To be clear you should turn off your phone (as much as possible) before putting it into the faraday bag. If you don’t, the phone will rapidly drain its battery in a vain attempt to stay in contact with the network.
I learned this the hard way touring a museum battleship one morning with a fresh charge. I was using my phone to take pictures during the tour and halfway through below decks (about 30 minutes), the battery died. Normally the charge would last all day and then some. I should have put it in airplane mode.
Same goes for flying without turning off your cell or putting it in airplane mode: it will want to ping every antenna in your route, even from 40K feet up in the air.
The airplane mode along with manual shutting down all the other auxiliary networks such as wifi and bluetooth is sufficient to keep the battery from excessive drain. What's more, your device will be operational almost immediately in case you need it after taking it away from the cage and turning it to normal mode. What's even more, your phone will still be operational on anything that does not need network such as the camera or notepad and such.
In regards to the ending about Milk of Magnesia and pepper spray: It appears that this advice has evolved and that pure, clean water is the consensus now - not any form of antacid.
I'm betting distilled water if you have it would be great as well, considering the negatively charged ions should drag any free particles as it passes over your face
Be very careful with Faraday bags. Some of the cheap ones don’t provide complete radio frequency isolation. If the vendor can’t supply an FCC/CE accredited test report, look elsewhere.
You can use the trick mentioned in upper comment to check for yourself. Put the phone in the bag without putting it on Airplane mode and check if the battery drains. (you can compare that to how much it drains when not in bag)
@@JiSe6669 Depending on how strong the cellular and WiFi networks are when you run this test, you could get a false “positive” result from this test method. A cheap Chinese Faraday bag would provide sufficient isolation in a weak cellular/WiFi environment, but might not block everything in very high signal level conditions. A double layer of aluminium baking foil always works, but is way less convenient.
I've read about DIY Faraday bags that commonly use layers of aluminium foil and fabric/envelopes. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if these do what they are thought to do? Is it a better idea to look for a good quality premade one rather than making one yourself?
Milk of magnesia is no more effective against pepper spray than plain water. Pepper spray is capsaicin held within oil droplets that is suspended in a propylene glycol solution in order to mix, and stay, with the water in your eye. The burning one feels of capsaicin is not due to PH, but because it bonds with the heat receptors of your body. The method of removal of pepper spray is to do an eye flush with fresh water or saline. The goal is for mechanical removal of the oil droplets via the water flush. Using a water bottle with a sports cap, forcefully spray water moving from the tear duct to the outside of the eye. Do this twice for each eye, and then reaccess. Make sure to keep the same hand on the bottle the whole time, so you don't contaminate it with capsaicin.
If pepper spray is a particularly significant threat wherever you're going, it wouldn't be a bad idea to carry around a portable sprayer so you can get a good jet of water in a smallish form factor. Maybe have one person carrying a backpack sprayer. Hell, even a super soaker would work, lol.
Many years ago, I was in charge of COMSEC and OPSEC on a US Navy ship. Cell phones were new. During an exercise, sailors were using cell phones and the "opposing" force found us. I wanted to give a warning, but if caught using a phone when deployed you would have to talk to the XO to get your phone back. Cell phones and pads and PCs are very bad for OPSEC. But they are now a part of modern life. And photos are a whole other game. Many asked why I could take photos and they were not. I was the enlisted intel guy, it was my job to have a camera.
Thanks for this. You confirmed A LOT of theories I had for a situation like this. Most of them dumping your mobile phone, screening your photography for any notifiable landmarks/roadsigns/markers etc. Basically going back to a pre-1999 setup.
@@LeonSteelpaw most new digital cameras that *do* have GPS as an option have it as that, entirely optional. Cheapish very long range telephoto lenses for digital cameras are potentially useful for recon too
You can also yank the gps and other network stuff from a phone or tablet depending on model. Or build one out yourself from components. Lots of functionality without the tracking concerns.
Speaking of the Russian-Ukraine war, I heard during their takeover of Crimeia back in 2014, Russian forces actually even stopped using radio and had on foot messengers relaying information instead for Opsec. That’s why when the attack actually happened, Western countries were caught off guard as they didn’t see any dramatic increase in radio traffic to suggest an invasion was imminent. Seems like making use of older, non-transmitting technology still has its place.
Debatable how accurate the footage was, as it's been noted that media outlets have been staging their own photo ops, but I saw a clip of Ukrainian soldiers stomping around with Baofengs. Any ol' lid with a radio could relay what they're transmitting, so long as they were within range. There's no way to secure a Baofeng's comms. What's more is that the range on them is relatively short. Within two miles, without buildings or foliage, maybe four to five with hills and clear as could be.
@@burhanbudak6041 I think it was motorcycle couriers disguised as locals and he also used the local call to prayer as a broadcast to his troops. The people running the wargame discredited his results because they were angry he won using old school methods and minimalist tools.
And be aware that if you drive a recent model vehicle, you are probably being tracked 24/7 by the car's "telematics" regardless of if you are paying for it or not.
Point of contention, TOR is not secure. Even if the protocol was broken, the actual nodes are generally run by people with interests that conflict with your privacy. De-anonymization of TOR users has been a priority of governments for a while, and they're getting good at it.
"Liquid antacid and water: A liquid antacid such as “milk of magnesia” or Maalox is mixed 50/50 with water. MAKE SURE THERE IS NO MINT FLAVORING IN THE ANTACID! Follow the same steps outlined in the Get It Off section for washing chemical irritants from the patient’s eyes." - frontlinewellness article called "Guidelines for Treating Exposure to Pepper-Spray/Chemical Irritants"
I was detained in an "illegal protest" zone here in Russia a couple of days ago. I had 5% of charge and purged my phone 1937 style while connecting with my parents and university just in case. A big portion of my messages, memes and even all my lewd art had to go just in case. Now I know it probably wouldn't have helped much if they were really at it. This event nearly cost me my university and a lot of money put in it, but thankfully security service of my university got on my side and saved me. I know much more now...
A great and timely primer. I’ve co-taught an infosec & privacy class at my alma mater twice now. Even half a semester only allows me to “scratch the surface” of this topic.
Gait signature is another easy method of identifying an individual besides facial recognition. Simply the way you walk can identify you and be used to track you. Virtually every airport in the world deploys some form of this currently and is something to consider ways to mitigate in a conflict zone.
You shouldn't have it out distracting you anyways. Whether it's a protest or a firefight, if you want footage, run a mounted GoPro that doesn't have wifi and just focus on surviving. You can view and upload footage later, but you gotta be alive first
On the flipside, the vast, vast majority of people protesting don't have the ability to buy a go pro or even a digital camera and their cellphone camera is the only camera they have because they got it with a cellphone plan.
Mental Outlaw is a good channel to watch if you want to learn more about this stuff. His channel is dedicated to teaching everyone what it truly takes to protect your information. A lot of his stuff is fairly in-depth, but he does also have quite a few videos that are easy to follow for those not super tech-savvy.
Thank you for your insights, Karl! While I lead a generally boring life, the value of basic OPSEC is plain to see as relates to biometrics, finances, and other personal business. Out of everything I pay for every month, I’m certainly glad I have a few bucks to throw towards InRange!
It amuses me that the British invented and got Public Key Cryptography working in the late 60s / early 70's at GCHQ and passed it onto the NSA but kept it secret because they knew how powerful and useful it could be. They did the same for the first programmable, electronic, digital computer Colossus in 43 and said to be used breaking Russian codes in the 60's. Makes you wonder what other things they are working on now.
Darpa guys telling me we're on gen 5 nightvision. Full color and depth perception, looks exactly like day. Add in the "enhanced reality" stuff that detects/tracks movement, superimposes your dot, and increases contrast and it's just like the simulations(video games).
And that's what I'm actually hearing about. Next conflicts probably going to see them roll out the gen 8+ aircraft and other fully autonomous vehicles. Biological, chemical, and the eye shredding lazer weapons are gonna come out to play too. I'm thinking this next major war is gonna be the big one. The Final War against the Erev Rav. You know, the global domination one where all those prophesies pan out.
F-117 nighthawk flew for something like 19 years before they officially acknowledged it existed. So you could speculate the newest planes are 15-20 years ahead
They are probably running an algorithm to see when is the best time to retire while they can still buy a cottage in the countryside at an inflation rate of f(x) where x is No, I had better not make it more complicated.
This kicks anxiety up several notches. I feel this way after reading Cory Doctorow books especially the Little Brother series. I listen to Karl and I read these "Right Around the Corner" dystopian world view authors and I nearly get sick with anxiety the coming collapse has no place for disabled people like myself.
@@ChrisLoew Marked down as this is incorrect. This attitude is one reason why there are so many compromised machines contributing to DDOS attacks etc. You may not be a prime target but you are potentially useful precisely because you are anonymous and one of many. The effort expended may not be major or specifically targeted, the equivalent of walking down the street testing car doors to see if they are unlocked, but you are a target. Lock your car doors folks, don't make your life harder than it needs to be, given your target profile, but don't make it easy for the bad guys. BTW: Being variously (invisibly) disabled, in the type of job that would make be 'first against the wall' for some people, and in a group marked as 'Do Not Resuscitate' at the start of the Pandemic because of one of those Disabilities (we have an enquiry going on about why and how that happened in the UK) I understand the OP's feeling. Anyway, back to work doing my very minor bit to defend 'The Free World' as a civilian working from a desk.
@@rickansell661 Proving that anyone can make a contribution. Even if it is performing an otherwise needed yet menial task which frees up the more able bodied person for other tasks.
I really appreciate it when you cover topics like cyber security. The way things have shifted over the past few years it's clear that even the 'safest' of countries can turn against part of their citizenry with little provocation or warning
3/4 way through the video but boosting this in case it is not said. There is a lot of really funny radio jamming going on at the moment but if there is a competent signals unt in the field every single time you hit transmit you are a little closer to being located. Basically radio time is precious time, battery life, equipment life, life or death brevity and clarity, and counter monitoring and giving up your location.
This. Any competent military will pinpoint any radio signal down to the meter, from kilometers away. Better still, they will KNOW what you are doing from the spectral analysis. If you are facing a modern military, do not use anything - ANYTHING - that emits EM, unless absolutely necessary. In that aspect, a 'normal' cellphone may be better in some situations than walkie-talkies or the like... because at least you might have plausible deniability. As far as cryptography is concerned: AES-256 is likely safe. ECDSA 256 is also safe, but I wouldn't use NIST curves just in case. In a nutshell: TLS 1.3, SSH, etc - pretty much un-breakable head-on even by state actors. If you really have to encrypt data: Veracrypt should do the trick. Be aware people will KNOW you are hiding something, so hidden partitions for plausible deniability could safe you a couple fingers...
I love this karl. Over the years you always mentioned these things and doing a vid like this was awesome for you audience. During the early pandemic countries were tracking people during lockdowns to see if they left their homes via imei. Remove your battery if you do not want to be tracked by imei. And yes stay away from biometrics,your biometrics is sold to 3rd parties. In a conflict as civilian you have to remove your battery and only insert when its a emegency and not close to your safe location even if that means walking away for miles to make that call/message. In ww2 they found german positions when germans were using their radios and then they shelled them on that exact point killing them.
Movement underground can be recorded by 'motion senors'/'pedometers' and uploaded after you resurface above ground. (providing an undergound map).. +1 for Joey.
An excellent example of a life ending failure of OPSEC is in the murder of the rapper Young Dolph. He posted a picture of himself outside a cookie shop and the opposition came and killed him. Another example would be Yungeen Ace, a Florida rapper who added footage of him celebrating his brothers birthday to his Snapchat story. The opposition saw it and dumped more than 100 rifle rounds into his vehicle at point blank range. He was hit 8 times and survived. The other 3 teenagers in the car were killed, including his younger brother. If you have legitimate beef with anyone, you've gotta roll smarter than that. For the record, I've been posting TH-cam Shorts featuring footage of the Ukrainian war. One of the videos included footage of Ukrainian troops engaging a BTR from a roodtop. The roof had a sign on top of it. A random Ukrainian viewer immediately recognized and named the exact location in my comments. Geolocation is a given if your opposition is serious. OPSEC is imperative
Great analysis, RIP Dolph. This is such a great point that I try to stress to people who are more famous. Even if you have a small following you really shouldn't be updating your current location and you should always be able to disappear. Even the fact that Kim K got robbed at gunpoint in her hotel is the same situation, she made it well know where she was staying and someone was bold enough to test it. Always move in silence
is there a playlist of InRangeTV with discussions like this? i really enjoyed the Chicago cultist and dangerous things are dangerous medical training. the information, open perspective, and delivery are great.
Honestly, I was suprised to find out soldiers even took their phones with them at all. I know basically nothing about opsec, but it always felt like a nobrainer to me that if I ever end up in a war myself, I wouldn't even take any of my devices with me.
these were volunteer mercs from the west who took photos of their building. Also this is the reason why you see so much ukrainian soldier footage and very little russian, because the Russians only allow certain people to be able to record the war.
@@ravenwarjoy you're commenting on the airstrike of a foreign fighter compound that got destroyed by russia in ukrian, of which i replied to that. pretty simple.
@@ishitrealbad3039 Not really, no. I'm commenting on the general idea that you would take any device like that with you at all. I didn't even mention any specific event.
The CIA actually ran a program to turn cats into living spy devices. It didn't work out so well when one was hit by a car and the implanted equipment was discovered.
@@zoopercoolguy I've heard that story. Obviously is has been lingering in my subconscious since that was the first thing that came to my mind. Reality is stranger than fiction.
Due to the nature of this video and Last Podcast on the Left reminding me of the CIA's program of putting listening equipment in a cat I cracked up when the kitty jumped up onto the table.
Loved the "Johnny Mnemonic" quote. I read the original short story in the lamentably short-lived magazine OMNI. William Gibson's universe has not aged well. Do you ever listen to Harry Shearer? He has a regular feature about "smart houses/smart appliances" that is pretty scary.
Hi! Thanks again for everything you do. Your work is just awesome and very interesting. I haven't see any materials that was"boring" to me. Thank you,thank you the people working with you.
I always enjoy InfoSec talk on here, its is a far more useful and important topic to cover than firearms(not that I don't like other talks, but this is something that I like to know more of.).
I saw many saying that Russia is doing some sort of propaganda by not updating their losses. OpSec is supremely important. It is also why one should doubt the Ukrainian figures that are released more regularly as propaganda. I do not believe the Ukrainians are foolish enough to give a day by day accurate update of casualties as that is information which is supremely valuable.
Ivans: Putin is sending in the inexperienced, the conscripted and older equipment as cannon fodders! He doesn't care about casualties or losses. Also Ivans: Those deaths and equipment losses are all propaganda! Me: Shut up Ivan.
I've been using an idea that's helped me before, whatever the number given I halve it. It can be assumed that at least half of the given number is, by good chance real or references the factual info. Specifically for this current war and other info released, finding out the Russian Army brought in several cremation trucks can Both bode ill and support the large casualty and death numbers, or just be standard op procedure for when they go into a conflict. Or maybe I'm blowing smoke up arses, who knows anymore.
Assume it's all propaganda, and 95% of that is an outright lie, and you're probably close to the truth. That goes for the Russians, but also for the Ukranians, who get to do the craziest propaganda in Western press without an ounce of skepticism.
About passwords, use a secret partition encryption app so even if the customs or foreign police force you to open the device or get arrested you can just boot to the clean partition. TrueCrypt used to be able to do that before it disappeared but there's some other apps still capable of doing that.
Do note that phone also do accelerometer/barometer sensor suite logging. They can detect thump of a car door closing and bearer hopping on or off, not just in theory, but Google has been using it to maintain tracking in poor reception areas.
Karl, excellent. You are very conscious of civil responsibility and steps to increase civil protection. I also have a suggestion. This is a video on basic gun safety and how to use the weapon in a self protection and war emergency situation. This could also be how to handle firearms at the gun range, and around the family and children. I am sure you and Ian will do an outstanding job. I am a native of Arizona and I really like your histories of the Southwest! Mucho Gracias!
I guess I'm an old guy. If you can remember a long secure password, you can memorize a few important phone numbers. When I was a kid the first things you memorized were Mom and Dads names, your address, and phone number. Granted you only had to remember a 7 digit string, but if a contact is important enough to write on your arm, you can memorize it. "Smart" phones have made us mentally lazy. You don't even need to know someone's name today. Take a picture of them and fill in the contact info. I wonder how many of you out there remember 5 or ten phone #'s from your childhood that are useless now, but still in the gray Rolo-dex. Sorry for the Boomer rant. This is all great basic information. It just struck me odd.
Parents number, aunts and uncles, grandparents and my dad's work number. Anything I used regularly after getting a cell phone? I got nothing. Does it count as a boomer rant if I'm a millennial?
Look up the data the average attention span of the Contemporary American has degraded since the Advent of the cell phone, most average children have an attention span slightly shorter than honeybee and no I am not joking. I still , many decades later remember all those numbers I was taught as a child. Short-term memory is a lost art...
Today im going to talk about route clearance during the battle for middle earth... when i was fighting the hordes of Sauron, we were able to conduct effective counter ambush manuevers due to all their grindr accounts location features being on.
Love you so much! Glad I give most to you on patreon above other content creators. Honestly I’ve just been not consuming any content for a couple months, but then click this first in returning. Whoa
Excellent advice, as usual, I am a bit undecided about losing the Smartphone. Everything you said applies, it is a security risk to yourself, but in Ukraine we also see how it enables people without previous training to act as a makeshift forward observer.
Photos are especially easy to locate if the searchers have an idea of the area they were taken. Anyone taking photos should really take to heart the 4ch "he will not divide us" capture the flag op. If random internet users can locate a flag within hours with nothing more than a stream looking into a non de script sky, any photos including wide views or exteriors of buildings may as well be a geotagged photo.
This is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to a working Linux phone with switches to turn off connections. Transitioning to Linux on computers is also good, since any of the distributions are much more private than Windows or Mac OS. TAILS is a particularly secure Linux distro. But many of them are easy for Mac or Windows users to adapt to.
There's been speculation (possibly confirmed idk) on infosec twitter that just visiting the TAILS site will get your IP flagged by alphabet agencies, which seems believable.
@@keeran697 I mean, IP address is irrelevant. Don’t download it at home. Simple as. But more importantly you need to download it from a network you’ve never used, take public transport or walk to with no identifiable devices on you, using a computer either you’ve never used before or using macswitcher and librewolf to obfuscate your device info as much as possible, wear a mask because we have an excuse right now, try to obfuscate your features with makeup or what have you (give yourself a black eye for instance or contour around the eyes to change the “shape” and shadow). This is just a few of the steps I personally would take to anonymize myself as much as possible when downloading and installing (liveUSB is the better option of course) TailsOS. That device never needs to touch your home network, be around any of your other devices while it’s on, etc. Even then, it’s more likely that those steps will make you even more of a target than simply using a windows device with literally every telemetry option tagged, on Google chrome signed in, sharing location with a friend, and buying 3 soy lattes with a debit card. That option is more likely to provide you with legitimate anonymity than anything else I mentioned.
Tip for people with iPhones and face/touch ID turned on: You can DISABLE them until the next unlock by tapping the power button five times in a row. This locks the phone and renders it impossible for the police or anyone else to compel you to unlock your phone or forcibly unlock it.
AFAIK reddit deletes metadata if you upload e.g. a photo on the site. exif can also be found for Windows users (exiftool) If you want a standalone encryption with you on your USB drive, store a Veracrypt package on the stick aswell. Veracrypt also allows you to encrypt your whole drive. Also you can use keyfiles on external drives to add a layer of security. If you're using android and want to get a bit away from google, CalyxOS or LineageOS may be a possibility.
Well, a redditor was the reason why a Ukrainian military position installed in a school was shelled to oblivion like last week. He posted a selfie to a private group and someone in that group sent it out on discord, then a redditor posted it for gold from kind strangers and within the hour the Russians had stripped the metadata and shelled the coordinates. Point being: don’t trust. Especially don’t trust redditors.
About metadata - can be quite a powerful tool for quickly recording the GPS location of something you're taking a picture of, especially those high-tier SLRs that use a LED/Laser based range finder focus. Obviously, if you're conducting surveillance (or any form of espionage), you need to be extremely surreptitious to the point of paranoid and further mask your signature. Look at all those Russian SSO caught in the first couple of days just doing dumb things like "speeding" and "ignoring law enforcement".
Also, a tangent to the range-finding SLRs - be wary of taking pictures of military installations and (especially) vehicles. Some of them are fitted with IRCM which can detect emissions from the device you're using. This may not immediately implicate you but it could give away your activity in future or tip-off whoever you're snooping on. Remember the onion of protection: Avoid exposure -> avoid detection -> avoid targetting -> avoid engagement -> avoid being hit... hopefully you never get here, but god help you if do.
I've seen other TH-cam channels talk about "how to install ATAC" on a mobile device to use while operating...without a single mention of the fact you're turning yourself and anyone else around you into a target the moment you turn it on. Most people have no idea what ELINT capabilities exist out there. US Army & Marines during the first gulf war began to notice when they powered on laptops and other portable electronics they'd receive incoming Iraqi artillery fire. Why? They could detect the electronic emissionsand that was 30 years ago. The ability and cost to do it now is even less and more capable.
I must say that as a Finn, we get good info on Russian tactics and such by this current shite going on. If we are next on the menu, they will have even harder time in here.
Luulekko et Venäjä ois mahdollisesti tulossa Suomeen? NATOon liittyminen vaikuttas huonolta idealta tuntien naapurin, ite en toista syytä miehitykseen näe. Kukapa nyt tietää mitä tulevaisuus saattaa mukanaan tuoda? Mutta miten voi spekuloida tämänkaltaisista skenaariosta joiden syyt ja seuraukset on hankalasti pääteltävissä? Minkälaiseen pisteeseen pitäs ees päästä et NATO jäsenyys olis fiksu päätös maanpuolustusperspektiivistä? Ei toistaseks näytä siltä että jäsenyys ois sen lähempänä. Mikä sun mielestä saattais olla syy siihen että naapurit alkaisivat miehityshommiin? Vaikee hahmottaa miten he miehityksestä hyötyisivät.
@@ytrepronxa2401 En usko, että Venäjä olis tulossa tänne vaikka littyttäis Natoon kahdesti. Todennäköisempänä pidän, että he hyökkää jos ei liitytä. Kauniit puheet puoluettomuudesta on ihan höpöhöpöä. Se ollaa nyt Ukrainan kanssa todistettu. Kaikki mitä miä olen ottanut selvää puoltaa natoon liittymistä. Me tarvitaan mahdollisen hyökkäyksen koittaessa lisää miehiä tänne. Toinen syy liittymiseen on talous. Suomi tarvitsee investointeja ulkomailta. Lisää serverihalleja jne. Niitä ei tänne kukaan lähde rakentamaan jos ei kuuluta natoon ja venäjä asuu naapurissa.
Looks like you're more likely next on NATO's menu, but that will go without a fight. Your government will use fear to get everyone to go along willingly. As has been the playbook since the dawn of time.
What about if your just traveling to say Las Vegas… how important is it use a faraday bag… are tourist destinations more likely to be dangerous from a data/identity theft standpoint? I honestly know very little about this so hearing from a trusted source is appreciated!!
Las Vegas has a lot of external cameras on buildings, and tons inside the various hotels. They also want you to connect to their wifi, which they will keep and sell your meta data. Vegas is probably the most surveilled location in the US. If you're wanting to do stuff in Vegas privately, then a Faraday Bag would be a good idea.
In the early days of Prepping ( aka ' survivalism ) in the late '70s- early '80s, my friends an I came up with pretty good secure communication system. Street Signs, Markers, and codewords. The Codewords and phrases would change meaning depending on what sort of sign it was on- stop/parking/crossing/speed limit etc.. the same word or phrase could mean 'stay home', 'go to location XYZ' , or 'Medic needed at location XYZ'.
I decided to just test if wrapping your cell phone in aluminum foil will block all signals in and out. It does indeed block all signals. Mylar lined cold bags do NOT block the signal though.
I would like to add that a pretty good solution to most of the smartphone related problems is to use a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS installed. Pictures taken with the camera are scrubbed of all the metadata automatically, the phone doesn’t communicate to Google or any other big company, when you put it in airplane mode it really turns everything off, and it’s hardened against being compromised through the USB-C port. The main downside is not being able to use social media and other similar apps but such apps should be avoided anyway by any privacy conscious person. I’ve been using a Pixel with Graphene for a few months coming from an iPhone and I’m very happy with it.
Any form of Faraday cage is useless unless it is electrically grounded. They also have to have a weave tighter than the smallest wavelength of signal they are trying to block out. In the case of short wave communications, the gaps in the mesh can be no bigger than 1mm (0.03"). Unless you are putting your phone inside of an actual metal wire fabric and keeping a grounding spike in the soil at all times, you might as well not bother. TOR and the browser are usable from a flash drive plugged in to any computer. If you are using it on a personal device, use a VPN on top of TOR. Your ISP will see the VPN, the VPN will see only see TOR and the TOR nodes only see the node before and after them.
Speaking of cats and OpSec, the implanted microchips which are mandatory for pets in many places are essentially a short range transponder used in conjunction with a database, the potential exists for that to be misused at some point as unlikely as it might seem.
To be clear you should turn off your phone (as much as possible) before putting it into the faraday bag.
If you don’t, the phone will rapidly drain its battery in a vain attempt to stay in contact with the network.
Yes
I learned this the hard way touring a museum battleship one morning with a fresh charge. I was using my phone to take pictures during the tour and halfway through below decks (about 30 minutes), the battery died. Normally the charge would last all day and then some. I should have put it in airplane mode.
Same goes for flying without turning off your cell or putting it in airplane mode: it will want to ping every antenna in your route, even from 40K feet up in the air.
The airplane mode along with manual shutting down all the other auxiliary networks such as wifi and bluetooth is sufficient to keep the battery from excessive drain. What's more, your device will be operational almost immediately in case you need it after taking it away from the cage and turning it to normal mode. What's even more, your phone will still be operational on anything that does not need network such as the camera or notepad and such.
I do miss removable batteries...However hacking it to physically disconnect the battery indicate an awareness of the data leak it provides. :(
In regards to the ending about Milk of Magnesia and pepper spray:
It appears that this advice has evolved and that pure, clean water is the consensus now - not any form of antacid.
any chance you could pin this to the top? its getting buried.
You should pin this. I only found it after a good 5 mins, many won’t.
At least you didn't suggest dairy milk!
Thank you good to know I have just been using a Capsaicin sauna and eye drops for tolerance . your advice seems more practical
I'm betting distilled water if you have it would be great as well, considering the negatively charged ions should drag any free particles as it passes over your face
The cat just wandering in the rear gives opsec and situation awareness on a higher tier
thats a big beast ;)
Is that a cougar? jesus
I love silver tabbies. They gets bigs
I would watch JoeyrangeTV
Lol I was like ... Is that cat??
Be very careful with Faraday bags. Some of the cheap ones don’t provide complete radio frequency isolation. If the vendor can’t supply an FCC/CE accredited test report, look elsewhere.
You can use the trick mentioned in upper comment to check for yourself. Put the phone in the bag without putting it on Airplane mode and check if the battery drains. (you can compare that to how much it drains when not in bag)
@@JiSe6669 Depending on how strong the cellular and WiFi networks are when you run this test, you could get a false “positive” result from this test method. A cheap Chinese Faraday bag would provide sufficient isolation in a weak cellular/WiFi environment, but might not block everything in very high signal level conditions. A double layer of aluminium baking foil always works, but is way less convenient.
Or get a phone mod that allows you to rip the phone battery out.
Whenever I want privacy, I just drop my phone in my stainless steel cocktail shaker.
Another reason to never travel without your bar.
I've read about DIY Faraday bags that commonly use layers of aluminium foil and fabric/envelopes. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if these do what they are thought to do? Is it a better idea to look for a good quality premade one rather than making one yourself?
Milk of magnesia is no more effective against pepper spray than plain water. Pepper spray is capsaicin held within oil droplets that is suspended in a propylene glycol solution in order to mix, and stay, with the water in your eye. The burning one feels of capsaicin is not due to PH, but because it bonds with the heat receptors of your body.
The method of removal of pepper spray is to do an eye flush with fresh water or saline. The goal is for mechanical removal of the oil droplets via the water flush. Using a water bottle with a sports cap, forcefully spray water moving from the tear duct to the outside of the eye. Do this twice for each eye, and then reaccess. Make sure to keep the same hand on the bottle the whole time, so you don't contaminate it with capsaicin.
Just a question: Wouldn't a rinse with some oil be better than? It should bind the capsaicin crystals and carry them away, right?!
@@TheRealObiWahn Putting oil in your eyes is generally a bad idea. Especially when water works and is more abundant.
If pepper spray is a particularly significant threat wherever you're going, it wouldn't be a bad idea to carry around a portable sprayer so you can get a good jet of water in a smallish form factor. Maybe have one person carrying a backpack sprayer. Hell, even a super soaker would work, lol.
Mild emulsifier in lots of water, maybe. Oil, no way.
@@Schnozinski Just use a squeezable water bottle. Bike water bottles are a good option.
Many years ago, I was in charge of COMSEC and OPSEC on a US Navy ship. Cell phones were new. During an exercise, sailors were using cell phones and the "opposing" force found us. I wanted to give a warning, but if caught using a phone when deployed you would have to talk to the XO to get your phone back. Cell phones and pads and PCs are very bad for OPSEC. But they are now a part of modern life.
And photos are a whole other game. Many asked why I could take photos and they were not. I was the enlisted intel guy, it was my job to have a camera.
the recent stuff with the failed F35 landing and the leaked footage was a great example
I think there is an old story from Chechnya were the Russians tricked a rebel leader onto a phone then called in a grid strike.
@@tommihommi1 And these leaks are currently being investigated. And may end with some sailors in very hot water, I personally hope it does.
People don't realize that geotagging is a thing. It's why TCNs and OCNs in Afghanistan were not allowed to have computers or smart phones.
@@chrisspencer6502 Didn't we do that also
1.Don't post selfies online while you're anywhere near the place you took it
2.Don't post selfies online
3.Don't post online
4.Seriously don't
he said, posting online
@@user-mn8lz7gf6d well, hopefully he's not in a warzone...
Post my coordinates on Ifunny? Got it
@@user-mn8lz7gf6d I'm not in the warzone (yet)
@@norsethenomad5978 post coordinates while at the gym to flex physique simultaneously. Then do backhole gif captions
Thanks for this. You confirmed A LOT of theories I had for a situation like this. Most of them dumping your mobile phone, screening your photography for any notifiable landmarks/roadsigns/markers etc. Basically going back to a pre-1999 setup.
So nothing connected to the net, pretty positive you can still get older digital cameras with good photo quality
@@LeonSteelpaw that too.
@@LeonSteelpaw most new digital cameras that *do* have GPS as an option have it as that, entirely optional. Cheapish very long range telephoto lenses for digital cameras are potentially useful for recon too
@@keeran697 Don't forget it can be ad-hoc binoculars if you want to save on weight
You can also yank the gps and other network stuff from a phone or tablet depending on model. Or build one out yourself from components. Lots of functionality without the tracking concerns.
Speaking of the Russian-Ukraine war, I heard during their takeover of Crimeia back in 2014, Russian forces actually even stopped using radio and had on foot messengers relaying information instead for Opsec. That’s why when the attack actually happened, Western countries were caught off guard as they didn’t see any dramatic increase in radio traffic to suggest an invasion was imminent.
Seems like making use of older, non-transmitting technology still has its place.
I'd heard that was a reason USA had so much trouble tracking 9-11 terrorists, they simply didn't use electronic communications.
Debatable how accurate the footage was, as it's been noted that media outlets have been staging their own photo ops, but I saw a clip of Ukrainian soldiers stomping around with Baofengs.
Any ol' lid with a radio could relay what they're transmitting, so long as they were within range. There's no way to secure a Baofeng's comms. What's more is that the range on them is relatively short. Within two miles, without buildings or foliage, maybe four to five with hills and clear as could be.
@@RolandsDad wasn't it Russian POWs that turned out to have baofengs?
It could be both. Imagine ending up on the same channel as the opponent.
IIRC from some mini-doc, Ukrainians in Donbas were stringing copper wire to communicate between their trenches. Radio too sketch.
@@burhanbudak6041 I think it was motorcycle couriers disguised as locals and he also used the local call to prayer as a broadcast to his troops.
The people running the wargame discredited his results because they were angry he won using old school methods and minimalist tools.
And be aware that if you drive a recent model vehicle, you are probably being tracked 24/7 by the car's "telematics" regardless of if you are paying for it or not.
@@nfaisnfgay that's like what...the 70's? My mother's carburetor subaru from the mid 80's had a computer in it. Hated that thing.
Pop the fuse for the modem.
@@Swordsman52 as if the modem is a separate thing....everything is integrated now.
@@roguetorino it is certainly a separate thing for the 2022 Maverick, which is a new model.
@@daer2121 pre 95 ecu's should be ok. they don't broadcast or receive outside signals.
The slogan ,,loose lips might sink ships'' is now as important as it was in WW2
Point of contention, TOR is not secure. Even if the protocol was broken, the actual nodes are generally run by people with interests that conflict with your privacy. De-anonymization of TOR users has been a priority of governments for a while, and they're getting good at it.
TOR was never a secure thing. It’s made by the US government for crying out loud.
@@joshwist556 Well, US government might need privacy in... well, "less permissible environments" too, so...
A large number of TOR exit nodes are government run.
@@joshwist556 funded in part by it, not run. It's useful to people and groups the US has an interest in the security of, not just adversaries.
I remember hearing years ago TOR wasn't really secure anymore
Not sure if anyone has figured out a safe alternative yet.
"Liquid antacid and water: A liquid antacid such as “milk of magnesia” or Maalox is mixed 50/50 with water. MAKE SURE THERE IS NO MINT FLAVORING IN THE ANTACID! Follow the same steps outlined in the Get It Off section for washing chemical irritants from the patient’s eyes."
- frontlinewellness article called "Guidelines for Treating Exposure to Pepper-Spray/Chemical Irritants"
Always remember to practice safe SECS friends
Condom on barrel every time, magnum of course
@@bobblunt7115 Ooops, I drop my magnum condom for my massive barrel.
That's why I always wear a mask while doing it
I was detained in an "illegal protest" zone here in Russia a couple of days ago. I had 5% of charge and purged my phone 1937 style while connecting with my parents and university just in case. A big portion of my messages, memes and even all my lewd art had to go just in case. Now I know it probably wouldn't have helped much if they were really at it. This event nearly cost me my university and a lot of money put in it, but thankfully security service of my university got on my side and saved me. I know much more now...
stick it to the man brother
@@HircineDaWolf huh?
@@Paul_Sergeyev Stick it to the man brudurrrr
@@TY-pf6vb to what man? What do you mean?)
@@Paul_Sergeyev it's a saying, encouraging you to disobey the authorities
A great and timely primer. I’ve co-taught an infosec & privacy class at my alma mater twice now. Even half a semester only allows me to “scratch the surface” of this topic.
The small rodents and birds immediate to Karl’s 6 o’clock are in a conflict zone. All jokes aside, excellent information.
Gait signature is another easy method of identifying an individual besides facial recognition. Simply the way you walk can identify you and be used to track you. Virtually every airport in the world deploys some form of this currently and is something to consider ways to mitigate in a conflict zone.
I'm wondering if putting a rock in your shoe, or pulling out the insole in one shoe might beat it in a pinch.
If you walk without rhythmn, you won't attract the worm.
You shouldn't have it out distracting you anyways. Whether it's a protest or a firefight, if you want footage, run a mounted GoPro that doesn't have wifi and just focus on surviving. You can view and upload footage later, but you gotta be alive first
On the flipside, the vast, vast majority of people protesting don't have the ability to buy a go pro or even a digital camera and their cellphone camera is the only camera they have because they got it with a cellphone plan.
Joey seems like a great cat, Karl. Great video
7:23 Dont use amazon guys. At most use it to search for items you want. But go to their specific website and support them directly.
Mental Outlaw is a good channel to watch if you want to learn more about this stuff. His channel is dedicated to teaching everyone what it truly takes to protect your information. A lot of his stuff is fairly in-depth, but he does also have quite a few videos that are easy to follow for those not super tech-savvy.
Thank you for your insights, Karl! While I lead a generally boring life, the value of basic OPSEC is plain to see as relates to biometrics, finances, and other personal business. Out of everything I pay for every month, I’m certainly glad I have a few bucks to throw towards InRange!
Thank you very much, and glad it was interesting!
It amuses me that the British invented and got Public Key Cryptography working in the late 60s / early 70's at GCHQ and passed it onto the NSA but kept it secret because they knew how powerful and useful it could be. They did the same for the first programmable, electronic, digital computer Colossus in 43 and said to be used breaking Russian codes in the 60's. Makes you wonder what other things they are working on now.
Darpa guys telling me we're on gen 5 nightvision. Full color and depth perception, looks exactly like day. Add in the "enhanced reality" stuff that detects/tracks movement, superimposes your dot, and increases contrast and it's just like the simulations(video games).
And that's what I'm actually hearing about. Next conflicts probably going to see them roll out the gen 8+ aircraft and other fully autonomous vehicles. Biological, chemical, and the eye shredding lazer weapons are gonna come out to play too. I'm thinking this next major war is gonna be the big one. The Final War against the Erev Rav. You know, the global domination one where all those prophesies pan out.
F-117 nighthawk flew for something like 19 years before they officially acknowledged it existed. So you could speculate the newest planes are 15-20 years ahead
They are probably running an algorithm to see when is the best time to retire while they can still buy a cottage in the countryside at an inflation rate of f(x) where x is
No, I had better not make it more complicated.
@@chloedemeter5473 so you're saying we get a new COD game?
This kicks anxiety up several notches. I feel this way after reading Cory Doctorow books especially the Little Brother series. I listen to Karl and I read these "Right Around the Corner" dystopian world view authors and I nearly get sick with anxiety the coming collapse has no place for disabled people like myself.
@@ChrisLoew Marked down as this is incorrect.
This attitude is one reason why there are so many compromised machines contributing to DDOS attacks etc. You may not be a prime target but you are potentially useful precisely because you are anonymous and one of many. The effort expended may not be major or specifically targeted, the equivalent of walking down the street testing car doors to see if they are unlocked, but you are a target.
Lock your car doors folks, don't make your life harder than it needs to be, given your target profile, but don't make it easy for the bad guys.
BTW: Being variously (invisibly) disabled, in the type of job that would make be 'first against the wall' for some people, and in a group marked as 'Do Not Resuscitate' at the start of the Pandemic because of one of those Disabilities (we have an enquiry going on about why and how that happened in the UK) I understand the OP's feeling.
Anyway, back to work doing my very minor bit to defend 'The Free World' as a civilian working from a desk.
Everybody has a place, it may just be different. I take my mind back to a photograph of a group of Ukrainians in Wheelchairs making Molotov Cocktails.
@@rickansell661 Proving that anyone can make a contribution. Even if it is performing an otherwise needed yet menial task which frees up the more able bodied person for other tasks.
I really appreciate it when you cover topics like cyber security. The way things have shifted over the past few years it's clear that even the 'safest' of countries can turn against part of their citizenry with little provocation or warning
3/4 way through the video but boosting this in case it is not said. There is a lot of really funny radio jamming going on at the moment but if there is a competent signals unt in the field every single time you hit transmit you are a little closer to being located. Basically radio time is precious time, battery life, equipment life, life or death brevity and clarity, and counter monitoring and giving up your location.
This. Any competent military will pinpoint any radio signal down to the meter, from kilometers away. Better still, they will KNOW what you are doing from the spectral analysis.
If you are facing a modern military, do not use anything - ANYTHING - that emits EM, unless absolutely necessary.
In that aspect, a 'normal' cellphone may be better in some situations than walkie-talkies or the like... because at least you might have plausible deniability.
As far as cryptography is concerned: AES-256 is likely safe. ECDSA 256 is also safe, but I wouldn't use NIST curves just in case. In a nutshell: TLS 1.3, SSH, etc - pretty much un-breakable head-on even by state actors.
If you really have to encrypt data: Veracrypt should do the trick. Be aware people will KNOW you are hiding something, so hidden partitions for plausible deniability could safe you a couple fingers...
Me: trying to absorb useful information that could keep me alive
Also me: Kitty!
I love this karl. Over the years you always mentioned these things and doing a vid like this was awesome for you audience. During the early pandemic countries were tracking people during lockdowns to see if they left their homes via imei. Remove your battery if you do not want to be tracked by imei. And yes stay away from biometrics,your biometrics is sold to 3rd parties. In a conflict as civilian you have to remove your battery and only insert when its a emegency and not close to your safe location even if that means walking away for miles to make that call/message. In ww2 they found german positions when germans were using their radios and then they shelled them on that exact point killing them.
The majority of smartphone no longer have removable batteries.
Movement underground can be recorded by 'motion senors'/'pedometers' and uploaded after you resurface above ground. (providing an undergound map)..
+1 for Joey.
An excellent example of a life ending failure of OPSEC is in the murder of the rapper Young Dolph. He posted a picture of himself outside a cookie shop and the opposition came and killed him. Another example would be Yungeen Ace, a Florida rapper who added footage of him celebrating his brothers birthday to his Snapchat story. The opposition saw it and dumped more than 100 rifle rounds into his vehicle at point blank range. He was hit 8 times and survived. The other 3 teenagers in the car were killed, including his younger brother. If you have legitimate beef with anyone, you've gotta roll smarter than that. For the record, I've been posting TH-cam Shorts featuring footage of the Ukrainian war. One of the videos included footage of Ukrainian troops engaging a BTR from a roodtop. The roof had a sign on top of it. A random Ukrainian viewer immediately recognized and named the exact location in my comments. Geolocation is a given if your opposition is serious. OPSEC is imperative
Great analysis, RIP Dolph. This is such a great point that I try to stress to people who are more famous. Even if you have a small following you really shouldn't be updating your current location and you should always be able to disappear. Even the fact that Kim K got robbed at gunpoint in her hotel is the same situation, she made it well know where she was staying and someone was bold enough to test it. Always move in silence
Wtf is "the opposition"? Is that what gang bangers call the other low-lifes trying to kill them now? LMAO
is there a playlist of InRangeTV with discussions like this? i really enjoyed the Chicago cultist and dangerous things are dangerous medical training. the information, open perspective, and delivery are great.
Honestly, I was suprised to find out soldiers even took their phones with them at all. I know basically nothing about opsec, but it always felt like a nobrainer to me that if I ever end up in a war myself, I wouldn't even take any of my devices with me.
these were volunteer mercs from the west who took photos of their building.
Also this is the reason why you see so much ukrainian soldier footage and very little russian, because the Russians only allow certain people to be able to record the war.
@@ishitrealbad3039 I feel like this is a responce to someone else's comment
@@ravenwarjoy you're commenting on the airstrike of a foreign fighter compound that got destroyed by russia in ukrian, of which i replied to that.
pretty simple.
@@ishitrealbad3039 Not really, no. I'm commenting on the general idea that you would take any device like that with you at all. I didn't even mention any specific event.
Please make more videos like this, there’s tons of videos on what is wrong with the world, but few videos with solutions.
Second this*
.
Little did you know, the cat is wearing a wire. You're screwed.
Damn it, Joey.
The CIA actually ran a program to turn cats into living spy devices. It didn't work out so well when one was hit by a car and the implanted equipment was discovered.
@@zoopercoolguy I've heard that story. Obviously is has been lingering in my subconscious since that was the first thing that came to my mind. Reality is stranger than fiction.
Consider that sunglasses and other glasses mirror the environment, which increases the information shown in photos and videos. ;-)
Cats are always ready willing and able to assist at any time. 😂👍
Due to the nature of this video and Last Podcast on the Left reminding me of the CIA's program of putting listening equipment in a cat I cracked up when the kitty jumped up onto the table.
7:12 that cat looks almost exactly like my cat Bean 2006-2018 😼
R.I.P. Bean
F
@@theangrycheeto thanks 😸
F
Loved the "Johnny Mnemonic" quote. I read the original short story in the lamentably short-lived magazine OMNI. William Gibson's universe has not aged well. Do you ever listen to Harry Shearer? He has a regular feature about "smart houses/smart appliances" that is pretty scary.
Yeah id prefer my house to not be IOT
Gibson is still one of my favourite authors.
Hi! Thanks again for everything you do. Your work is just awesome and very interesting. I haven't see any materials that was"boring" to me. Thank you,thank you the people working with you.
Thank you very much!
Thank you for making this video!
I personally may not need it, but especially in the firearm community people may not be well versed in infosec.
Word. OpSec was, is and will be on my mind. After all I live in Israel... Photo, info, electronic signatures...
Oooh, Karl making an InRangeTV video without any firearms? I already know this will be a banger
I always enjoy InfoSec talk on here, its is a far more useful and important topic to cover than firearms(not that I don't like other talks, but this is something that I like to know more of.).
@@Rendo86 I mean, this has worldwide applicability. Whereas firearm stuff is, like it or not, mostly applicable only to Americans.
Just no firearms on screen..totally different
I saw many saying that Russia is doing some sort of propaganda by not updating their losses. OpSec is supremely important. It is also why one should doubt the Ukrainian figures that are released more regularly as propaganda. I do not believe the Ukrainians are foolish enough to give a day by day accurate update of casualties as that is information which is supremely valuable.
Ivans: Putin is sending in the inexperienced, the conscripted and older equipment as cannon fodders! He doesn't care about casualties or losses.
Also Ivans: Those deaths and equipment losses are all propaganda!
Me: Shut up Ivan.
I've been using an idea that's helped me before, whatever the number given I halve it. It can be assumed that at least half of the given number is, by good chance real or references the factual info. Specifically for this current war and other info released, finding out the Russian Army brought in several cremation trucks can Both bode ill and support the large casualty and death numbers, or just be standard op procedure for when they go into a conflict.
Or maybe I'm blowing smoke up arses, who knows anymore.
@@SCH292 information war. Truth is the first causality in war.
Assume it's all propaganda, and 95% of that is an outright lie, and you're probably close to the truth. That goes for the Russians, but also for the Ukranians, who get to do the craziest propaganda in Western press without an ounce of skepticism.
About passwords, use a secret partition encryption app so even if the customs or foreign police force you to open the device or get arrested you can just boot to the clean partition. TrueCrypt used to be able to do that before it disappeared but there's some other apps still capable of doing that.
We used to just remember telephone numbers... god I feel old. (It's much easier to remember the dialing pattern than the actual numbers.)
Yep. The kinetics of a movement pattern repeated precisely hundreds or thousands of times is VERY powerful.
We need to know about the cat. tells us about the cat.
We have name, genre, appearance, this is a good start.
@@426baron also personal affiliations, background visuals, interests and facial scan, ; )
... and remember the U.S. government, uses aircraft to monitor cell phone traffic. Even the smallest radius is 20 miles, (drt box ).
Good job 👍
Do note that phone also do accelerometer/barometer sensor suite logging. They can detect thump of a car door closing and bearer hopping on or off, not just in theory, but Google has been using it to maintain tracking in poor reception areas.
Karl, excellent. You are very conscious of civil responsibility and steps to increase civil protection. I also have a suggestion. This is a video on basic gun safety and how to use the weapon in a self protection and war emergency situation. This could also be how to handle firearms at the gun range, and around the family and children. I am sure you and Ian will do an outstanding job. I am a native of Arizona and I really like your histories of the Southwest! Mucho Gracias!
Another thing to consider, and it's not always viable, is to not make yourself an obvious target.
There's that overused saying: "When in Rome"
That's half the saying. The saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."
Thank you for making this! People desperately need this information and I'm grateful you found a way to help.
I guess I'm an old guy.
If you can remember a long secure password, you can memorize a few important phone numbers.
When I was a kid the first things you memorized were Mom and Dads names, your address, and phone number.
Granted you only had to remember a 7 digit string, but if a contact is important enough to write on your arm, you can memorize it.
"Smart" phones have made us mentally lazy. You don't even need to know someone's name today. Take a picture of them and fill in the contact info.
I wonder how many of you out there remember 5 or ten phone #'s from your childhood that are useless now, but still in the gray Rolo-dex.
Sorry for the Boomer rant. This is all great basic information. It just struck me odd.
Parents number, aunts and uncles, grandparents and my dad's work number. Anything I used regularly after getting a cell phone? I got nothing. Does it count as a boomer rant if I'm a millennial?
Look up the data the average attention span of the Contemporary American has degraded since the Advent of the cell phone, most average children have an attention span slightly shorter than honeybee and no I am not joking. I still , many decades later remember all those numbers I was taught as a child. Short-term memory is a lost art...
First DL#, and of course my rifle's SN MCRD from a 1/2 century ago. Memory is really weird.
The only personal device I would be willing to consider bringing into a conflict zone is a kindle in flight mode.
Thanks for sharing this. I’d love to see more content like this.
First thing I always do...
Burner phones that are as dumb as possible, ham or cb radio and prepaid debit cards.
prepaid debit card is excellent point
Harder to find and cell phone companies are starting to no longer support the those
outstanding!
Solid content for these unhappy times.
Of course Karl has an SIC (standard issue cat)
Today im going to talk about route clearance during the battle for middle earth... when i was fighting the hordes of Sauron, we were able to conduct effective counter ambush manuevers due to all their grindr accounts location features being on.
That cat looks huge
Love you so much! Glad I give most to you on patreon above other content creators. Honestly I’ve just been not consuming any content for a couple months, but then click this first in returning. Whoa
More Joey please!
Excellent advice, as usual, I am a bit undecided about losing the Smartphone.
Everything you said applies, it is a security risk to yourself, but in Ukraine we also see how it enables people without previous training to act as a makeshift forward observer.
Every civ is now an osint agent I’m honestly surprised Russia hasn’t bombed the 4g and 5g towers.
It's a trade-off, and it's up to you to decide if the risk is worth it.
Thanks for the Primer Karl! Definitely some things I had not considered!
Photos are especially easy to locate if the searchers have an idea of the area they were taken. Anyone taking photos should really take to heart the 4ch "he will not divide us" capture the flag op. If random internet users can locate a flag within hours with nothing more than a stream looking into a non de script sky, any photos including wide views or exteriors of buildings may as well be a geotagged photo.
People train themselves to geo guess a location in several seconds flat lol.
This video was at least +2 Science for me. Great information as always.
Glad it was helpful!
u should make this a series. awesome topic man
Look out it’s acoustic kitty ;3 great video
Valuable information, much of which is, as you say, relevant even when just out in public. Give Joey a scratch for me!
Those glasses Karl mentioned are kickass, I won the light band one.
Mission Darkness are probably the most well known and trusted source for Faraday products.
Thanks for making this video
Almost entirely unrelated, cute cat.
I have never heard of Tails before. I am going to go check that out.
This is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to a working Linux phone with switches to turn off connections. Transitioning to Linux on computers is also good, since any of the distributions are much more private than Windows or Mac OS. TAILS is a particularly secure Linux distro. But many of them are easy for Mac or Windows users to adapt to.
There's been speculation (possibly confirmed idk) on infosec twitter that just visiting the TAILS site will get your IP flagged by alphabet agencies, which seems believable.
@@keeran697 The abc's got there backdoor now.
@@keeran697 I mean, IP address is irrelevant. Don’t download it at home. Simple as. But more importantly you need to download it from a network you’ve never used, take public transport or walk to with no identifiable devices on you, using a computer either you’ve never used before or using macswitcher and librewolf to obfuscate your device info as much as possible, wear a mask because we have an excuse right now, try to obfuscate your features with makeup or what have you (give yourself a black eye for instance or contour around the eyes to change the “shape” and shadow). This is just a few of the steps I personally would take to anonymize myself as much as possible when downloading and installing (liveUSB is the better option of course) TailsOS. That device never needs to touch your home network, be around any of your other devices while it’s on, etc.
Even then, it’s more likely that those steps will make you even more of a target than simply using a windows device with literally every telemetry option tagged, on Google chrome signed in, sharing location with a friend, and buying 3 soy lattes with a debit card. That option is more likely to provide you with legitimate anonymity than anything else I mentioned.
Probably the most important subject for modern warfare
Tip for people with iPhones and face/touch ID turned on: You can DISABLE them until the next unlock by tapping the power button five times in a row. This locks the phone and renders it impossible for the police or anyone else to compel you to unlock your phone or forcibly unlock it.
Tried it doesn’t work
But if my phone is in a faraday bag, how do I post combat footage on ticktok?
Ask a "friend" to post from the roof of an abandoned building a few hundred meters away. :U
"It might be dangerous; you go first!" :p
Thank you I knew of risks, but had never heard of some of these tools
AFAIK reddit deletes metadata if you upload e.g. a photo on the site.
exif can also be found for Windows users (exiftool)
If you want a standalone encryption with you on your USB drive, store a Veracrypt package on the stick aswell. Veracrypt also allows you to encrypt your whole drive. Also you can use keyfiles on external drives to add a layer of security.
If you're using android and want to get a bit away from google, CalyxOS or LineageOS may be a possibility.
Well, a redditor was the reason why a Ukrainian military position installed in a school was shelled to oblivion like last week. He posted a selfie to a private group and someone in that group sent it out on discord, then a redditor posted it for gold from kind strangers and within the hour the Russians had stripped the metadata and shelled the coordinates.
Point being: don’t trust. Especially don’t trust redditors.
Idk why but I was thinking Canada before you said it. Great content as always. Thank you for everything you guys do. MORE MUD TESTS :)
About metadata - can be quite a powerful tool for quickly recording the GPS location of something you're taking a picture of, especially those high-tier SLRs that use a LED/Laser based range finder focus. Obviously, if you're conducting surveillance (or any form of espionage), you need to be extremely surreptitious to the point of paranoid and further mask your signature. Look at all those Russian SSO caught in the first couple of days just doing dumb things like "speeding" and "ignoring law enforcement".
Also, a tangent to the range-finding SLRs - be wary of taking pictures of military installations and (especially) vehicles. Some of them are fitted with IRCM which can detect emissions from the device you're using. This may not immediately implicate you but it could give away your activity in future or tip-off whoever you're snooping on.
Remember the onion of protection:
Avoid exposure -> avoid detection -> avoid targetting -> avoid engagement -> avoid being hit... hopefully you never get here, but god help you if do.
@@kirumy-toz Lastly (after avoiding being hit) surprise them with missiles. Jumpscare of a lifetime :D
I've seen other TH-cam channels talk about "how to install ATAC" on a mobile device to use while operating...without a single mention of the fact you're turning yourself and anyone else around you into a target the moment you turn it on. Most people have no idea what ELINT capabilities exist out there. US Army & Marines during the first gulf war began to notice when they powered on laptops and other portable electronics they'd receive incoming Iraqi artillery fire. Why? They could detect the electronic emissionsand that was 30 years ago. The ability and cost to do it now is even less and more capable.
I must say that as a Finn, we get good info on Russian tactics and such by this current shite going on. If we are next on the menu, they will have even harder time in here.
There is an argument that the Russians aren't pulling a Grozny right now, so things might change.
Luulekko et Venäjä ois mahdollisesti tulossa Suomeen? NATOon liittyminen vaikuttas huonolta idealta tuntien naapurin, ite en toista syytä miehitykseen näe.
Kukapa nyt tietää mitä tulevaisuus saattaa mukanaan tuoda? Mutta miten voi spekuloida tämänkaltaisista skenaariosta joiden syyt ja seuraukset on hankalasti pääteltävissä?
Minkälaiseen pisteeseen pitäs ees päästä et NATO jäsenyys olis fiksu päätös maanpuolustusperspektiivistä? Ei toistaseks näytä siltä että jäsenyys ois sen lähempänä.
Mikä sun mielestä saattais olla syy siihen että naapurit alkaisivat miehityshommiin? Vaikee hahmottaa miten he miehityksestä hyötyisivät.
@@ytrepronxa2401 En usko, että Venäjä olis tulossa tänne vaikka littyttäis Natoon kahdesti. Todennäköisempänä pidän, että he hyökkää jos ei liitytä. Kauniit puheet puoluettomuudesta on ihan höpöhöpöä. Se ollaa nyt Ukrainan kanssa todistettu. Kaikki mitä miä olen ottanut selvää puoltaa natoon liittymistä. Me tarvitaan mahdollisen hyökkäyksen koittaessa lisää miehiä tänne.
Toinen syy liittymiseen on talous. Suomi tarvitsee investointeja ulkomailta. Lisää serverihalleja jne. Niitä ei tänne kukaan lähde rakentamaan jos ei kuuluta natoon ja venäjä asuu naapurissa.
Looks like you're more likely next on NATO's menu, but that will go without a fight. Your government will use fear to get everyone to go along willingly. As has been the playbook since the dawn of time.
What about if your just traveling to say Las Vegas… how important is it use a faraday bag… are tourist destinations more likely to be dangerous from a data/identity theft standpoint?
I honestly know very little about this so hearing from a trusted source is appreciated!!
i can 100 percent assure you that no one cares. almost everything in here only applies to active warzones or conflict zones.
Las Vegas has a lot of external cameras on buildings, and tons inside the various hotels. They also want you to connect to their wifi, which they will keep and sell your meta data. Vegas is probably the most surveilled location in the US. If you're wanting to do stuff in Vegas privately, then a Faraday Bag would be a good idea.
@@My-Name-Isnt-Important thanks!
@@My-Name-Isnt-Important worn over your body as well ! ; )
In the early days of Prepping ( aka ' survivalism ) in the late '70s- early '80s, my friends an I came up with pretty good secure communication system. Street Signs, Markers, and codewords. The Codewords and phrases would change meaning depending on what sort of sign it was on- stop/parking/crossing/speed limit etc.. the same word or phrase could mean 'stay home', 'go to location XYZ' , or 'Medic needed at location XYZ'.
I decided to just test if wrapping your cell phone in aluminum foil will block all signals in and out. It does indeed block all signals. Mylar lined cold bags do NOT block the signal though.
Also put phone in microwave oven with door closed or in steel cooking pot with lid on.
A very useful video sir.
Also, beware of Spy-cat.....
Basically, if you were born after 1990, find someone older and ask what life was like during that person's childhood.
Thank you for the information, Karl! I really appreciate your efforts.
Thank you Carl for this info.
Somehow as soon as I saw this title pop up in my feed I thought 'it's going to be about that picture in the gym, isn't it'
we've all seen that one..haha
Karl seems like the kind of guy you really want to have with you on a protest when the shit hits the fan
I would like to add that a pretty good solution to most of the smartphone related problems is to use a Google Pixel with GrapheneOS installed. Pictures taken with the camera are scrubbed of all the metadata automatically, the phone doesn’t communicate to Google or any other big company, when you put it in airplane mode it really turns everything off, and it’s hardened against being compromised through the USB-C port. The main downside is not being able to use social media and other similar apps but such apps should be avoided anyway by any privacy conscious person. I’ve been using a Pixel with Graphene for a few months coming from an iPhone and I’m very happy with it.
Any form of Faraday cage is useless unless it is electrically grounded. They also have to have a weave tighter than the smallest wavelength of signal they are trying to block out. In the case of short wave communications, the gaps in the mesh can be no bigger than 1mm (0.03").
Unless you are putting your phone inside of an actual metal wire fabric and keeping a grounding spike in the soil at all times, you might as well not bother.
TOR and the browser are usable from a flash drive plugged in to any computer. If you are using it on a personal device, use a VPN on top of TOR. Your ISP will see the VPN, the VPN will see only see TOR and the TOR nodes only see the node before and after them.
Thanks a bunch for the great primer, Karl - fantastic video all around. :)
Speaking of cats and OpSec, the implanted microchips which are mandatory for pets in many places are essentially a short range transponder used in conjunction with a database, the potential exists for that to be misused at some point as unlikely as it might seem.
It's an interesting concern, but the pet RFID chips I have experience with have a range you could measure in inches.
@@LawrenceFraker Admittedly yes, a breach or misuse of the database would be far more of a concern than the RFID chips themselves.