Andrew Reitemeyer of the Pirate Party has kindly provided us with the following guide to cybersecurity.
I am assuming everyone has current antivirus software if not go immediately to https://www.avira.com/ – do not pass go!
Passwords: Use a pass phrase it is easier to remember and can be constructed in a way that is not easy to guess example: I got 25% Off my Shuz that makes $4 & sicks cents You can keep your passwords in a booklet (burglars are not usually after your passwords) or even better a password manager and keep an encrypted copy somewhere safe http://keepass.com/ Never keep your passwords unencrypted on your computer.
Erasing data The waste paper basket does not delete files it just releases the disk space to it can be reused. Any competent hacker can find those files. Two free programs that can overwrite files many times so they are not recoverable http://sourceforge.net/projects/eraser/ you can chose to overwrite individual files http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner you can overwrite all free disk space
Tracking is mostly done using cookies.
Turning cookies off manually tends to break a lot of websites http://www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/clear-cookies-installed.html better is to use anti-tracking programs that are browser add-ons
Privacy Badger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger
Ghostery https://www.ghostery.com/ Can prevent pernicious tracking by “image fingerprinting” which is used by Auckland University and Whaleoil
Disconnect https://disconnect.me/disconnect
Search To avoid tracking and search bubbles using Google brings with it. Use https://duckduckgo.com/
Software Prefer opensource software where possible. Prefer software from non Five Eyes countries and major intelligence powers.
Encrypting Files Best is to have a hidden disk partition but for individual files browser addons like Firecrypt Cryptdata To encrypt drives, external drives and flash drives DiskCryptor for Windows http://sourceforge.net/projects/diskcryptor/
TOR (The Onion Router)
“The dark net” – allows you to browse the net without someone watching where you are going and prevents the site you are visiting from knowing where you are located – it is slower than normal browsing. Denizens of the deep net use TOR but that is not what it was created for. The US government funded its development to allow activists to use the internet in safety. https://www.torproject.org/
VPN (Virtual Private Network) Paid for service that allows you to access the internet from a remote location – usually in another country. It is also secure, so no one can easily see the traffic between you and the remote location.
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) This allows you to send emails that are encrypted as long as the recipient and you have shared encryption keys. It is not easy to use but makes it very hard to decrypt and read your mails. It uses a public key which is available on the internet and a private key which is kept secret. https://www.enigmail.net/home/index.php https://www.mailvelope.com/