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Letter Re: Preparedness for Martial Law--Finding Gaps in Bilateral Rendition Treaties
James;
This might seem like an odd [question], but have you given any thought to the
[possible] aftermath of a major WMD terrorist attack, in which martial law
is clamped down on the USofA? In times like that, political freedom might
just evaporate. For [those of] us that have been
[politically] outspoken--(I'm one of those cranky old guys with hundreds
of published Letters To The Editor, and with one of those big Ron
Paul [campaign] signs in my front yard)--where could we go in the event of
some sort of round up?
Now, in peril of sounding even more odd: Are there some countries
with which there is no bilateral extradition treaty? I'd just like to know
if there is someplace that I could go, from where I could still be politically
active on the Internet, without fear of getting swooped upon, bound and gagged,
boxed up, and shipped home C.O.D. to some [expletive deleted] Supermax prison?
Thanks, - J. in the Desert
JWR Replies: While extremely unlikely, your scenario
does pose an interesting mental exercise. Extradition--more properly called rendition--is
not universal. If you look at the map on the
Wikipedia page on US Extradition Treaties, you will see that every nation
in the Americas can be ruled out, because of extant rendition treaties with
the US. In Western Europe, only tiny little Andorra lacks a rendition treaty.
But you will also notice some big gray gaps on the map in Oceania, Africa,
and Asia. In all, there are more than 50 countries that don't have rendition
treaties with the US. Just be sure to do your homework. Be advised that some
nominally "sovereign" and independent countries, most notably in
Oceania, are in part administered by foreign governments like France, Australia,
and New Zealand, so as a practical matter you might be subject to a rendition
treaty.
Again, I consider such planning as nothing more than an idle "what
if" exercise. Your chances of ever having to flee the country are highly
remote.
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Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness
Hi Jim,
I agree with you that you shouldn't "get so paranoid that you withdraw
to hide under a rock" when using the Internet. Take precautions, certainly,
but strike a balance.
To illustrate why total privacy is practically impossible while making use
of the Internet, here's
a discussion about recent work done with "de-anonymize" algorithms.
In short, the researchers were able to identify 99% of anonymous users by comparing
different datasets, one anonymous, and one not.
Further, there have been studies with publicly available census data that show
a person can be reasonably identified by all sorts of seemingly innocuous data.
For example:
"Using public anonymous data from the 1990 census, Latanya Sweeney found
that 87 percent of the population in the United States, 216 million of 248 million,
could likely be uniquely identified by their five-digit ZIP code, combined with
their gender and date of birth. About half of the U.S. population is likely identifiable
by gender, date of birth and the city, town or municipality in which the person
resides. Expanding the geographic scope to an entire county reduces that to a
still-significant 18 percent. "In general," the researchers wrote, "few
characteristics are needed to uniquely identify a person."
"Stanford University researchers reported similar results using 2000
census data. It turns out that date of birth, which (unlike birthday month
and
day alone) sorts people into thousands of different buckets, is incredibly
valuable in disambiguating people. "
Thanks for all of your work with SurvivalBlog.com. I read it every day. -
JohnTheAnon
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness »
Identity Theft--The Jury Duty Scam
The following is one of those items that widely gets circulated via e-mail, but
this one is legitimate and I think that warrants posting to the blog:
"Be
prepared should you get this call. Most of us take those summonses for jury duty
seriously, but enough people skip out on their civic duty, that a new and ominous
kind of fraud has surfaced.
The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received
a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number
and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest
warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo; your identity was just
stolen.
The fraud has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois,
and Colorado. This swindle is particularly insidious because they use intimidation
over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending
they are with the court system. The FBI and
the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites,
warning consumers about the fraud."
Here is the
FBI's web page about the scam
Here is confirmation
on its authenticity at Snopes.
Any SurvivalBlog readers that do not yet have identity fraud protection should
get it. This is just one aspect of well-rounded preparedness. The service that
I recommend is Comprehensive
Risk Solutions. (One of our advertisers.)
« Letter Re: SurvivalBlog Has the Edge in Reporting Some News Stories |Main| The Big Picture -- Grid Up Versus Grid Down--Oil, Soil, and Water »
Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness
James,
I have to disagree with some of C.D.'s measures listed in his letter (i.e.
using Scroogle
and Zone
Alarm) and refer your readership to the best article I've yet seen
on
the great difficulty in online anonymity: The
Ugly Truth About Online Anonymity Also note comment on the linked article
12 - even if all else could be secured, the moment you behave according to
your established surfing profile, you'll
be spotted. Kind Regards, - J. in Kyrgyzstan
JWR Replies: I have my own perspective about online activities:
Do the best that you can to cover your cyber trail, but don't get so paranoid
that
you withdraw to hide under a rock. In the context of political action,
the
day that
you go off-line for the sake of privacy or anonymity, then your political opponents
have won. In the context of physical preparedness,
if you go off-line for the sake of privacy or anonymity, then you have isolated
yourself from any like-minded potential allies. It is impossible to build a
survival network without taking some risks. And if you are adverse to taking
any risks,
then you
are relegating yourself to a "team" with just one member.
A solitary individual is ineffective and vulnerable.
One individual that I greatly admire
recently castigated me in an e-mail for having posted F.L. in Southern California's
letter titled: "Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness".
I think that his criticism went a bit too far. My position is that everyone
should
strike a balance between
maintaining privacy and blatant visibility. There is an old Japanese proverb:
"The nail that sticks up get hammered
down." I believe that there is value in employing what David in Israel
refers to as The Gray Man approach. (Blending in with your neighbors, to
be unremarkable
and unmemorable.) But the other end of the spectrum is being so vocal, and
so visible that you
end
up
being
the
#1 on
the most
wanted
list.
Each individual should consciously set their own parameters, based on their
personal circumstances, prayer life, and their comfort zone.
Regardless of where you place yourself on
the continuum of visibility, never, ever, give up your guns.
That is an inviolable and absolute line in the sand. Without an effective
means of self
defense and the common defense,
a man
is just another
sheep for the slaughter.
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Letter Re: Keeping a Low Profile is Crucial for Preparedness
Jim,
My missus and I have been into "prepping" for about 15 years. Our
house has a basement and it is practically wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling
with shelves--with just narrow aisles in between. The shelves are chockablock
with storage food (all labeled and organized "FIFO"-style),
medical supplies, assorted "field" type gear, tools, barter/charity
stuff, ammo cans, propane cylinders (that fit our camp stove and camping lantern),
reels of field phone wire, paper products, and so forth. Following the example
of Mr. Whiskey (from your "Profiles")
we have recently built up 27 sets of designated "charity duffles",
each packed in a cheap Made-in-Taiwan nylon duffle bag. Each of these contains
a Dutch Army surplus wool blanket, a Chinese knockoff of a Leatherman tool,
a pair of gloves, a pile ("watch") cap, a half dozen pairs of socks,
a thrift store man's jacket, room for four days worth of food (which we would
pack from our FIFO inventory, as needed), a collapsing plastic water container
(the type that Campmor sells), a waterproof match container, a tube tent, and
a hand line fishing kit. ("Teach a man to fish...")
When we moved back to California in 1998, we picked our house specially because
it was built in the 1940s. It is the oldest and sturdiest house on the block.
(The neighborhood built up around the house, when the property was subdivided
in the 1960s.) It has a basement and its own water well, which
is now "off the books"--since the house is now on "city" [metered]
water, but the well is still functional with a 24 VDC submersible
well pump. I have four flush roof-mounted Kyocera PV panels
(cannot be seen from the street) and six deep cycle batteries. The cables are
run series-parallel to provide both 12 VDC and 24 VDC outputs.
Even though we live in a standard suburban neighborhood, none of out
neighbors are any the wiser about our preps. At the core, I
consider my preparations my own business. When the time comes to
hand out the charity duffles, we will do so through an intermediary,
like our church. (We are Methodists.)
After seeing what
happened to that guy in Norco last year, I am glad that I keep a low
profile. The specific measures that we have taken to keep a low profile are:
1.) We take no UPS deliveries
at our house. Nearly all of our mail-ordered goods are sent to our private
mail box at the local UPS Store (it was formerly a "MailBoxes, Etc.")
From there, we take the boxes home in our minivan.We are always sure to unload
the van from inside my garage, with the garage door shut.
All of the empty boxes have the "to" and "from" address
labels cut out with a box cutter knife. I discard the flattened boxes in the
cardboard recycling dumpster behind the office where I work. (I'm a sales engineer
for a medium-size company.)
2.) We don't subscribe to any shooting or hunting magazines. We get all of
the gun information we need online. To "stay in the fight" politically,
I do make regular anonymous contributions to the GOA, JPFO and
CRPA [The California Rifle and Pistol Association, a firearms rights organization],
via Post Office Money Orders. (BTW, I do the same for the SurvivalBlog [10
Cent] Challenge. Shame on any of you that read this blog regularly but
don't pony up the 10 pennies a day!)
3.) We access all web pages via Anonymizer,
with no exceptions.
4.) Most of of our preps purchases are either made F2F,
with cash, or with Post Office Money Orders if ordering by mail. This eliminates
the "trail of paper" from writing checks or using a credit card.
We buy a lot from Nitro-Pak, Ready
Made Resources, Major
Surplus, and Lehman's.
5.) All of our guns, ammunition, gun gadgets, targets, and cleaning supplies
are bought "private party", mainly at SoCal [(Southern California)]
gun shows. Also, needless to mention, these are greenback transactions
only! In
California, we can still at least buy rifles and shotguns that are more than
50 years old
without having to buy through a [licensed] dealer. We have two [M1]
Garand rifles, and a FN.49, also [chambered] in .30-06. I'm still looking
for one or two more of those, but they are scarce, and even harder to find
private party. We also have three [Winchester] Model 12 pump[-action] 12 gauge
shotguns, two of which have had their barrels shortened to 18.5 inches. Handgun
buys in California all require paperwork, but by Divine Providence
I bought several Glocks
and [Colt Model] 1911s when
I was living in Arizona for a couple years, back in the late '90s. [JWR
Adds: That loophole was recently closed for Californians. Anyone moving
into the state must now register their handguns. Drat! But at least there was
a grandfather clause.] There is isn't much to do out in the desert except shoot,
so I bought a lot of guns when we were there.
6.) We signed up for an identity theft and credit report checking protection
plan three years ago. I noticed that SurvivalBlog just started running an ad
from Comprehensive Risk
Solutions. Their service has more bells and whistles and a lower subscription
cost that our current provider, so we will switch [to them] when our current
subscription lapses. [JWR Adds: I highly recommend this service.
It is cheap insurance to prevent what would otherwise be a very costly incident.]
7.) We use a TracFone
whenever
calling a mail order vendor. (No calling history paper trail.)
8. ) We don't mention our preps to anyone outside of our family.
We have coached our kids from an early age to keep their lips zipped.
9.) Whenever we have anybody visit our home, the basement door stays closed
and locked. (It is a keyed deadbolt lock.) The basement has
no windows. Most of our friends and relatives don't realize that we
even have a basement. (Basements are actually rare in California
tract neighborhoods.) To anybody that visits, the basement door just looks
like a locked closet.
10.) We don't leave anything "suspicious" out where it can be seen
in our house and garage.
These precautions might seem kinda "over the top", but put yourself
in my shoes. In the People's Republic of California it pays to be a bit of
a Secret Squirrel. I does cost me about $300 per year to get my mail and packages
at the UPS Store, but I consider that a small price to pay for my privacy.
I plan to retire to the mountains of central Nevada in nine years, but for
now, I am making do in my present circumstances. - F.L. in Southern California
« Letter Re: Solar Ovens |Main| Note from JWR: »
Your Life in Your Pocket by John T.
A significant part of being prepared and being able to weather a crisis is
having information. Remember, those in charge now will make it their first
priority after TSHTF to
return to the status quo. Banks and mortgage companies will do everything possible
to continue banking and lending. Landlords will do whatever it takes to make
sure they continue to collect rent from their tenants, and any police or military
personnel you come into contact with will be very unhappy if you cannot prove
who you are or otherwise deflect suspicion.
You can call having critical information available during and after a crisis "life
continuity." There are three aspects to it: collection, protection, and
dispersion.
The first step is collection. Just as with other aspects of your survival
plan, you'll want to make a list of the information you want to collect and
have available during and after a crisis. Such a list should include:
- medical information and records for all family members
- names, addresses, and contact numbers of relatives, doctors and insurance
companies
- copies of wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, and other legal documents
- copies of insurance policies
- copies of birth certificates, wedding licenses, children's school records,
and college transcripts
- copies of property ownership documents, such as mortgage agreements and property
deeds
- copies of driver licenses and passports
- e-books or scanned pages from knowledge materials you've collected
- as many family photos as you feel you need, but at a minimum make sure there
is a clear "head shot" of everyone in your family that can be used
by authorities if needed to conduct a search
- video taped walk-throughs of your house and property showing major purchases
and valuables and the condition of any buildings
While some of the items above might seem like overkill, it is important to
remember that you can never have enough supporting documentation if you ever
need to prove your case or prove your identity. Imagine bugging out of your
home and going to your retreat for three months, only to return to your home
after the all clear to find it occupied by squatters. Will you be able to prove
the house is yours? If your insurance company denies your claim, will you have
the materials ready to counter their argument in your appeal?
Once you've collected the documents and photos, the next step is protection.
At a minimum, you'll want to have a fireproof box or safe to hold your documents.
Even better, get a box or safe that is waterproof as well. For example, Sentry
makes a small waterproof and fireproof lockbox for well under $100. You might
even be able to pick one up for much less at a garage sale or flea market.
Put your safe in an obscure location in your home, and use any supplied mounting
hardware to mount the safe to the floor or wall to prevent thieves from simply
lifting it up and walking away with it. Avoid any safe or lockbox that requires
power to operate, such as batteries or a wall plug. This includes the fancy
safes with biometric access mechanisms. You don't need Fort Knox; you just
need to be reasonably protected. If you can't afford a lockbox or safe, at
least put your document stash into a large Ziploc bag and put it somewhere
safe. You could put it into a locking file cabinet or even put it into a five-gallon
pail and bury it.
Dispersion is another key element to protecting your information stash. Make
copies of everything and mail a set to your lawyer and a couple sets to trusted
family members. Mailing a set to family outside of your region is an especially
good idea. For example, if you live in the Midwest, you would want to send
a copy to someone on the east coast or perhaps out west. Use a service with
a tracking number that requires a signature so that you can be sure the documents
arrive at their location. Even better is to scan everything into an electronic
format. PDF is
best, as it can be read on just about any computer. Take the electronic copies
and write them to a CD or DVD, also known as "burning to disk" since
the CD/DVD drive's laser actually burns information into the disk. CD and DVD
writers are very cheap nowadays, on the order of $20-$30 for a brand new unit
and a few dollars for the disk media. Keep a couple copies along with your
paper (hard) copies, and send out a DVD to your family members instead of a
large pack of documents.
Some people also keep electronic copies of their important documents on USB keys.
USB keys are also known as "thumb drives" because of their size.
Any computer with a USB port can access a USB key as if it was a hard drive.
Keep in mind, though, that a USB key is electronic and will be susceptible
to anything that would damage electronics such as a magnetic field. While it
might not seem like a good idea to keep important info on something that could
end up damaged, the point is to analyze the trade-off between convenience and
accessibility without hurting reliability. If you have hard copies of everything,
then using something as convenient as a USB key might be an advantage. For
example, you could hook the USB key to your belt and walk into a disaster relief
shelter to use the computer there instead of walking around with a big pack
of important papers.
If you choose to make electronic copies of your information, you will want
to encrypt everything and make sure to use innocent-sounding labels. Imagine
sending a DVD labeled "Our Family's Important Information" to someone
on the other side of the country. If that DVD were to fall into the wrong hands,
those people would have everything they needed to steal your identity. Instead,
label the CD or DVD something like "Our Family Vacation 2006" where "2006" is
the year that the DVD was made. That way you will know which is the most recent.
Encrypting your information sounds difficult, but it is actually pretty easy.
The only downside is that you will need a computer to decrypt the information
once it is encrypted. There are numerous free and open encryption programs
available at no charge. My favorite is called TrueCrypt. How it works is beyond
the scope of this article, but it is safe to say that if you encrypt your information
with TrueCrypt, it would take all the computers in the world several hundreds
of years to crack it. TrueCrypt runs on Windows computers only, but similar
applications are available for Mac OS X and Linux.
If you are technically savvy and really want to take your USB key to the next
level, you can install a complete operating system onto the USB key itself.
An example would be PenDrive
Linux or Damn Small
Linux. Damn Small Linux is only 50 MB in size!
With the OS right on your USB key, you could keep all your information encrypted
and never have to worry about what type of computer you would need to decrypt
and view your information.
Many people focus on the tangible aspects of being prepared. Beans, bandages
and bullets are important, but so are intangibles like information. With a
small amount of effort and little to no expenses, you can make sure all the
information your family might need to survive, regroup, and move on is protected
and in an easily-accessible and safe location.
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Underground Storm/Fallout/Vault Shelters »
Letter Re: Digitized Data for Your Bug-Out Bag
James:
JN is absolutely right about TrueCrypt, it's an excellent tool. Be aware,
however, that you
can be compelled to disclose your encryption keys in the UK legally, and
you can always be compelled to do so via extra-legal means. If you have any
data that you truly wish to keep secret, a good start is to use
a second TrueCrypt volume containing important data inside the primary volume
which contains
data that is less crucial. Regards, - PH
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Ethnic Food Stores as a Source for Bulk Storage Foods »
Letter Re: Privacy from Google's Prying Eyes
Hi
It may be an interest to readers who use the Firefox browser, there is an extension
call "Track
Me Not". [Here is a description I found on the web:] "TrackMeNot
is a lightweight browser extension that helps protect web searchers from surveillance
and data-profiling
by search
engines. It does so
not by means
of concealment or encryption (i.e. covering one's tracks), but instead, paradoxically,
by the opposite strategy: noise and obfuscation. With TrackMeNot, actual web
searches, lost in a cloud of false leads, are essentially hidden in plain view.
User-installed TrackMeNot works with the Firefox Browser and popular search
engines (AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and MSN) and requires no 3rd-party servers or
services." Its better than a not-so- reliable proxy. - Martin
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| The Most Important Lesson, by Mr. Yankee »
Letter Re: Privacy from Google's Prying Eyes
Dear Jim:
You don't have to be a "Secret Squirrel" to be concerned about
Google tracking your online searching.
Here is a quick and easy way to use Google but not get tracked: http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
The following is a
quote from their site: "Not only does Google scrape much of
the web, but they keep records of who searches for what. If information
about your searching is accessible
by cookie ID or by your IP address, it is subject to subpoena. This
is a violation of your privacy. Someday Google's data retention practices
will be regulated, because Google is too arrogant to do the right thing
voluntarily. In the meantime, you should not be leaving your fingerprints
in Google's databases."
"There are other proxies that can protect your privacy on the
web. Almost all are general-purpose proxies that cloak all of your
web activity
behind an IP address that is not easily traced to your service provider.
One is Anonymizer.com. A possible problem with this one is that the
founder, Lance Cottrell, has connections with the FBI and the Voice
of America. It also costs money for a reasonable level of service.
Another is Tor
["The Onion Router"], which is much more
secure. But it is also slow, because Tor is a complicated system that
needs
networks
of volunteers
to run
server software. Juvenile surfers from video pirates to rogue Wikipedia
editors tend to clog free services such as Tor, which slows them down
even more." Regards, OSOM - "Out of Sight, Out of Mind"
« Letter Re: Yet Another Article Touting "Mobility" for Survival |Main| Letter Re: Veterinary Antibiotics »
Letter Re: Rootkit Protection for Your Computer
Jim,
Here
is some info on what is presently a freeware application which I can quite-honestly
classify as in the "Save Your Bacon" category. (it sure saved my
rump, on at least one very significant occasion.) It does its' job, it is small,
and it is freeware. My conscience would bother me no end if I kept
this gem to myself; perhaps you and/or the blog might benefit from this goody.
- Ben L.
« Letter Re: Kudos for an Advertiser |Main| Letter Re: Questions on the Pickup Truck as a Multi-Purpose Retreat Vehicle »
Letter Re: Anonymous Web Surfing Resources
Dear Jim,
Tor ("The Onion Router") has
been up and running for some time. It's a free and highly secure system
for anonymous browsing. It requires installation
of free, open source software on the host machine.
Also of potential interest is the current release of Freenet, which supports
a "scalable darknet:"
A freeware, open source distribution
of PGP (named,
appropriately, GPG).
A GPG
for Windows front end.
TrueCrypt (a freeware/open
source hard drive encryption/steganography program)
The Electronic Privacy
Information Center (EPIC) tools page
Hushmail:
secure, free web mail
Secure, free hard drive/file
erasure
Disclaimer and warning: Strong cryptography isn't
legal everywhere. The United States, for example, still regards some
types of cryptographic algorithms
as munitions, and export is forbidden. Know your country's laws before you
proceed. Cryptography isn't a panacea for our loss of privacy in the digital
age. It is, however, a very powerful tool to put an envelope back on your mail,
a lock on your computer's "filing cabinet," to destroy sensitive
files or to send a letter without a return address - all things our parents
took for granted. Learn its limits and use it wisely for your own sake and
everyone else's. Do not attempt to send threats, traffic in drugs or child
pornography, plan acts of terrorism or engage in other crimes using crypto.
Sooner or later, you'll draw attention to yourself and the full weight of the
law will come down, hard. You will be caught, you will be prosecuted, you will
be imprisoned. Period. Regards, - Moriarty
« Letter Re: How Much Ammo to Store For Self Defense and Hunting? |Main| Note from JWR: »
Keeping Your Preparations Low Profile
Of all of the aspects of preparing a survival retreat, perhaps the
most overlooked in survivalist literature are privacy and operational
security (OPSEC). Your preparations must be kept secret
from all but your most trusted friends. All of your expensive logistics
could
disappear in a few hours soon after TEOTWAWKI.
Your "hidey hole" could be stripped clean by looters or overzealous
government agents wielding
"emergency
powers."
You must absolutely resist the urge to mention your preparations to
anyone who does not have a need to know about them. I
am not suggesting that you lie to anyone. That would be a
sin. But learn to keep your mouth shut, and learn how to redirect conversations.
Doing so is simply wise and prudent.
What is legal today may be deemed illegal tomorrow under martial law
or at the whim of some bureaucrat that is handed "emergency powers." Witness
the mass confiscations of privately owned firearms following Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. With the help of the liberal media the concepts of saving and storing may
be demonized and redefined
as
"hoarding" immediately
after disaster strikes.
Let's also get our terminology straight: If you have been saving during
times of plenty you are not a hoarder. A hoarder is
someone that removes an disproportionately large chunk of logistics after shortages
have occurred.
By saving and storing now, well in advance of a crisis,
you represent one
less person that
will rush to the grocery store after disaster strikes. So you
won't be part of
the problem. Rather, you'll be part of the solution, especially if
you dispense your excess supplies as charity.
For a good example of common sense privacy in action, take the time to read
the Profile
of Mr. and Mrs. Bravo.
If you have a been vocal about the erosion of our Constitutional
liberties, then you may be on some list. Ditto for letters to the
editor, letters
to you congresscritters, or just a subscription to a gun or hunting
magazine. There has been a lot of talk the patriot community about
the alleged
Red and Blue round-up lists. These may or may not exist. (I tend
to think that they are mythical.) Should they actually exist, you
may or may not be on them. But as
Mark Koernke put it so succinctly: "There
is only one list. We're all on the list. Some of us are
just higher up the list than others!"
If you have reason to believe that your anonymity has already been
compromised, then consider that a.) You cant get anonymity back unless
you change your name and completely drop out of sight (impractical
for
most), and B.) You will have to take some countermeasures.
Perhaps the best countermeasure is to make a clean start the
next time that you move. (Presumably to your retreat location.) Do
not send
forward ing cards for any magazine subscription that are that are
even marginally
controversial. Consider buying your next home in the name of a
land trust or in someone else's name. (Perhaps a sister or some aunt
or uncle
with a
different surname and with a low profile.) See Boston T. Party's book Bulletproof
Privacy for further details on making a clean break.
Make all cash (no paper trail) acquisitions of guns, bulk ammo,
and bulk logistics. Never use a credit card for such purposes. Unless
you
already have a very high profile, resist the urge to buy your ammo,
reference books and assorted gear via mail order. The only exception
would be if you use an assumed name and a drop box.
It is essential to impress upon your family the importance of keeping
quiet about your preparations. In one of his his books,
Dr. Bruce Clayton tells the tragicomic story of when he moved to a
small
town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he planned
to construct a fallout shelter in his basement. His recently retired
mother moved there with him. While Clayton was occupied ferrying supplies
to his new haven, his mother was busy chatting with all of their new
neighbors about Clayton's survival plans and logistics--in detail!
If you have a high political profile, it might be wise to purchase
your retreat and/or rent storage space in someone else's name. For
example a sister or brother-in law with a different surname could be
the owner
of record. Another option is establishing a land trust, and having
the trust make the purchase. Your attorney could be the trustee of
a trust that owns the land. Yet another option is to set up a Nevada
or Delaware corporation and having the corporation make the land purchase.BTW,
I have a good friend that is an attorney that specializes in trusts
and incorporation. If you'd like to contact her, just send me an e-mail with
"Trust Attorney" in the title, and I will be happy to forward
it to her.
In essence, keeping a low profile involves common sense and knowing
when to keep your mouth shut.
« Letter From Michael Z. Williamson Re: An EMT's Advice on BOBs |Main| Letter Re: Recommendations on Hardening a Garage Door? »
Letter Re: Preparedness Lessons Learned from The K.T. Ordnance BATFE Raid
Jim,
I thought I would give you an up-date on my raid. First, I’m not
in jail, nor have I been charged with any crime. Everything that can be written
has been written at this time.[JWR Adds: For example, see
the discussions at the
AR15.com Forums, at LibertyPost.org,
1911Forum.com,
et cetera. ]
In retrospect, there are some things I should have done, but that I didn’t.
(I pooh-poohed some of your preparedness ideas, shame on me. Learn from my
mistakes.)
1) Did not stash my extra arms and ammo, and now I don’t have them.
2) Should not have been as cooperative as I was, and it was little.
3) Did not have code words ready with wife when I called her.
4) Did not have my files in order, PGP or other software.
5) Thought it would never happen to me.
6) Did not have a bug out bag. My wife thought I was crazy, but now she wants
them.
7) Did not heed the five warning signs that I got. All [my friends] thought
that I was paranoid. Had I took action on those warnings, they [the BATFE]
would have
got nothing.
- Richard Celata, Owner of KT Ordnance
JWR Replies: Despite a half dozen letters from readers,
I refrained to posing or commenting about this case until now. I waited
until I had the time to do some background research and
until I got an e-mail directly from the owner of the company. KT Ordnance
was formerly an advertiser on SurvivalBlog, and a member of his family
is still a SurvivalBlog
advertiser.
I
have not read
anything thusfar that would indicate that Richard Celata violated any law,
or any BATFE ruling, or any "ATF Letter" guidance. Nor do I have
any evidence that Richard
is lunatic, a radical, a racist, or an anti-Semite. (Far be it, he is in fact
a member of Jews for the Preservation
of Firearms Ownership.) Nor have I heard that
he has any criminal record. In short, the general consensus is that he was
a law-abiding guy that played by the rules, but was nonetheless the recipient
of the wrath
of
the
ATF.
For the BATFE to set the
"80% Complete"
standard
for receivers to remain outside of Federal jurisdiction and then
to later seize
the inventory of a businessman that abided by the letter of their own
reiterated standard in my estimation smacks of arbitrary and capricious
enforcement, with possibly
political
motivation. I try to keep the content of SurvivalBlog apolitical and nonpartisan,
in
part because we have an international readership. (Our readers in France
have no more interest in political affairs in the U.S. any more than our U.S.
readers have an interest in politics in France.) However, in this instance
where Mr. Celata's letter specifically addresses the preparedness
aspects
of his situation, I think that it is appropriate for posting. OBTW, I don't
plan to post any follow-ups to this letter, since the facts and conjecture
regarding the case itself are already well trodden ground. Mr. Celata
will get his day in court. If justice is still available to him there,
then I trust that he will prevail.
BTW I don't intend this post to foster any paranoia. However,
I do
think that it is prudent for
anyone
that
stocks
up
logistically
to
leave
a minimal
paper/electronic
trail. If you are not yet accessing the Internet with Anonymizer or StealthSurfer,
you should be!
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Questions on The Paratus Farms Development--Water Versus Defensible Terrain »
Two Letters Re: Cell Phone E-911 Tracking
I'm an engineer working on E911 systems and I'd like to correct this whole
post. I've included some references so all your readers can peer review.
>
#1 The chip does not function unless you either... Incorrect. The requirements
typically state for Public Safety and in support of local laws, the mobile
station (cell phone) has to handle all network requests for location.
>
#2 Its not real GPS.
There are two separate systems that can be hybridized together.
First is the network based system described above that works great in urban
areas with lots of compatible cell towers. It is fast, but it can not get down
to 3 ft., maybe 100 m.
The second system is Mobile Station based (Cell phone) and it typically uses
GPS just like a Garmin. It works great in rural areas. It is not so great in
large cities as all the concrete, steel and coated glass both block and reflect
the GPS signals. A differential GPS system in time can achieve accuracies in
cm. However just like your Garmin, it can take a long while to search for satellites
and download the data from them.
The hybridized systems, where the network and the mobile work together, can
achieve the best of both accuracy/speed and urban/rural performance. The network
can tell the GPS on the mobile station approximate time, approximate position
(with xx km of the cellular tower), where the satellites are in the sky and
lots of other information that it would take your Garmin 20 minutes to get
from the satellites.Reference.
Section 10.10 GPS Assistance Data for more information. This document applies
to GSM and 3G/UMTS phones, but it is not atypical.
Also the new hybridized systems can combine the cell tower ranging with the
GPS satellite ranging to get a system that works where neither system alone
will.
#3 While it is possible...
Ah, no. The solution is Periodic measurements. in other words generating a
location every 5 minutes would not affect battery life much. It is used to
track commercial delivery personnel all the time.
#4 Yes there really is....
Again no. This is internet Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). The FCC requirement
is that x% of mobile stations can be located to certain accuracy. GPS is not
a requirement.
Reference.
#5 There is also the secondary issue.
The analog is not illegal, yet. It is just not cost effective for the bandwidth
reasons. Second for some networks that depend on GPS in the mobile station
(typically CDMA), the old phones stand in the way of meeting the FCC requirement.
#6 Analog shutoff.
I do not have any information on this.
#7 Cell phones use lots of electrical power...
Motorola Razor talk time 200-430 minutes. Standby 180-290 hours. Reference [JWR
Adds: I believe that the writer was referring to cell phone cell tower
facilities rather than hand-held cell phones themselves.]
As to charging more during blackouts, any company that did this would invite
a class action lawsuit for breach of contract and endangering the public.
OBTW, one other bit of FUD that I'd like to comment on:
Yes, off does not mean off in regards to modern electronic devices including
cellular phones. While "off" they may need to support an alarm clock,
calendar alerts, monitor battery charging, alert for low battery and do a lot
of other things. However, removing all the power sources kills anything! If
your phone continues to run without a charger or batteries, I think you could
name your price to sell it to any of the big cell phone companies. - Raven
Jim,
I have personally been present, when a 'Federal investigator' ordered a cell
phone security manager (what the heck that is I don't know) to 'turn on' a
particular
Electronic Serial Number (ESN).
It was my understanding that the phone had to be 'on' in the first place. It
was explained to me that there was a dual mode capability. One was the retransmission
of GPS positioning data and the second triangulation.
We found the 'bad guy' we were looking for for a covert surveillance regarding
a narcotics investigation.
He wasn't in a call - it was a pretty weird moment for me to see this happen,
and it was about four years ago. I can only imagine the capabilities built
into the system mandated by post-9/11 are more enhanced than then.
I trust the data given to me by the writer about GPS positioning as he understood
it. I saw different. The federal investigator was pretty closed mouth about
it, and the black box he used that (I suppose) received the data was no larger
than a lunchbox. Steered us right in.
I've long ago given up on trying to maintain much privacy in my electronic
life. I really don't have much to hide, but if I did - electronics wouldn't
have any place in my home. - Jimsee
« Letter Re: A Mumps Outbreak in the U.S. Midwest |Main| Jim's Quote of the Day: »
Letter Re: Cell Phone E-911 Tracking
Dear Jim,
Someone wrote about E911 phones and GPS tracking. I worked in that
industry, with that specific issue and I can provide some facts.
#1 The chip does not function unless you either Dial 911 or turn it to Location
On, which shows a circle with a plus sign through it and two end parentheses
to its right. It is common to see the circle-plus sign without the parentheses.
Check your manual to verify this. It will list this under "icons" or
E911. Phones come with them preset to "911 only", not "on".
Phones from Nextel/Sprint or using location based services must have the GPS
turned on to work.
#2 Its not real GPS. It does not talk to satellites. Its just triangulating
on the company towers. This gives an accuracy of +/- 3 feet but its main purpose
is to get you to the nearest 911 call center in the event you dial 911. That's
about it.
#3 While it is possible the phone operating systems could be fibbing and the
Location service could be on when it says its off, that is unlikely since it
would affect battery life, require violation of customer privacy rights, risks
lawsuits when exposed, and requires a conspiracy to accomplish, the black helicopter
kind. I'm not a fan of conspiracies since humans are very good at bungling
basic stuff and very bad at keeping secrets. It is far more likely that it
really is off, just like it says.
#4 Yes, there really IS a law enacted by FCC back on Sept 12, 2001 that required
these chips to be mandated into phones by July 1, 2005 and all non GPS phones
taken out of service by the end of 2006. Some of my former customers had received
letters from their carriers and verified by the FCC to this effect.
#5 There's also the secondary issue that older phones typically have stronger
and now illegal analog signal amplifiers which when running analog can block
more than 720 digital calls. This has been a real waste of bandwidth and the
FCC has been after the cell companies to get them off the market and into the
garbage bins. The companies have handled it by offering incentives to change
out the phone for a newer model with E911 and usually all digital. All digital
phones don't hog bandwidth, don't block other's calls, but don't really work
in the boonies either. For the boonies, you need a Tri-Mode phone. This means
digital and analog backup. You also need an extendable antenna. A stub antenna
is nearly worthless in analog areas because the signal won't propagate
well. Many phones have plugs for antenna extension kits, the kind you can
mount on a car roof and a small cable and jack to plug into the phone. Those
work well, BTW.
#6 The boonies are mostly analog until Jan 1 2008, when all analog cell service
is turned OFF, permanently, another FCC mandate. This means that either these
sites get upgraded to digital or they lose their licenses, probably auctioned
off and end up with big carriers. The carriers will do a cost study and decide
for themselves whether said boonies are worth converting to digital or if they'll
just let them die with no signal. Some sites may not get bought and those regions
may lose cell service entirely. Cell companies are very greedy, keep in mind.
If they can't make a huge profit, they won't do it at all. A small profit or
slow profit is not within their timescale. It is likely that many rural areas
with low populations will lose cell service entirely.
#7 Cell phones use lots of electrical power. This means that in blackouts,
while they do have generators, those must be topped off. In a survival situation
or one of slowly deteriorating
conditions they will work, at first. The more phones in digital, the
less issues with blocked service. After spending lots of money and time topping
off tanks
it is highly likely, if the conditions persist, that cell companies will start
charging more money for calls made during blackouts than ones when the power
is on. Expect to have to pay a hefty premium and overage rates for calls made
during blackouts. The companies have not released any plans for this, but they
already produced emergency blackout kits for their retail stores last summer,
as if they fully expect to operate when the power is out, which is particularly
weird since you can't activate or change service without computer access to
the network switches. Hope this info helps. Best, - Marshall
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| A New Breed of Feral Dogs, by Buckshot »
Letter Re: Cell Phone E-911 Tracking
Jim,
I think this would come under the heading of privacy....or our losing more
and more of it on a daily bases. I got a call from my cell phone company
today (US
Cellular) they told me that I was going to be required to bring in my old phone...the
same one I have had for five years... and trade it for one that was capable of
being tracked by 911 (these are the [E-911]
ones with GPS chips
in them.) I told them that
I did not want to. They told me I had no choice. They said that continuing to
use the phone would result in FCC fines.
(Has anyone else heard about this?) It seems that the only choice they are letting
me have is picking out my new
phone. So I'm going to have to do this, and according to them everyone who has
an old phone is also going to be required to trade. So, I guess I will also be
building a Faraday cage to keep my phone in when not in use. Actually, I'm just
going to keep it in an ammo can. Hey, it's my business where I go and what I
do, not the government's. - The Army Aviator
« Odds 'n Sods: |Main| Letter Re: Stocking Up on Shoes and Boots for Survival »
Three Letter Re: Internet and Search Engine Privacy
Jim:
I've done a lot of experimenting on this and offer my take:
Rule Number One: The U.S. Government is monitoring domestic internet
traffic. Anybody visiting Survivalblog is already suspect by the
government because of it's very subject matter. Assume that you are
being monitored.
Let's not be naive here please.
Anonymizer is obviously monitored by the Government because it maintains
logs of in/out IP Addresses.
Tor...the Onion Router is the best way to go if you have DSL or Cable
high-speed internet connection because there is no central logging.
I use it.
CCleaner [Cache Cleaner] at http://www.ccleaner.com/ is
the very best way to keep your computer free of what snoops want. It
is FREE, tiny,
fast,
easy,
and
I click on it after every internet surf. It instantly removes all
tracking cookies. It also instantly removes all those useless internet
temp
files that clog/slow your computer. Download it FREE right now. -Book
James:
You mentioned that your readers might be interested in
a brief write up of privacy on the Internet and how to keep yourself off
of
the radar.
I'll try to oblige.
First some background: My company and I do Information Security for
small businesses, so we and I have experience in keeping private things
private in the real world. What I'm doing is basically putting into
text the Security Speech that I give any client who I consult for (and
will sit still long enough to hear it). I'll stay away from technical
terms and specific products/'solutions' until the very end where I'll
describe a few different levels of 'security' in real-world examples.
Specific privacy stuff is further towards the end.
Rule Number One: There Is No Such Thing As A Secure Computer (or Anything
Else)
Perfect security is impossible. Computer security researchers are fond
of saying that the only secure computer is one that's unplugged from
the network, turned off, sealed in a vault and protected by well-paid
guards, and they're only partially joking. (Yes this is what passes
for humor in the computer security profession.) No matter what steps
you take to keep your stuff secure, someone, somewhere can break into
it and steal them; given sufficient time and money all computers are
vulnerable. The only thing you can do to an attacker is slow him or
her down. All of modern security is devoted to slowing attackers down.
This has two effects: it makes you less appealing to casual attackers
and it frustrates determined attackers.
In WWII the Germans used
an encryption device called "enigma" to
send secret messages to their troops. They thought it was unbreakable.
The allies broke it. The moral of the story is that what we think is
'secure' today will be as tough as tissue paper in fifty years.
Rule Number Two: Security Is Not A Product.
What I mean by this is twofold: one, anyone who sells you a "secure" widget
is lying. Widgets, computers, servers and networks are not secure or
insecure by their nature; they are merely tools. Any tool can be used
for good or ill, just think of the climate concerning guns. This is
a continuation of the first rule; not only is there no such thing as
a secure computer, any steps that have been taken to create a more
secure computer can be blown away by the mentality of the user. This
rule probably should read Security Is A State Of Mind, but this way
I can combine two rules into one. In a nutshell, every system is only
as secure as the users of that system are willing to make it.
The canonical example of this is a hospital. Hospitals have insane
oversight in terms of confidentiality of patient information and they
can get in real trouble for letting the Wrong People see certain files.
So the natural step is to make each level of access have a separate
password and each user must login to separate authentication levels,
blah blah blah. Its a 'very secure system.' End result? Nurses get
tired of remembering so many passwords and write them down on sticky
notes on the monitor. Security that is too hard to use will be defeated.
Rule Number Three: Your Computer Is A Castle.
Traditional security is a good analogy to computer security. Things
that people would never do in the real world they don't think twice
about doing online. When you open an attachment you're not expecting,
its like licking your neighbor's doorknob. When you blindly click 'OK'
on every pop up window, its like walking around in a bad neighborhood
with a roll of hundred dollar bills poking out of your pocket. Remember
the Trojan Horse? Trusting everyone online will get you in trouble,
just like in real life.
Likewise, when you evaluate a system for security the first place you
look is the place where security is the weakest. If you double-encrypt
everything and lock your computer in a safe but your password is 'secret',
you're not really secure. Always look at the big picture and don't
lose the forest for the trees. Likewise, if you have an uber-secure
locked-down machine but its in an office where the cleaning staff have
physical access, you're not secure.
Rule Number Four: Security is Boring
This is the hardest thing to get right. The best way to be secure online
is to do the little things all the time. Boring things like keeping
your security updates up-to-date and getting an anti-virus. Being paranoid
about your email and choosing the right software go a huge way towards
keeping your stuff safe. Have a legal copy of all your software, especially
your anti-virus. Pay for it. If you don't want to pay for it, AVG anti
virus is free and damn good. More detail later.
That's it for the theory, there will be a quiz on Thursday. Now the
practice. There are a few things that you can do to keep yourself secure
and protect what little privacy you still have.
The first thing to know is that email is not secure. Think of email
as sending a postcard, there's nothing to stop anyone who touches
it from reading it. Email is hard but not impossible to anonymize, but
there are few remaining anonymizers left. Any old Hotmail or other
free account will work for certain values of 'anonymous' but they
probably will not stand up to a legal search warrant unless you are very careful.
Gmail is not a good provider for anonymous email because of the invite
system. Unless you can get an invite anonymously anyone tracing it
can simply look up who invited you and compel them to spill the beans.
Another thing is that any site you visit on the web can get a huge
amount of information on you that your browser just sends out on its
own. Things like your IP address which can be traced to a rough location
and if the government gets involved can probably be traced down to
whoever pays the bills. This can be mitigated by using anonymizing
proxies, Tor and privoxy. More detail further on
Yet another key facet is that anything that is on your computer is
something that you are trusting fully. If you follow good protocol,
you are trusting Microsoft with all of your data, and you are trusting
whoever makes your anti-virus or firewall with all your data. There
is precedent for law enforcement using the anti-virus update to compromise
the computer of a group that was holed up in their cabin to prevent
them from emailing out. In case I wasn't clear, this has happened and
will happen again.
Now for some details and the all-important links:
In terms of an operating system, Windows is the default and there's
no budging most people from it. With good practices and by keeping
up to date you can keep windows tolerably secure. I would trust it
for mildly embarrassing data but not critical data. Please upgrade
to at least Windows 2000. Windows XP with Service Pack 2 is best. I
know its expensive, but Windows 95, 98, and ME are outdated and not secure.
Since no one has access to the code that makes Windows tick, there
is no way to determine for sure that there is not an easy back door
that could be leveraged against you. I cannot recommend keeping
mission critical data on a Windows machine. If you have
a bit more freedom about what you run, I heartily recommend getting
a
Macintosh. The new Apple OS X
is built upon a very secure BSD base
and it strikes an excellent balance between usability and security.
Any version of Linux or BSD can be
made secure, but if you're running those you probably know how to
secure it.
Web browsers: There really is only one. Firefox is the best that has
come along yet. It can be setup for decent everyday browsing and keep
a good rein on your cookies and history. In the firefox settings,
you can exercise very fine control over what sites are allowed to set
cookies on your machine and when to expire them. Please do
not use Internet Explorer on ANY OS. It is not secure in any
way. A good addition is Privoxy and/or Tor.
A must-have extension for Firefox is Adblock Plus and "Filterset.G"
Email client: I recommend either Mozilla Thunderbird, but basically
anything but Outlook (Express) is acceptable. Outlook is massively
insecure, Please do not use it.
Anti Virus: They're all equally mediocre. I use AVG which is free
for personal use. Pick one and keep it updated.
Firewall: Again, the windows firewall cannot be trusted. I recommend
Kerio Personal Firewall, and I use it myself. Tiny Personal Firewall
is good too. Zone Alarm is less powerful and Black Ice is worthless.
Proxies: Privoxy is a nice semi-anonymizing proxy that runs on your
local machine. It can't hide your IP but it will strip out a lot
of identifiable information. Its pretty easy to set up too.
Tor is a very clever
onion routing network that passes your traffic through a few levels
of other machines so that theoretically not only
does the site you're visiting not know who you are, nobody could
trace your connection back to you. An added benefit is that Tor servers
are
encrypted so your traffic is harder to snoop on as well as being
more anonymous. The disadvantage is that this is SLOW.
Encryption: BestCrypt can create secure images that can be viewed
on Windows and Linux.
Below I'm going to outline three levels of security and what they
should be reasonably protected against.
The first is an easy to use everyday machine. You will be protected
from most common automated and non-directed attacks but a determined
attacker will still be able to penetrate as will a governmental entity.
If there is demand I can work up a similar profile for a Mac.
Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP.
AVG anti virus or similar.
Kerio Personal Firewall of similar.
Firefox, Adblock Plus and Filterset.G set to only allow same-domain
cookies.
Privoxy
The second is more anonymous but it sacrifices speed. You will use
this if you want to do something that you wouldn't want broadcasted.
The same as above except Firefox is set to expire cookies on close,
and keep no disk cache or history. Privoxy is also connected to Tor
for anonymization.
For email, Thunderbird and Enigmail can be setup to encrypt your
email to a very strong degree, as long as the recipient has a similar
setup.
New Enigmail versions are very user-friendly in this regard.
Also, it is possible to have two different "profiles" of
firefox on one machine, one that simply browses normally with sane
cookie rules, and another that passes through Tor/Privoxy and keeps
no history or cache and clears cookies on exit. This is simple to do
and a good mix of usability and the ability to be more anonymous if
desired.
One note: Remember that today's "uncrackable" will be a joke
in fifty years. Also, encrypted traffic will probably raise a certain
level of awareness among those doing the spying. Legally this poses
no problems but if you're doing something you wouldn't like discovered
sending encrypted e-mails to osama@alqaida.com it is probably a bad
idea.
A Proviso: The above two systems rely on closed
code and trusting updates. They would be very vulnerable to any form
of
governmental intrusion
and nothing can be done to mitigate this. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO
SOMETHING ILLEGAL, DON'T USE ANYTHING CLOSED-SOURCE TO DO IT WITH.
If you
do intend to do something illegal, or even if you're just paranoid
like
me, a good idea would be to have a second machine. This is similar
to what the NSA does internally: Classified machines cannot talk
to Top Secret machines, and none of them can talk to Unclassified
machines.
A good Classified or Top Secret machine might look like this. This
machine should be reasonably secure against anything but a direct,
physical attack.
BSD or Linux OS, properly configured (details are outside the scope
of this article. I will be happy to provide further information upon
request).
A solid, encrypted file system or BestCrypt for any user data.
Not connected to the network. Use a USB flash keychain/thumb drive
for getting data off of it.
Again, none of this is any good at all if your master password is
your birthday.
I hope someone finds this useful and I'm happy to answer any more
detailed questions either via SurvivalBlog or directly. - Paedrig
Hawkwing (PaedrigHawkwing-at-gmail.com--change
the "-at-" to an @ symbol)
JWR Adds: Our web statistics show that 19%
of our readers now use the Firefox browser, up substantially from the
16%
when we started SurvivalBlog back in August of Aught Five. My advice: DUMP
that back-door ridden, data mining Microsoft
Internet Explorer. Firefox is free!
Hi Jim,
Another option for anonymous web browsing is to install
Tor, an "onion routing" package that sends your data
through 'layers' of different servers before reaching your desired
destination.
After
I first installed Tor, I visited Google and was surprised to see
it looked a little different -- Google detected that I was coming
from
Austria (since the last server 'layer' was located there) and presented
me with "Google Österreich"! Tor is free and easy
to setup. The EFF has instructions for Windows ( http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/tor-doc-win32.html)
and OSX (http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/tor-doc-osx.html ). Regards,
- MP
