Staying Anonymous Online

As a person who actively uses the internet, it is hard to be sure that you are secure online. The entire possibility of being anonymous has even been a constant debate because of logging in traffic rerouting methods, encrypted messaging, and even financial transactions.

Many methods of rerouting traffic have been well used for years and have proven to help you stay secure, but there still could be loopholes around them. Firstly, one of the most common methods of staying anonymous is using a VPN (virtual private network). VPN’s work by rerouting and encrypting your traffic through a server and then redirecting it to wherever it needs to go. By doing this your IP (internet protocol) address can stay hidden and the VPN’s IP will be revealed. This is used by all kinds of people doing things such as blocking their ISP from seeing their traffic or just wanting a feeling of security and then no one is watching them.The problem with many VPN’s is that there is the possibility of them logging your information and all the traffic that runs through their servers. This is especially a problem with free VPN’s which are known for this. There are many VPN providers which have been known to be safe for years and years but no one can ever be sure if they are safe forever. The NSA has said though that VPN’s are one of the hardest things for them to get by.

A proxy on the other hand just changes your IP to the proxy server, but it does not encrypt your traffic. Essentially it’s just a block in the middle of your request and the server the request is going to. This is helpful for unblocking websites but will not keep your anonymous unless you have a VPN to go with it or another form of rerouting and encrypting traffic.

A problem that can reveal your information is DNS leaks. A DNS (domain name system) looks up the IP that matches the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a site you are visiting. This is what occurs when you go to a website. The URL is sent to the DNS server and it finds the IP to send you to. The problem with this is that some VPN’s or proxies are that the DNS request can be sent outside of the encryption and to the ISP which completely ruins the purpose of what you were doing to stop it. Many VPN’s do provide DNS leak protection which means all of the traffic including DNS goes through the encrypted tunnel. This is still something to look out for with all VPN’s.

Along with VPN’s and proxies, mixnets are a rising theory and is being put into action. Mixnets rearrange the order of requests through multiple servers before releasing them back out. If 3 people send requests in the order ABC then they will go to another server in an order such as CAB and then on to another server in another order and eventually back to wherever the request needed to go. If someone were to try and track the point of origin of the request it would be hard to tell which is which. The problem with many mixnets running off of onion is that someone can infiltrate the network and enter their own code. They could even replace received messages with their own and track it down to the final layer when the encryption is removed.

Another rerouting method is TOR (The Onion Router). It’s a worldwide network of computers and servers. It’s run off of volunteer computers of normal people alike. Tor helps to keep you anonymous by rerouting your traffic through many different servers all around the world. It also encrypts the data with multiple layers and then unwraps it one layer at a time until the last server is able to see the data. This is also how the “deep web” is generally accessed as the websites running through TOR cannot be accessed on a normal web browser. While this is great, if an exit node is ever somehow exploited, then all your information will be revealed. It’s recommended to use a VPN along with TOR to be safe.

Riffle is a new mixnet that is based on TOR. It has all the same capabilities of TOR but it has some advantages. The main difference is verifiable shuffle. Because it runs off of onion encryption, a layer is removed every time but with verifiable shuffle it allows the server to check if the request is real and not tampered with by a mathematical proof. Riffle requires checking against copies of the messages the server received. Also, when a request is sent to riffle it isn’t just sent to one server but all of the servers at the same time. This allows the servers to check if the request is tampered with by comparing the data. Although this is a great method it slows down the riffle network greatly. To combat this riffle also uses authentication encryption. Authentication encryption is able to decide if a request or message is real or tampered with too. It’s much faster but requires that the sender and receiver share a private key. Verifiable shuffle is only to setup a secure connection with the sender and the server that agree upon a key. In all mixnets though, if one server in the mixnet is left uncompromised, then it is cryptographically secure.

Along with rerouting traffic, people have been using many methods of encrypting and hiding emails and messages so they cannot be read. Like most people, many people do not want others reading their messages, even if they’re just normal messages to family.

An example of how people’s messages can be exposed is using a normal email account such as Gmail. Google has all of your emails and can send out logs to whoever needs it. To combat this, people use what are called burner emails. Burner emails allow you to make a new email for a specific service that requires one or just to contact certain people. These emails are also known as disposable emails. Many burner emails don’t even require registration or a lifelong account that can’t be traced. An example is proton mail which is a burner email service that encrypts all messages from the beginning to the end. This makes the message nearly impossible to read. A service such as telegram will also allow you to have private conversations much like texting. All the messages are encrypted so only the sender and receiver can read the message. The messages can even be set to self-destruct. Media such as photos and videos can even be sent.

Tails OS is another way to keep your messages private by default. Tails is a complete operating system that is made for anonymity. All traffic that goes through tails automatically goes through the TOR network. All messages, emails, and files are encrypted by default. No trace of tails is even left on the computer. Whonix operating system is like Tails but also makes ip leaks nearly impossible. It can also be run on a virtual machine.

Money is generally easy to track down with all of the credit cards and banking, but there are many methods of exchanging money anonymously now. This is helpful to keep your transactions private and not be as prone to hacking.

The first example of staying anonymous with money is cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are virtual currencies with real value that run off a “blockchain” where every transaction is tracked and verified. From a normal person perspective, it’s impossible to see who is behind a cryptocurrency address but everything you send and receive and when can be tracked and your information can be found from online wallet sites if you don’t use a VPN. To avoid this, people use wallets that change your address after transactions so it’s harder to track down movement. A bitcoin mixing service can also be used to mix your coins with others and then get it sent back to you to make it harder to track.

While buying bitcoin, it can be hard to stay anonymous there too. Buying it online generally requires ID verification or credit card information. To avoid this you can buy it with cash or even gift cards through sites like local bitcoin and bitquick. Local bitcoin links you with people in your area who are looking to buy or sell cryptocurrencies, or even around the world if you can trade with online methods. Bitquick allows you to go to a bank and deposit money and get bitcoin in return.

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