Silk Road forums

Discussion => Newbie discussion => Topic started by: Moloko on June 16, 2013, 12:25 pm

Title: Absolute Newb
Post by: Moloko on June 16, 2013, 12:25 pm
Firstly thanks/apologies if this is a lame question :)

Ok so PGP is a fundamental must have pretty much as is Tails, there's also running TOR from a USB and a host of other configurations.
I'm going to give myself a long time to get properly acquainted with best practices on SR but would like to find the best route to do so. Should I simply scour the various topics until the bigger picture comes into view or is there specific links I may utilize to better and faster learn necessary rudiments and methods?

Much respect Namaste,

M
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: DonnieD4rko on June 16, 2013, 12:28 pm
A random suggestion to ramp up my post number:

I'd suggest to encrypt your USB stick with TrueCrypt - with a hidden partition in case you live in a country where LE can force you to give up your password...
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: DonnieD4rko on June 16, 2013, 12:31 pm
Of course this mostly applies for vendors - LE usually doesn't care how much you bought and consumed in the past (depends on your jurisdiction of course - and this is a worst case scenario for a user now; LE usually cares about distribution... then again you might live in the USA :-))... as a user you should be more concerned about concealing the product in your home - if you want to be concerned at all. :-)
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: Moloko on June 16, 2013, 12:56 pm
Many thanks D,

where does one find Truecrypt and is there a link you could recommend for getting started? Probably interested in all aspects of SR  ;)

Cheers,

Moloko
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: DonnieD4rko on June 16, 2013, 01:39 pm
http://www.truecrypt.org/ ... but you really should have found that one yourself. :P
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tree on June 16, 2013, 01:55 pm
http://www.truecrypt.org/ ... but you really should have found that one yourself. :P
Lol yeah, +1 for still giving him the link.

FYI, you don't need to run TAILS on an encrypted USB drive, it doesn't make any sense since no data is saved. For the casual user though, using the tor browser bundle on your regular OS is safe enough. It's good to put SR related files on a hidden volume though, like gpg4usb that should have all your vendor keys and stuff like that. Hiding torbrowser in tself isn't very important though IMO, unless you have bookmarks on it. Keep a copy of torbrowser on a non encrypted drive for plausible deniability.
I'd also suggest doing a full disk encryption if you don't use a live USB like TAILS. The safest way though is whonix, with whonix you can safely open PDFs, view flash videos, run java applets and things like that without compromising your anonymity.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: ducksfan on June 16, 2013, 06:22 pm
I am completely new to SR, also.

May I ask one quick question, please? What does your sig mean?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tree on June 16, 2013, 06:26 pm
I am completely new to SR, also.

May I ask one quick question, please? What does your sig mean?

Thanks.
A sig is a signature. The message displayed under a member's post. I don't have one for example, but verdant world does.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: DrNo13 on June 16, 2013, 06:30 pm
Signature is the line below your post. Edit in ur profile
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: ducksfan on June 16, 2013, 06:32 pm
Thanks, guys. I know what a sig is. I was asking what it meant by "My public key ..." Sorry for the confusion.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tree on June 16, 2013, 06:38 pm
Thanks, guys. I know what a sig is. I was asking what it meant by "My public key ..." Sorry for the confusion.
Well a public key is the key used to encrypt messages with PGP. To encrypt a message to Bob you use Bob's public key, only Bob can decrypt that message because it's decrypted with a different key (obviously). If you don't know about PGP then you won't understand that.

The link in his sig links to a post containing his public key.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: ChemCat on June 16, 2013, 06:41 pm
once ya get yur PGP client set up you will creat a "Public Key" which you will then use to pass to your friends to safetly
communicate with them.
Also you will need to copy any of your vendors "Public Key" so that you can encrypt your personal information when placing and order.

Hope this helps ya :)

Peace & Hugs,

ChemCat  O0
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: ChemCat on June 16, 2013, 06:42 pm
+1 to ya tree  :)

Hugs,

ChemCat  O0
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: ducksfan on June 16, 2013, 06:44 pm
Thank you! I am in the process of reading up on PGP.
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tallcadre on June 16, 2013, 08:13 pm
Does Tails only work on Windows operating systems?
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tree on June 16, 2013, 09:23 pm
TAILS is an operating system itself, it's a live USB/CD, an OS you boot from a flash drive (or DVD).
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: tallcadre on June 16, 2013, 09:38 pm
Ah, that clears a lot up - thank you!
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: Moloko on June 17, 2013, 09:52 am
Tree, Chemcat, DRno13 and Donnied4rko its appreciated. Im gonna have to quarantine some time to learn.


Peace

M
Title: Re: Absolute Newb
Post by: BajoZero on June 17, 2013, 10:08 am
It just warms my heart to see Newbies using this discussion to learn about SR and security.  ;) In all seriousness, good job Moloko, actually using the forums as a tool instead of using them as a garbage can.  The new members who have contributed to  this thread are the kind whom I like to see becoming part of the SR community.