Friday, August 5, 2016

Linux Security Tools


As we move finally into the new century, it becomes less and less clear who the enemy is. Is it the NSA as so many think, or is it the FBI, the DEA and local law enforcement as I believe? The IRS or the Franchise Tax Board? Does it matter? Well yes, I think it does matter but that may be above our collective heads.

After all, we, the citizens are not organized, can not defend ourselves, and for the most are, in my humble opinion, too stupid to understand the issues even though they are right before our tightly shut eyes. Like happy sheep, shorn for the benefit of the rich, we bleet our way through our pathetic lives on the way to the butcher. One last time through the scissors our happy middle class says as the harvest of their pathetic wealth, valuable only in aggregate, is extracted by our ruling classes. They only have our interests at heart we can be sure.

But there are tools which may be of use to the dissident, the criminal, or merely the consumer who does not want to share their pathetic lower middle class peccadilloes with our nosy neighbors. These tools provide a certain level of security to the computer user as long as some guidelines are followed, and these guidelines include (a) great diligence and attention to detail is required to use these tools successfully, (b) these tools and the details change constantly and it is up to you to not be complacent and stay up to date, and (c) any security can be penetrated if the adversary wants to enough, although different costs are imposed for different levels of security.

But with that in mind, here is a list of Linux security tools and guides as provided indirectly through www.cryptome.org and submitted for your consideration.


If you read to the end, you will find links to security guides for Windows and Android as well.

You Max OS X and IOS users are on your own.

Here is a quote in case the references post goes away, although Cryptome.org has been very good about such things.

Security in-a-Box is a joint project of Tactical Tech and Front Line Defenders which provides practical help and information on digital security, published in 17 languages and reaching over 2 million people every year.

The six new Linux tool guides offer in-depth step-by-step help in installing and running six of the most essential open-source digital security tools, including the Tor Browser, Thunderbird with Enigmail for encrypted email and the Firefox browser with privacy Add-ons:

- Tor Browser for online anonymity & censorship circumvention:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/torbrowser/linux

- Thunderbird, Enigmail and OpenPGP for secure emails:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/thunderbird/linux

- VeraCrypt for secure file storage:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/veracrypt/linux

- Jitsi and OTR for encrypted instant messaging and VoIP calls:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/jitsi/linux

- Firefox add-ons for secure browsing:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/firefox/linux

- KeePassX for secure passwords:
https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepassx/linux

The new guides add to our existing 25 tool guides for Windows, Android and social media, as well as 11 in-depth tactics covering all aspects of digital security.

Remember, none of these are a panacea. Real security requires constant vigilance.

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New word note: “aggregrate” for “aggregate”.

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