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Thread: Internet Security - Some Guidelines :)

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    Default Internet Security - Some Guidelines :)

    HI All,
    I thought I would right a post concerning internet security. Although I do not confess to being an expert cannabis grower, I do know a fair bit about network security, for security reasons I am not going to say how 

    There are some really good articles on general security in this forum that everyone should read, I have included a link below, as its good, sound practical advice. And unless you are a medical grower or are growing legally, security should always be your first thought. I am ex-military, and the one thing that teaches you is that the security of you, and those closest to you, is the first thought, and never an afterthought.

    https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...Novice-Growers

    This post thou is regarding internet security and how to stay anonymous on the internet, yet still be able to access places like this forum securely. Although I am posting this here, these rules are general to the whole internet, and should be used for anything you do online.

    The first thing to discuss is this forum, if you are posting here, or maybe just viewing posts, or have a grow diary here, then that is potentially incriminating evidence. Before even registering on this forum, I checked out a few things, like where the server that hosts this forum is located, and gladly I did not have much joy . I am not a moderator, or affiliated in the running of this forum in anyway, and was really glad to see that the frontline security of this forum is protected by a proxy. What this means in plain English, is that for the police to obtain information from this forum, they would first have to petition the company that hosts this proxy, just to find out where the actual server is located. A proxy server is basically just a “man in the middle”, it sits and passes certain traffic from one place to another, but in security terms it means the law have to then get warrants for at least two places, rather than one. I do not know where this forum is located, which is a good thing, I would hope it is located in a country that has very good protection of privacy laws thou.

    The next thing to discuss is your username and e-mail that you use to register, you should never use a username that could be identified with the real you, personally I wouldn’t even use a nickname that you have in real life. Now onto e-mail addresses, everyone should have at least 2 e-mail addresses, I have numerous e-mail addresses, and probably have at least 20 I have forgotten. But 2 e-mail addresses is the least you should have, you should have one that is the real you, ie [email protected], and another that can’t be identified with you ie [email protected]. The first e-mail address you should only ever use for real life official stuff, and the 2nd e-mail address should be used for everything else that isn’t official, and should be cloud based, like Gmail or Yahoo, this way nothing is stored on your local machine. Two e-mail addresses also helps with spam, as you will find that if you use the 2nd e-mail address for most stuff, most the spam will go to that account. TBC


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    This leads neatly onto passwords, these are a favourite of mine, as believe me I have seen it all when it comes to passwords. Firstly you should have different passwords for both e-mail accounts, never use the same password, if someone hacks one account, they then have the password for your second account. Always pick a password that isn’t a word in the dictionary, isn’t a pets name, isn’t one of your children’s names or spouses, or partners name, or anything that anyone may be able to guess. My advice would be to just pick an obscure word that you will remember, for explanation purposes I will pick the word cannabis, now yes this is in the dictionary, so you need to make it so it isn’t, so I like to change numbers for letters, so I would use Cannab15. I would then add a symbol, to make it more secure and end up with something like Cannab15%. This is an example thou, please don’t use this password, but I am just giving you an idea on how to formulate a secure password.

    The above are for general internet security, and not just this forum, but my next few points will be in reference to this forum, and some of them I am afraid it will be like teaching you to suck eggs. My first one should be common sense, never post anything that can identify you or anyone you know. I do not see this is on this forum, and I am sure the mods would let you know if you done it by mistake, or would delete the post. This forum has some brilliant mods, I am not just bigging them up, but having read a lot of posts you can tell that they keep a water tight ship. My next thought would be posting pictures, Bud Lightyear wrote a brilliant article on uploading pictures, and the method he uses is the most secure way to upload pictures as the files are stored on the THCTalk servers, and as explained before this is secure, I have added a link to the thread below. This method of upload also strips the file of any GPS meta data, your phone may have added. You can use other photo hosting sites and post links, but again make sure you use that 2nd e-mail account and username to register those accounts. Always remember the less places those files are kept, the better.

    https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...loading-Photos

    My next point is going to be Tapatalk, for those you who have not used it, it is an application for your smart phone that allows you to keep up to date, and post on forums you are a member of. From a security aspect I have to say that I am not keen on Tapatalk, even thou I do use it, I use it very sparingly, I personally would only use it to post, but I would never use it to upload pictures to forums. As I have said above the less places information is stored, the less chance of it getting into the wrong hands. If you upload photo’s via Tapatalk its one more place that has a copy of that data. TBC

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    This leads on to a general point about smartphones and tablets/computers/laptops, if you use these to take plant pictures that you post, it is always best to delete those pictures from your device once uploaded. If you have your device set to upload automatically to a hosting site, like Dropbox, make sure you delete them from there as well. If you are ever unfortunate enough to get the knock, the second thing the police will seize after your plants and growing kit, will be laptops, phones and computers, so make sure nothing is on those devices that they could use against you. My advice is if you want to keep a personal diary, just keep it here, record all information of your grow on the forum and delete it from everywhere else.
    My last point is going to be reference the use of a VPN, a VPN is another form of proxy. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, basically provides an encrypted tunnel and allows anonymous internet access. This is probably the best way to access the internet anonymously, the tunnel will stop even your internet service provider, or cell phone provider, knowing what you ae doing on the internet. I use a VPN that uses 256bit encryption, and is hosted in a country with privacy laws which mean they are not legally allowed to hold records on people’s internet access. You generally have to pay for a good VPN, mine costs about £50 a year, but to be honest, I am more than happy to pay that for the peace of mind it gives me. If you do not have the money to pay out for a VPN, then maybe look into a piece of software called the Tor Project, as this is probably the next best thing to a VPN. If you google Tor Project, there is plenty of good info out there.

    The above is not exhaustive, and I am sure there are more points people can add, but for me the above are the basics, I hope someone finds them helpful 

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jesse Pinkman View Post
    Nice info mate
    Cheers Jesse, hopefully someone will find it useful, I know it is common sense to most of us, but if you have no experience I thought it may help, or at least point you in the right direction

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    Good advice
    It's Not What You Know, It's What You Can Prove

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    Quote Originally Posted by M_C View Post
    Good advice
    Thanks M_C, I just thought I could pass on some information rather than just asking questions all the time lol

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    Hello Judd.

    Here is something I think you'd like to expand on and that is removing the exif data from pictures. I don't want to go too much into detail into this today, as I'm full of flu.. But if you need me to I'll write up some more information on the matter. Here is a little snippet I've found online, and should help people understand the basics of exif data.

    EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File, a format that is a standard for storing interchange information in digital photography image files using JPEG compression. Almost all new digital cameras use the EXIF annotation, storing information on the image such as shutter speed, exposure compensation, F number, what metering system was used, if a flash was used, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, whitebalance, auxiliary lenses that were used and resolution. Some images may even store GPS information so you can easily see where the images were taken!

    ~Sy
    My Wonderful world of mystery —> https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-for...rld-of-mystery


    If I or anyone else has answered your question in the growing questions and answers section please mark it as "Answered". It helps keep the forum tidy!

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    Quote Originally Posted by SyRaX View Post
    Hello Judd.

    Here is something I think you'd like to expand on and that is removing the exif data from pictures. I don't want to go too much into detail into this today, as I'm full of flu.. But if you need me to I'll write up some more information on the matter. Here is a little snippet I've found online, and should help people understand the basics of exif data.

    EXIF is short for Exchangeable Image File, a format that is a standard for storing interchange information in digital photography image files using JPEG compression. Almost all new digital cameras use the EXIF annotation, storing information on the image such as shutter speed, exposure compensation, F number, what metering system was used, if a flash was used, ISO number, date and time the image was taken, whitebalance, auxiliary lenses that were used and resolution. Some images may even store GPS information so you can easily see where the images were taken!

    ~Sy
    Anything you add Sy would be a bonus, I only really covered what I see as the basics above. But any extra tips and tricks for people is a bonus, maybe this would make a good sticky

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