[OPSEC/Computer] what is the safest computer for deep web browsing

so like the title says, whats the safest computer for deep web browsing. iv heard that windows is unsafe and it would be a better idea to use something such as linux to do darkweb transactions. but what makes windows unsafe? also what makes linux safer than windows?


Comments


[10 Points] Yourconscious69:

Windows leaves a lot of data and foot steps about everything you do in small crevices of your computer that can be found. Best setup is just a shitty cheap laptop from the pawnshop or from wal-mart's refurbished website (aka just any cheap $100 laptop) and pull the hard drive out of it so nothing can ever really be saved. Then buy a 8gb flash drive and install Tails OS system on it. When you boot the computer up make sure to boot it through your flash drive. Tails forces all internet activity through Tor so its much less likely to have any IP leaks. Also it leaves zero traces of anything you do. So basically every time you turn your computer off and back on its as if you are starting up a brand new computer straight from the box.


[8 Points] sapiophile:

Any cheap machine you buy with cash - seriously. It doesn't need to be a speed demon; not by any stretch. Make yourself a Tails disc or flash drive, read the warnings, remove the computer's hard drive(s), boot Tails, and boom - you've got the same security that kept Edward Snowden alive. EDIT: Just make sure you keep it up to date - check the site regularly, and whenever there's a security update, stop using the old version immediately and update. As for the computer, watch what kind of wireless card it has, some aren't very compatible with Tails or other GNU/Linux systems. Try to get a machine with an Atheros or Intel wireless card, and check this list for other potentially problematic hardware. Also, NVIDIA video cards may be a problem; try to avoid those as well if you have a choice.

You probably don't want to use a Apple/Mac, because they have trouble booting Tails sometimes, and besides, they have their own weird, proprietary hardware that's more likely to have backdoors or other unsavory aspects.

As for what makes Linux safer than Windows, it's a lot of things. For one thing, consider this - Microsoft (who makes Windows) is a U.S.-based company, and is subject to U.S. law. That means that the U.S. Government can compel Microsoft to put "back doors" into Windows, and they almost certainly have been doing this for nearly twenty years. Windows is a set of "closed-source" programs - that means that the actual way it works, and what it does, is completely secret - we just have to take Microsoft at their word that it isn't doing anything malicious.

GNU/Linux systems like Tails, on the other hand, are completely and 100% "open source" - this means that anyone can examine the code that makes up the system and see exactly what it's doing and how it works - and anyone is also welcome to modify or improve it and submit those changes to the project, or even just release them on their own. In fact, a huge part of most GNU/Linux systems like Tails are actually just created by regular individual users and developers, working together (often as unpaid volunteers) to develop the system as a collaborative community project. But that isn't just a good thing for the warm fuzzies it makes you feel - it also means that for high-profile, high-security software like Tails, there are literally hundreds or even thousands of programmers looking over different parts of the code constantly, and any time they find a weakness, bug, or flaw, they can report it to the project or even write a patch to fix it themselves and share it. This means that these systems tend to get a lot more of certain kinds of scrutiny than closed source systems like Windows, and that generally results in them being much more secure.

And there's more, too, in how the GNU/Linux system is designed and laid out, and the way that certain techniques are used in the system, that offer more specific, direct benefits to security (things like AppArmor as used in Tails, the way that some daemons drop privileges after launching, the way the firewall is designed and implemented, and many, many other methods) which are too in-depth to go into, here. But rest assured, when used properly, it's (almost always) a much, much better system to use for this kind of thing than Windows is.

TL;DR: Use Tails. Check out https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarketsNoobs


[7 Points] veins_be_poppin:

someone elses computer! Genius


[2 Points] BrodhiRoundhouseKick:

I use Windows 2.1 on a x286 Gateway via 56k dialup. It's got a turbo button on it!!


[1 Points] TheBuffDuck:

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[0 Points] IGetDankShit:

The main thing to keep in mind is how obscure your operating system is along with the hardware encryption on the device itself. A lot of people recommend linux because less people use it so there is less incentive to develop hacks for it, so therefore less risk to the users. Windows is just like the name suggests - a window into your computer. The best OPSEC advice I've seen is to use a device that the police don't support anymore. Every year LE upgrades their systems to work with the latest technologies and this sometimes leaves older technologies unsupported by LE tracking software. It's pretty well known that one of the easiest ways to beat the NSA is by using older phones, the types that existed before the smartphone era. I browse the darkweb on my Motorola Razr and even if the cops confiscated my device I am confident that they would not be able to ascertain what I was doing on there. Be careful even with linux because it's getting more popular lately and therefore LE is more likely to have spying software developed for it, although I haven't heard any confirmed reports that they have anything solid yet.