Mr. Rawles:
Have you all heard about this?  Yesterday I received a 2012 National Agricultural Classification Survey [from the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service] in the mail.  They ask 25 nosey questions about how many of each animal we have on our farm i.e. cows, chickens, beehives, turkeys, sheep, goats, horses etc., how much we spend in our "operation" every year, and how much we plan to make this year.  They also ask if we have internet access, how many "operators" are involved in the decision making of our "operation" how many acres we have, how many are pasture land or wooded, do we have greenhouse plants, grain storage and how many animals do we sell each year....and on and on. 
 
We are told on the first page of the survey that it is required by law to fill out this form, or we will get a phone call or someone will show up at our door (to count our animals themselves?)  This is ridiculous, and I believe it goes against our Constitutional rights.  
 
My family does not want to send our survey in, as we are not at all interested in allowing the government have this information which they have no right to know.  We only own 10 acres with a few sheep and goats, yet they classify us as a farmstead "operation" and instruct us to fill out the form if we so much as own one animal.  Without a doubt, the USDA is not going to use this information for our good. Either they are going to start taxing for each animal we own to keep us from being able to afford a self-sufficient lifestyle, or they are going to keep track of what we have so that they can take it from us and somehow make us dependent on them.  They have no right to know how prepared we are to support ourselves.   

I think we ought to get this information to anyone who has animals and receives one of these forms. If enough of us refuse to fill out this form it will be a very good thing. 

Thank you so much for what you are doing with Survival Blog. I am a daily reader. - Lydia B. (Age 16)

JWR Replies: The survey's cover letter is cleverly worded, to conceal the fact that sending in the form is actually voluntary. Just say no to drugs. And just say no to nosey surveys. They are only useful as kindling and bird cage lining.

Dear Mr. Rawles,
I was reading back in the archives on the DVD I purchased and found a lot of discussion regarding communications security.  I played with a form of Digital Voice, image and file transfer for HF which could link a number of retreats together with voice, pictures and digital files with a method which in my thinking would be very, very secure.  Have you ever looked at AOR USA's digital voice, image, and data modems using analog HF, VHF, or UHF SSB?

A friend of mine here in my state purchased one and we ran a lot of tests under some of the worst summer conditions you could imagine and most of the time had very dependable, quiet static-free FM like communications on voice and I even transferred some photos from my daughter's camera which he was able to read even the name of the company on a drink cup at a birthday party.  My reason for this is that 99% of other hams and even FCC can't use this mode yet.  It only requires a special modem connected to your microphone input on your transceiver of choice, cut down the power to about half power, hook the microphone to the other end of the modem apply 10-16 volts (6 volts with jumper setting internally on the modem) and voila!, you are in business if the station you desire to communicate with on the other end has the same modem hooked to their radio.  The modem is automatic and normal operation is passed through on analog but when a digital signal is detected it switches to receiving in the digital mode. - Jack M.

James Wesley:
We have opened up Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center in Kamiah, Idaho. (I consider Kamiah the unofficial capital of the American Redoubt).  Part of our services are private mailbox rental.  As a long time SurvivalBlog reader and contributor (you've seen my posts under the bylines B.H. in Spokane, Western Washington and North Central Idaho) I am quite familiar with the need for OPSEC and the desire for some individuals to begin to establish ties to the American Redoubt.
 
We are offering 5” x 12” mail box rentals for $10 per month.  A 12-month pre-paid rental gets you three free months.  We also provide mail forwarding services through USPS,  FedEx, or UPS.  Mail forwarding is $5.00 per occurrence plus shipping or postage.
 
From now till the end of 2011, for every 12 month rental we will make a donation to the Memsahib Memorial Fund of $10. 

Anyone interested can send e-mail to the address below.

Kamiah Copy & Shipping Center
505 4th Street
Kamiah, Idaho 83536
phone: 208-935-7500
FAX: 866-453-6781
E-mail: kamiahcopy@gmail.com

Thank you, - Brendon Hill

Information is what makes the World go around, or at least it seems that way at times. Any Government  organization, blog or web site worth a grain of salt will suggest that you keep copies of important documents such as Birth Certificates, Drivers License,  Bank Account Information, List of Medications etc. in your emergency kit. It  is also suggested for people that are going on trips that they have this information available as they travel just in case wallets or purses are lost or stolen. If your wallet or purse is lost or stolen it is going to be to your advantage to have the information available to lock out your credit card and checking accounts quickly.

My wife and I are going on a cruise later this year and I have been looking for a way to have that information available, close at hand but not visible, and yet as secure as I can make it. After all, with identity theft what it is today, you sure don't want to take a chance of all that information falling into the wrong hands.

The first thing I wanted to do was find a way of keeping a USB drive, flash-drive, thumb drive, or whatever you choose to call it on my person but be discreet about it. I went on eBay and did a search on "flash drives" and wow!  There are a multitude of drives that don't look like drives at all. There are USB drives that look like soda can key chains, transformer toys, broaches, jewelry, Legos, etc...etc... and they are cheap. You can also get the Gold Standard of  secure USB drives made by Ironkey, if you can afford that. For my purposes I wanted something that looks like it can be worn with casual clothing and not be to dressy or flashy. After all I am seeking to be discreet and I don't want something that screams “Look at Me!” I sure don't want anything that stands out enough to make me a good candidate for a mugging while on vacation.

There are many programs available both free and for purchase that will encrypt your data, your USB, or both.

There are USBs that come with Password protection built in, such as the 1GB Cruzer Micro U3 Smart USB 2.0 Flash Drive but, with  these you will lose the “hidden in plain sight” factor but you may gain in the ease of use category. You can find many Secure USBs by many different companies by doing a web search for “Secure USB”

I would also suggest you do a web search on “securing USBs” and see what the real experts have to say on the topic. Several of the articles I read by security experts said they actually prefer buying the cheap USBs and then using their favorite encryption programs.

I chose two different styles of shall we say "camouflaged" USBs for my wife and I. For myself I chose what looks like man's bracelet with a leather band a nice looking metallic top on it. The top has enough room to have  “Dad” or maybe a name on the top to more personalize it. I suppose if you need a hint for the password for the encrypted files (more on this later) you could have a cryptic hint only you would understand engraved on the backside. For my wife I also got her a matching bracelet but she thinks that it is too big for her wrist, That's okay, I have a backup plan, I also bought a drive that looks like a
gift card/credit card. I stayed away from the cards that actually looked too much like a credit card and went with a card that has Snowy Country scene on it but no name or numbers. This card can be stored in my wife's purse or it has a slot cut in the top and it would fit nicely on one of those shoe string lanyards that you see badges attached to.

The Men's bracelet pulls apart at the top, the clasp seems to be strong and secure so I am not worried about it just coming apart and falling off under normal conditions.  The Credit/Gift Card USB has an almost invisible tab on the edge in the center of the card. To open the tab you push on the back side of the card to create a slight bend in the card and the working end of the USB folds out from the card.

To make my USBs secure I have done several things. First I put a few files on them that you might expect to see on a USB.  There is a Music folder, a Picture folder, and various otherwise useless .pdf files but, I also have included a small portable program that will open the .pdf files should I need to access any of my personal  information and for some reason the host computer does not have Adobe Reader.

The second thing I have done is to hide the encryption program, in this case “True Crypt”, inside a music folder with several albums. To me the title “True Crypt” sound like the name of a modern day band and therefore might escape initial scrutiny if found.

The Third thing I did was  encrypted each .pdf file with a different password from the one used by True Crypt to access these files. So that I can remember The passwords for each folder encrypted, the password contains the folder name plus a random password I have memorized. You not only have to open the encrypted portion of the USB (also known as a container) with a password but, to see the files you must have the password for each folder that has encrypted files within it.

Fourth I use a keyfile in addition to the password that enables access with True Crypt. You can have the correct password but if the keyfile you choose does not link to the correct file on your USB drive there is no access granted. I chose a keyfile from a folder with pictures in it. More than one keyfile can be chosen to help secure your files.  The keyfiles can be .jpg, .mp3, or many other type files. The first 1,024 bits of information in the keyfile must remain the same to be a usable keyfile so don't choose a file that will be altered in anyway if you should choose to add this extra layer of protection.

All of the programs that I have loaded on the USBs have been downloaded from www.cnet.com.
All of the programs that I have chosen to use are free. I download from CNET because they guarantee malware and virus free downloads. I know there are some programs out there that you could pay for and they might be a little easier for the more computer challenged among us but, for a free program True Crypt get high marks from both the customers and the CNET editors. None of the programs other than the encryption program are hidden on the USB. All of the other programs on the USB that facilitate either opening or viewing my files are out in the open in the first layer of info that you can see when exploring the USB.

I have a program called Open Office Portable. This is a open source program that will read and save spreadsheets, word documents, etc. whether in the Open Office format or the Windows Office format. It is capable of going back and forth between the two. The “Portable” means it is a scaled back version and made to run from the USB. When you have lost your I.D. or boarding papers you  can't afford to have documents that will get you home or help at an embassy sitting on your USB unable to opened because they don't have a program on the Host computer that would allow viewing.

This is the list of programs I keep on my USB in unprotected mode:

Open Office Portable- This program is a free alternative to Microsoft Office and it will read and save documents in either format.

SumatraPDF 1.6- This is a .pdf file reader that is small and does an excellent job of reading .pdf files without all the useless extra bells and whistles larger programs will have.

True Crypt- With True Crypt there is an option in the tools menu to set up a “Travelers Disc”. This option allows you to set aside a portion of the USB for encrypted data storage or encrypt the entire drive.  With True Crypt I can tailor the passwords for access to the folders on my wife's USB to passwords she will be able to remember and not have to depend on her remembering my particular process for choosing passwords. The section of the USB set aside for encrypted data is referred to as a container. True Crypt allows you virtually hide a second layer of encrypted information by creating a container within a container. I haven't done this but I have read about it. I am not carrying National Security secrets so I don't see any practical application for me with this option at this point.

I hope this article has been a way to get you thinking about how you can keep your important personal information with you, hidden in plain site and secure at the same time. There are many options available, and you can spend a few dollars or you can spend hundreds of dollars making your information secure. Unless you are a government agency, a spy, or are carrying around banking or corporate information, you probably won't have to worry about your information if it is encrypted and you lose the USB, after all how many people walking around out there have the knowledge, the tools, or desire to try and crack into your password protected or encrypted files. Chances are if a USB is found it will be reformatted by anyone who finds it when they come up against the security measures you have put in place to protect your USB. - C.C. in East Texas

The Onion Routing (TOR or Tor) project is one of the best ways to stay anonymous on the web. The project was initially funded by the Navy, but over a few years evolved into a non-profit organization. The goal of the TOR project is twofold: to allow for the anonymous browsing of the internet, and to allow people to connect to the .onion network.

This is a basic illustration of how it works is this. Lets say every internet site you visit is a store front in a basic town. You go in and out of stores in the daylight. People around you, who know how to look, can follow you around. They can see what you are viewing and track your movements. Navigating through Tor is like browsing the web in a dark warehouse. People can see you entering and leaving the warehouse, but what you do in there is untraceable. It is used in many nations where there is no such thing as being anonymous online, such as mainland China.

When I say untraceable I am not really telling the truth. The NSA, Chinese Government, and such have the technology. However, 99.99 percent of people should not have to worry about being tracked by them. If you are, then you have much bigger problems to worry about.

The reason that you can’t be traced is that Tor encrypts every action you make on the web. It is then sent to different routers, which each peel off a layer of the encryption (thus the onion reference). The end result is that no router knows the starting and ending path of the information, or what the information actually is. This is why the Tor system is so powerful.

So that is the first function of the Tor project. What is the other, you ask? Well, my prepping friends, let us take a journey into the under web.

I once saw a statistic that is actually pretty amazing: Only roughly three percent of the Internet is viewable by Google. Remember all those hundreds of millions of search results you get when you search for something? That’s three percent. The rest is know as the deep web or the under web. A large majority of it is boring. For example, anything that requires a password to view or edit is part of the under web. Therefore, your Facebook profile is part of the deep web. A lot of it is also corporate files and such. Much of it is really underwhelming.

There are, however, certain web sites that can only be viewable when using Tor. These are called .onion sites. These are mostly unmoderated and super anonymous pages.

Have you ever heard of those hidden online places where hackers exchange stolen personal identity date? Child porn? Hire assassins? Buy drugs? Communicate sensitive data (governments, Wikileaks, Anonymous (the Hacktivist’s), Lulzsec, et cetera)? Most of these happen on the .onion networks. That’s why the authorities can’t deal with it. Tracking down one person on the .onion network is like trying to search for Osama, much less tracking down the millions upon millions that use it. Many terrorist cells use these networks to communicate. If you want something totally illegal or want to do something totally unethical then you can find it in onionland.

So I am sure you are asking yourself, “How on Earth can this be of any use to me?” Many people use the .onion network to connect to each other. They have ultra secure email, instant messaging, and site hosting. You can create a site on the .onion, and the only people who will ever know it exists are the people you give the address to. One day the .onion, with all its flaws, may be the only way people can safely spread information. This is why China and the citizens having revolutions in MENA use the onionland. There are also many sites that have things you may find in The Anarchist's Cookbook, and other information that might be of value to preppers. [JWR Adds: Be forewarned that despite multiple editing iterations, The Anarchist's Cookbook still includes faulty directions for making nitroglycerine that are extremely dangerous, even if followed word-for-word.]

There is no greater threat to tyranny than the uncontrollable spread of information.

Now, has this intrigued you enough to start using Tor? Good! You can download all you need at the Tor project web site. How do you get access into the onion network? A good place to start is core.onion. From there you can access the hidden wiki, tor directory, and talk.masked. I am not going to tell you how to get there though, because if you can’t find it you probably shouldn’t be there.

Tips for Browsing in Onionland:
Because of the threats of viruses and other nasty things, I would suggest updating your firewall and virus scanner.
To further negate the risk of infection I would suggest downloading a Linux distribution of your choice (my favorite is Ubuntu, and you can dual-boot by downloading Wubi)
Always assume you are less secure than you really are. When in doubt, don’t click on the link.

There is a whole other world down there. It is the wild west of the internet. Even if you never go there, you should know how. One day it may be the only way of getting information in and out of this country. Regards, - N.J.

James,
I took notice of the malware warning in your blog regarding  Bitcoin and some of the suggestions to thwart it. I'd like to throw my 2 cents in and suggest your readers check out  ironkey.com Ironkey makes a thumb drive that is like no other device on the market. I just bought one and I love it. I will describe what it does and why your readers may want to consider getting one as part of their COMSEC arsenal. I purchased the 16 GB model and the cost including delivery was $228. Yes, that is expensive, but wait until I describe what it can do.

A little history on this device is in order. It was designed by U.S. Naval Intelligence and the largest purchasers of this product is the U.S. Government. I know what you're thinking, if the Government knows about it, I don't want one. The hardware and software for this device is devoid of a back door and the mathematical algorithms that trigger the cryptochip are totally random, not even Ironkey can unlock them once they are initiated. They warn you that if you forget your password you're on your own.

1.    When you insert the 2.0 USB device for the first time you'll be taken through a process to get it going. I takes about 20 minutes and that includes setting up your Ironkey account. You'll be given the option to "back-up" your data on Ironkey's servers. I chose not to exercise that option for obvious reasons. The web site has great tutorials for first time users (highly recommended)

2.    The set up process has you create a password for the device.

3.    Now the fun begins. The next time you plug it in, a menu pops up and you have to enter your password. If you enter the password wrong more than 10 times, the memory of the device will be permanently bleached (erased) and it cannot be recovered. Worried about key loggers? Key loggers are a real threat to your privacy. Hackers can actually log what keys you are using and identify all your passwords as you type. You can type in your password if you wish but I don't recommend it for that reason. There is a little icon on the start up menu and when you click on it a visual QWERTY board pops up on the computer screen. You simply "click" your password with your mouse instead. Even this method can be hacked if the hackers are really sophisticated so Ironkey answers that problem as well. Within the QWERTY board there is a command that allows the QWERTY board to be "shuffled" Basically all the letters and numbers get scrambled and will not be located where they would normally be so you can click your password in and if anyone was actually trying to decipher it they would not be able to.

4.    The entire device is water proof. It is made of steel and you can drive over it with your car or throw it against a wall and it won't damage it. The entire system is encased in a hard resin epoxy so that if you tried to break it open it would destroy the cryptochip beyond any hope of recovery. You can kind of get the picture of where this is going, this company takes privacy seriously.

5.    Here is where this thing gets really interesting. In the control panel there is an application called "identity manager" It works in a couple of different ways, and here is the first example. You click on it, then click on "add" and type in the web address where you want to go and the passwords that go along with it such as your bank accounts. Once you've done that you simply open the "identity manager" and click on that account. The system will launch the web browser, fill in your passwords and log you in all by itself so that key loggers have no chance in tracking your key strokes. The second way is to go to your web sites yourself and enter your own passwords. After you're done, you'll notice a brief pause and wonder what is going on. The system will pop up a screen and ask you if you want the "identity manager" to remember this and do you want to add it to the "identity manager"  If you say yes then you have essentially done what I described in step #1 above.

6.    So you're saying to yourself: "So what, I'm still on the net and therefore I'm still vulnerable" Well that's where you'd be wrong. You see, the Ironkey has it's own built in Mozilla Firefox web browser and this particular version has an integrated feature called "Secure Sessions" that can be toggled on and off mine is always set to the "ON" position. You can also import other applications into it such as Internet Explorer and Outlook just to name a few. During "Secure Sessions" you are invisible on the net. You don't exist at all. The signals "tunnel" through existing traffic without anyone knowing you're there and it gets even more intense than that. Let's say I'm writing you an e-mail like I'm doing right now and I'm operating in "Secure Session Mode" I can actually choose what part of the world I want to appear from. That's right! If I want my e-mail to originate from an IP address in Africa then I can do that. I can bounce it around the globe to multiple countries or continents if I choose. If I don't choose to do so, it'll randomly do it on it's own anyway. For true anonymity you do need to have an e-mail account that was not set up from your computer. Yahoo, GMail and others log the original computer that the e-mail account was first set up on. The public library or some other random computer that can't be associated with you comes to mind when doing this. [JWR Adds: I concur on the need to use tunneling. Even for those that don't opt to use Ironkey, I recommend the web-based Strong VPN tunneling service for both e-mail and web browsing.]

7.    Anything you do on the Ironkey will not leave a trace on the computer it is plugged into. Period. We don't ever want to end up on some "undesirables list" so should your computer ever fall into the wrong hands there will never be a trace of your activity on the net or any application that is on the computer while using the Ironkey. The files extracted will show up on your "Recent Files" menu but when you click on them to open the application you get a message telling you that you need to plug a computer in. That's operating under the assumption that you get sloppy and forget to clear the "Recent Files" on a daily basis. So why do you get a message telling you you need to plug a computer in to view these files? The answer is simple, the Ironkey is it's own mini computer inside a thumb drive that borrows needed files from your drive to operate but never leaves a trace that it did so. I turned a friend of mine (college degree in computer guru science) loose on my computer to test Ironkey's claims. He can't find any history on the drive of any activity I've had while my Ironkey was busy doing what it does.

I think the Ironkey is a must have piece of COMSEC hardware.

Thanks for the work that you do, I hope you and your readers find this helpful. - M.Y.

Dear Mr. Rawles:
Gibson Research Corporation offers a free [PC] utility called ID Serve that will quickly tell the user the IP address of any web site, as well as some other info.  It can also look up the domain name using the IP address.  This is useful to help SurvivalBlog readers find the numerical IP for their favorite web sites in case of domain name mischief at the hands of government or private hackers.  IP Serve can be downloaded here free of charge. (As a bonus, it is tiny--just 26 kbytes--and fast. It is not "bloatware"). - Sincerely, D.V.B.

Dear Mr. Rawles,
As always, I thank you for your work and send greetings and blessings to you.

I just switched from using Windows Vista to Ubuntu Linux 10.10 on my Laptop. First, I must say I am delighted at the ease of installation and how everything works immediately. Second, I am delighted that my Windows Vista partition of the hard disk continues to work just as it always had. No loss of data nor of function.

When I began using Linux, I looked into security and learned that there is no firewall immediately installed. It is easy and free to download and install one. I queried security from the "System - Help and Support" option at the top of the screen. It informed me about the gufw package. I clicked the highlighted link and it downloaded and installed it. Next I went to Systems - Administration - Firewall configuration and turned the firewall on.

Next, I tested the integrity of the firewall using the ShieldsUP! program. This was an eye-opener. It is probably even more essential to use with a Windows-based computer. It has options to test your ports, test file sharing, test all common ports, test messenger spam, and to see what your browser headings reveal about you. I am not a computer security expert and I am sure there are those that can provide a more detailed description of steps to take to secure your identity and your computer's integrity, but this seems like a really good start. - Mr. Bennington in Pittsburgh

Hello Mr. Rawles!
Long time reader here, but had taken a break from most blogs for almost a year as I focused on generating alternative sources of income. I have an important question for you. How will we access the Internet after the government shuts off "the switch"? Would we still have access via dial up possibly? I'm on broadband now and its been a long time since I've used dial up service. I've used Ubuntu Linux the past 4, almost 5 years now and I know many old dial up modems do not work well in Linux/ (At least the inexpensive winmodems don't work well.) Of course, some brand name modems still work great. I've have been recently re-watching the Jericho television series to get some ideas of life after the SHTF. My wife from Ukraine says collapse is at USA's doorstep with all the telltale signs). In the show Jericho, Robert Hawkins continues to use a government computer even after an EMP and mention is made the Internet was designed to be able to survive a nuclear war. What about a Presidential kill switch? In any case, I was thinking of getting to know dial up again. Are there still BBS (bulletin board systems) out there? Should I even consider looking into dial up or am I wasting my time? Regards, - Dave in Southern California

James Wesley,
Take a look at the Open Mesh web site. The content of that site is a bit heavy-technical going in places but useful, given: A.) Egypt's recent actions, and B.) the current[ly pending] Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) legislation in Congress to give the White House the power to shut down chunks of the Internet in times of "national emergency."

I'm a frequent reader who appreciates your hard work in making people more aware. - Rick W.

JWR:
I believe that some TEOTWAWKI-prepping "good" will come out of the recent developments in Egypt. See this recent PC World article: Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down Does your government have an Internet kill-switch? Read our guide to Guerrilla Networking and be prepared for when the lines get cut. I'm even thinking of a "neighborhood intercom"! - The Other J.R.

JWR Replies: I concur that it is important to develop some alternatives in anticipation of draconian government actions. Yishai mentioned another good article with it own little wiki: Communicate if Your Government Shuts Off Your Internet.

Since SurvivalBlog might someday be deemed politically incorrect--either by malicious hackers, our by own government, or by a foreign government, we are developing some countermeasures:

A.) As a first step, a couple of months ago we began publicizing our IP address (It is: 64.92.111.122) I got a chuckle when I saw a wannabe blog quickly follow suit.

B.) The next logical step will be to set up an offshore SurvivalBlog mirror server that will be automagically backed up every 24 hours. (Does anyone have some inexpensive server space available?)

C.) Lastly, I hope to find a used satellite phone with modem capability, "just in case." (Perhaps Iridium...) But even buying used equipment, they seem quite expensive. Ditto for the cost of calls and modem connect time.

We post SurvivalBlog's IP address (also referred to as a "dotted quad" or IPv4 address) as a sort of insurance policy. Recent events have proven that a government agency or a malicious hacker can fairly easily seize or hijack a domain name. This has already happened to at least 75 U.S. web sites without due process of law. Their DNS records were changed, essentially erasing them from the "phone books of the Internet." To insure against this, we are distributing our IPv4 address. This can be pasted or typed into a web browser window in place of "www.SurvivalBlog.com"

What you need to do:

Take a pen and write down our dotted quad address: 64.92.111.122, and please carry that in your wallet.

If and when "SurvivalBlog.com" disappears, or if it is replaced by a graphic and a message from a bureaucrat or a hacker, then enter our dotted quad IP address into your web browser. That way you should still be able to to continue to access SurvivalBlog, as long as our server is still functional.

If "SurvivalBlog.com" doesn't work, but our dotted quad IP address does work, then please send an alert with the dotted quad notation IP address to all your friends and relatives via e-mails, IMs, forum posts, phone text messages, or social networking services. Be sure to include the full address: http://64.92.111.122 Do your best to then spread the word, far and wide!

In the months to come we plan to implement some additional Continuity of Web Service (COWS) insurance measures, including an offshore mirror site and perhaps even a darknet setup. We will post details as these features are developed.