Category: Privacy

Extreme Privacy 5th Edition Available Soon

Due to an incredibly efficient and talented team, we will be releasing the 5th Edition of Extreme Privacy sooner than expected. I do not know the exact date just yet, but we are wrapping up all final touches this week. Some details:

30 Sections | 228 Chronological Tasks | 340,000 Words | 590 Pages | Paperback & Digital

 

This new edition is not a simple facelift, as I have drastically changed the flow, content, and goals for this edition, as follows.

First, I no longer present strategies which I believe are not optimal. In the previous edition, I delivered my recommendations, and then followed with alternative options for those who did not want to go the extreme route. With this book, I spend more time on the ideal solutions while trying to avoid compromises.

Second, I restructured chapters into sections, and isolated specific tasks for easier execution. In the previous edition, I presented huge chapters which covered a lot of ground. As one example, the mobile devices chapter was 77 pages and covered everything from selection and configuration of a mobile device all the way through DNS, VoIP options, and advanced applications. People were simply overwhelmed with the amount of information. In this book, I isolate each individual topic into its own "task". This allows readers to focus on one specific step, and may offer a feeling of accomplishment once the task is complete. In this example, the mobile devices section is now split into dozens of bite-size tasks which can each easily be completed in order.

Third, I offer a more chronological program. During a consult in late 2024, a client shared that she had read the previous edition twice, but was still very confused about the order of events ideal for her. Her voice was in my head while I wrote this updated work. In this edition, I have reorganized all tasks to flow in the most ideal order for most readers. This eliminates some of the confusion about finishing one task before starting another, or the need to wait for a service to be activated before proceeding with the next step. Every task in this guide is independent of the next, as long as they are followed in order.

Finally, all expired and outdated resources were replaced with new methods throughout every chapter. The outline is below.

Introduction
Section One: Linux Computers
Section Two: macOS Computers
Section Three: GrapheneOS Mobile Devices
Section Four: iOS Mobile Devices
Section Five: Mobile Device Strategies
Section Six: Secure Communications
Section Seven: Web Browsers
Section Eight: Passwords & 2FA
Section Nine: Secure Email, Calendars & Contacts
Section Ten: VoIP Telephone Numbers
Section Eleven: VPNs & DNS
Section Twelve: Firewalls & Wi-Fi
Section Thirteen: Self-Hosted Data
Section Fourteen: Virtual Machines (VMs)
Section Fifteen: Alias Names
Section Sixteen: Mailing Addresses
Section Seventeen: Private Payments
Section Eighteen: Estate Planning
Section Nineteen: Employment
Section Twenty: Private Lodging
Section Twenty-One: Private Homes
Section Twenty-Two: Private Vehicles
Section Twenty-Three: Privacy Lifestyle
Section Twenty-Four: Nomad Lifestyle
Section Twenty-Five: Data Requests
Section Twenty-Six: Data Freezes
Section Twenty-Seven: Disinformation
Section Twenty-Eight: Disaster Preparation
Section Twenty-Nine: Death Preparation
Section Thirty: My Successes & Failures
CONCLUSION

 

The 11th Edition of OSINT Techniques is still planned for early 2025.

 

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Digital Guide Updates 2024.08.01

Today, we updated six of our digital supplement guides. This may be the largest updates we have done yet. If you purchased any, please check your email for the download link(s). If you would like more information on these guides, please visit https://inteltechniques.com/books.html. The following provides details of each update:

OSINT Techniques-Leaks, Breaches, and Logs:
Page 133 (Major): Added new Telegram Logs channels.

OSINT Techniques-The Ultimate Virtual Machine:
Page 93 (Major): Modified recommendations for Firefox Preferences.

Extreme Privacy-Mobile Devices:
Page 115 (Minor): Updated Signal feature to delete messages across devices.

Extreme Privacy-macOS Devices:
Page 17 (Minor): Slight modifications for latest macOS wording.
Page 28 (Major): Updated recommendation on Little Snitch 6.
Page 31 (Major): Uploaded new Little Snitch config file for macOS changes.
Page 39 (Major): Added section about new Little Snitch 6 rules.
Page 47 (Minor): Changed music app recommendation to Doppler.
Pages 47-48 (Major): Added new section for offline Organic Maps.
Pages 48-49 (Major): Added VueScan to replace traditional scanner software.
Pages 50-51 (Major): Modified recommendations for Firefox Preferences.
Page 62 (Minor): Corrected "NextCloud" to read "NextDNS".
Pages 62-64 (Major): Modified all macOS DNS recommendations.
Pages 123-124 (Major): Added section for macOS updates via Terminal.

Extreme Privacy-Linux Devices:
Page 40 (Major): Added new section for offline Organic Maps.
Page 40 (Major): Added VueScan to replace traditional scanner software.
Page 43-44 (Major): Modified recommendations for Firefox Preferences.

Extreme Privacy-VPNs and Firewalls:
Pages 36-40 (Major): Modified all port assignments to match the new simplified protocols used in the upcoming Extreme Privacy book.
Page 59 (Major): Updated config file installation process.
Pages 60-62 (Major): Updated and simplified the full-port and secondary VPN installation processes.
Page 84-85 (Major): Modified recommendations for Firefox Preferences.
Files (Major): Uploaded new pfSense configuration files to match new protocols at https://inteltechniques.com/firewall/

 

The Next Books

2024 is half-way over, and we are way overdue for a book status update. We like to be transparent about future book releases, as we know that might sway some readers to postpone a purchase, and others to pull the trigger. Many readers are asking about the next E-book release. After talking with my staff, I can now report that there will be NO new SUPPLEMENT PDF titles released for the rest of 2024. The current six supplemental guides cover most of the technical topics, and we will deliver updates to those as needed, as we have been doing. That brings us to 2025.

OSINT Techniques:

The current (10th) edition of OSINT Techniques was written in 2022 and released January 1st, 2023. Until then, we had been releasing a new edition every year on that date in order to provide training manuals for numerous universities, colleges, academies, and private instructors. In late 2023, many people reached out and inquired about a new edition for 2024. Our response was a firm "NO". We had reached the page count limit by KDP and our Amazon account had been suspended for somehow being a shady character (I tried to order my own book). On top of that, we had been testing the waters with E-book releases, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. We released the Virtual Machines and Breach Data guides to provide some much needed updates and carried on with the 10th Edition.

Here we are a year and a half later, and the requests for a new edition are still coming in. At first, it was still a "No", but a few things have changed. KDP has increased their page count limit, which allows us to revisit new content. Amazon has reinstated me on super secret probationary status, and they insist they will allow me to publish another book through KDP. Finally, and this is the big one, Jason Edison has agreed to co-write a new edition with me. He is actually going through every page of the book telling me what is now wrong, and what could be better. If all goes well, I anticipate the new 11th edition of OSINT Techniques will be released on January 1st, 2025. We plan to offer both print and digital copies and will incorporate everything from the two OSINT supplemental guides, the 10th edition of the print book, and all new training materials into one huge release. As always, we will provide free updates through the online book portal. As promised, we will continue to provide free updates to the supplemental OSINT digital guides as needed.

Extreme Privacy:

The current (4th) edition of Extreme Privacy was written in 2021 and released in 2022. That is an eternity ago, but the four digital supplemental guides have greatly increased the shelf-life of that book. We have been discussing a new edition for 2025 based on my outline of a completely rewritten book, which would provide much new content gleaned from the past three years of client work (without the complexity of choice and overwhelming options within the current book). My current outline has over 150 individual, isolated, chronological tasks which can be completed with less confusion. This allows us to offer more guided tutorials which eliminate an abundance of options. If all goes well, I anticipate the new 5th edition of Extreme Privacy (PDF) will be released in late 2024 or early 2025. This will not replace the digital supplements, but will offer a more concise overall action plan which may better suit most readers. Again, as promised, we will continue to provide free updates to all supplemental Privacy digital guides as needed.

Summary:

Expect new editions of OSINT Techniques and Extreme Privacy by early 2025.

Free updates will continue for all digital supplemental guides.

As always, thank you for letting us play a small role in your OSINT and Privacy journeys.

Digital Guide Updates 2024.07.01

Today, we updated several of our digital supplement guides. If you purchased any, please check your email for the download link(s). If you would like more information on these guides, please visit https://inteltechniques.com/books.html. The following provides details of each update:

Extreme Privacy-Mobile Devices:
Added minor clarifications and corrections throughout, but none impacting content.

Extreme Privacy-macOS Devices:
Page 60 (Minor): Added clarification about default SNI and ECH DNS configuration, and links to confirm protection.

Extreme Privacy-Linux Devices:
Page 50 (Minor): Added clarification about default SNI and ECH DNS configuration, and links to confirm protection.

Extreme Privacy-VPNs and Firewalls:
Page 58 (Minor): Added clarification to right-click the import file to download it.
Page 86 (Minor): Added clarification about default SNI and ECH DNS configuration, and links to confirm protection.

More Bad Gun Safe OPSEC

I have a dumb habit. Every time I enter any store which sells gun safes, I immediately check for personal exposure. I have blogged about this before. Today, I want to take things a step further. While walking through a store this week, I observed the following receipt taped to a large gun safe.

This $1600 gun safe is on layaway. Instead of setting it in the back, the store personnel simply taped a receipt on it displaying the future owners name and cell number. Let's query the number through a caller ID database.

We now know that "Allen" (from the receipt) likely has a spouse named "Hannah" (the cell phone owner), and I know the county they likely live in. A property search for those names in that county reveals the following.

 

I now know the likely location where this gun safe will be delivered in the near future. However, that does not get me INSIDE the safe. I tried another tactic. The following was displayed right next to the previous safe.

Once again, I have the name of the owner, but this time the sales associate was kind enough to include both a landline and cell on the ticket. The cell comes back to:

However, the landline returns to a small gun shop in the county (which had recently been burglarized):

 

I asked an associate if I could see the inside of the safe, as I was considering purchasing an identical unit. My hope was that the combination was present inside. Instead, she walked to the back and returned with all of the paperwork from that safe. As she entered the combination, she made sure to read it aloud for me to copy. If I were a burglar, I would have a new target for a safe-full of guns. Surprisingly, most owners of programmable safes never change the combination.

Please everyone, only purchase a gun safe with cash on the day you will retrieve it. Do not provide any name or loyalty number. If allowed, change the combination before use.