov. approved version – don’t use “free” for the obvious reasons Learn About PGP/GPG for Email and Use it – PGP (pretty good privacy) for email allows you to send and receive encrypted emails. You need to generate your own public key signature and share it with your friends. the recipient will also need PGP and a set of keys to be able to access your email. (A Guide for PGP encryption – to follow soon)