IntelTechniques by Michael Bazzell

Drive Specifications Matter (Complete)

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:01:00 GMT

This post consists of both "Drive Specifications Matter" articles from UNREDACTED Magazine Issues 011 and 012, plus updates.

In previous posts, I have discussed drive speed limitations as an important factor when considering docks and adapters. This also applies to any external drive. With so many options, such as Thunderbolt 3/4/5, USB 2/3.2 Gen 2/3.2 Gen 2x2/4, PCIe Gen 2/3/4/5, and SATA I/II/II, finding the fastest and most affordable way to add storage to your devices can be quite difficult.

Marketing and hype around a product's speed often disappoints users when they find out their reality does not match Amazon reviews. Supporting 40Gbps and actually accessing data at that speed can be two very different things. The goal of this article is to break down the vital differences to provide fast storage for your specific needs.

First, let's discuss pre-built external USB drives. I have used SanDisk Extreme USB SSDs for many years. In one book, I discouraged users from purchasing the more expensive "Pro" variant since most computers at the time could not take advantage of the speed boost. That has changed with newer ports being more common now, but I still don't recommend them. We can do so much better today.

Consider the standard SanDisk Extreme drive. This USB-C SSD has impressive speed for an external.

It has the USB 3.2 Gen 2 protocol. The Pro variant has the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 protocol. That minor change has a drastic effect on the advertised speed of almost 2000 MB/s, but it requires a Gen 2x2 USB port on your computer. My MacBook Pro M1 does not have that, so it falls back to Gen 2. On my machine, that spec bump made very little difference. These drives are quite dated now, and only recommended if you need an affordable way to copy data and stow it away.

I prefer NVMe drives within USB-C enclosures. These small drives can be used as primary internal drives on newer motherboards or external access drives with an adapter. I swap mine around often. My Linux laptop can store two NVMe drives which allows me to truly dual-boot two secure full-disk encrypted systems. If I ever upgrade those drives, the old drives make for great external options.

This is where specifications matter. Most modern NVMe drives are marketed as either PCIe Gen 3 or Gen 4. Gen 3 will possess a speed around 3,000 MB/s while Gen 4 will hit around 7,000 MB/s. However, you may not be able to hit those speeds. I placed a fast PCIe Gen 4 drive within a $20 10 Gbps enclosure and received the following results.

The drive offered over 7,000 MB/s in my laptop as the primary drive, but I only get less than 1,000 MB/s when used as an external. This is because the USB enclosure only supports 10 Gbps (1,250 MB/s) as a theoretical maximum speed. I could have placed a much cheaper Gen 3 drive in this enclosure and received the same result. However, it is still faster than the prebuilt units such as the SanDisk options.

We want to look at the advertised Gbps of the enclosure. Modern units are now offering 40 Gbps and 80 Gbps USB-C enclosures which will better take advantage of the drives we place inside them. There are numerous 40 Gbps (5,000 MB/s) enclosure available online. Most are new unknown brands and pricing is all over the place. I first tried the cheapest enclosures assuming they would work the same as any others. I was wrong.

The two cheapest options were made by Rosewill and Maiwo. Each were about $40. Both had a loud cooling fan, but I was OK with that. Initial speed tests were positive with speeds as expected for this specification. However, both of them failed in real-world usage. My stress test was to copy over a 250 GB SQL database. After a few seconds of decent performance, the units became very hot and transfer speed dropped significantly. This is a common issue with cheap enclosures. The bottleneck was not the drive or the machine, it was the adapter itself.

I upgraded to a Qwiizlab fanless USB4 enclosure (https://amzn.to/3OgrIub), which is pictured below, using the same 990 Pro NVMe drive (https://amzn.to/4qwf7Ar). You may notice some NVMe drives are $100 less than others (https://amzn.to/3ZAfLlG). Some are advertised at up to 5,000 MB/s while the more expensive units are 7,500 MB/s.

Remember that 40 Gbps = 5,000 MB/s. The faster NVMe drive would do us no good in this test. A $200 2TB Crucial (https://amzn.to/3OENI1U) would also offer the same speeds in a 40 Gbps enclosure. In Thunderbolt 4, it provided the following result.

On a different machine with a USB4 40 Gbps port, it provided the following.

Let's compare this to the speed of my internal drive on a MacBook Pro with M1 Pro chip.

In other words, we are achieving roughly half of the speed of expensive internal Apple drives by using a 40 Gbps enclosure and NVMe drive. 3,000 MB/s is really good. It is triple the speed we received with the 10 Gbps external SSDs. It is also the approximate speed I would have received with an internal Apple drive if I had not chosen a more expensive Pro chip.

This fanless unit did heat up during file transfer, but it was no warmer than the units with loud fans. My large file had consistent speed throughout the transfer. Make sure you use the thermal pads which are provided with practically any NVMe enclosure.

Notice the port and adapter advertised 40 Gbps (5,000 MB/s), but the speed tests did not deliver. This is because there is always overhead with actual usage. I do not believe you will ever achieve full 40 Gbps speed with a drive and port with that specification. I usually see results which are a little more than half of the theoretical maximum.

Now that we had tested the Qwiizlab 40Gbps USB4 enclosure, I went back to test their 80Gbps option (https://amzn.to/3Nj3zD2). I inserted the same 4 TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe drive into the new enclosure and began my tests. The following image displays the device next to a Mac Studio computer.

I first tried it on my aging MacBook Pro M1 Pro which only has Thunderbolt 4 ports. As expected, I achieved results similar to the tests with the 40Gbps enclosure within the magazine. This is because port specifications matter. That computer simply does not have ports capable of taking advantage of an enclosure offering 80Gbps. For that computer, a less expensive enclosure and drive would work almost as well. However, this was a much different story when connected to a more modern computer. I found the fastest computer in the office, a Mac Studio with a M4 Max chip and Thunderbolt 5 ports. First, I tested the internal 2TB drive for reference:

This was standard for the large drive and Max chip. This gives me blazing fast access to large chunks of data on the internal drive. Next, I tested the external 80Gbps enclosure:

I was shocked. I was getting faster speeds from an external, non-apple, drive than the overpriced Apple drive soldered onto the motherboard. I was skeptical at first, but larger data speed test were just as fast. I pivoted to my real-world test. I copied a 250 GB database from the internal drive to the external. There were no pauses or signs of throttling. In less than a minute, I copied over this huge database which would have taken 30 minutes on a portable USB disk. The device did get warm, but never hot. There is no fan, so it is important to attach the included thermal pad to the drive as explained in the manual.

The catch: price. Like any other technology, the latest advancements will cost more than the previous generation. I once paid $500 for a 1TB, dual 3.5" SATA disk array many years ago. It was slow but offered unbelievable storage at the time. I now pay less than $100 for a 1 TB microSD card which is tiny and faster. Expect to pay just under $200 for an 80Gbps enclosure while the 40Gbps options will be less than $70. I suspect we will see these prices eventually drop, but it may be a while before we see 120Gbps drives emerge. We will need faster NVMe options before that can be a possibility, but I am thrilled with 7,000 MB/s in real-word use.

Who is this for? Only people who have the need for the speed. If you have a computer with ports capable of 80Gbps or higher, then you might be justified in this upgrade. Since I move huge databases around often, I am now hooked on this enclosure. I was able to offload a terabyte of data from my internal drive to the external in approximately two minutes. It seems too good to be true.

Identify your port specifications and only purchase hardware which will take advantage of the limits. If you start salivating over the latest NVMe speed capabilities, some advertising 10,000 MB/s, have a reality check on your limits. Your internal Windows or Linux NVMe port may not take advantage of those speeds, and the current enclosures on the market won't get you all the way there either.

Also, don't eliminate the possibilities with those old spinning-disk drives you might have laying around. They still hold data and can be great to store backups or other data which does not need accessed often. I have a 4TB 2.5" drive which sits in a Qwiizlab Mac mini Dock & Hub (https://link.amazon/B093juR8R) under my Mac Studio (this hub was intended for the old Mini's which were once the same size as the current Studio). Both the hard drive and NVMe slots are restricted to 10 Gbps. The hard drive would never achieve anything higher anyway and the NVMe is used for a 500 GB backup. Neither need the speed.

The backup NVMe speeds were as expected:

Reality: My first hard drive was a 5400 RPM spinning disk which achieved 100 MB/s. The later 7200 RPM drives achieved 130 MB/s and the rich people who had SCSI drives were getting 150 MB/s. When I had an early SSD offering 480 MB/s , I was confident that was the end. I never imagined that we would get 20x those speeds on sold-state medium back then. I often remind myself of this when I start looking at the latest gadgets. We are truly spoiled.

Disclosures: I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned within this article. I was not paid or asked to write this article. I receive commissions through Amazon affiliate links, but not directly from any of these companies.

Gear Review: XTEINK X4 Pro

Fri, 9 Oct 2026 00:01:00 GMT

I read a lot. I also travel a lot. Many years (maybe decades) ago I would buy a paperback book and throw away the pages as I traveled, making the book lighter and smaller as the trip went on. E-readers solved that. Just a few years ago, I reviewed the largest readers I could find. I wanted a huge 13.3" device which could serve me my daily newspapers in PDF format. I still use my Boox Note Max every day to read two newspapers.

This review goes in the opposite direction. I have been seeing pre-orders and gossip about tiny e-readers, some smaller than a cellular phone (which isn't hard these days with the oversized Pop-Tarts we are forced to carry around). I finally settled on the XTEINK X4 Pro.

The 13.3" Boox serves a very specific purpose for me. I do not take it on most travel due to the size. It is my morning companion at home. The XTEINK X4 Pro is tiny with a 4.3" screen and can go everywhere. The following compares the XTEINK X4 Pro (middle) with a 6.1" Pixel (left) and Kindle Paperwhite (right).

When I powered the unit, it asked me to select my language. It then prompted me to download additional fonts for a smoother experience. When browsing Wi-Fi networks, it only detected 2.4 GHz networks and not my 5 GHz routers. I was fine with this, as I don't need fast internet access. Actually, I don't need any internet access.

Most of the e-readers I have tested over the past several years were simply e-ink tablets running a minimal version of Android. This is great for side-loading apps, but I never really needed Android for this purpose. The XTEINK X4 Pro runs on its own minimal and lightweight firmware which appears to be less than 6 MB in size.

This is the main reason I wanted the XTEINK X4 Pro. It allows you to install your own open-source firmware to run the system. The most popular are CrossPoint and CrossInk. These are backed by a large community of e-reader enthusiasts. I wanted to install CrossInk, so I ignored all of the onboarding.

There is no USB port on the device. Instead, you also receive a magnetic adapter which connects to the back and supplies a USB-C port. I connected the device to my computer and navigated to the online tool at https://inky.crossink.dev/#flash-tools. This will prompt you to allow an extension, but it is actually just using Firefox's built-in serial access software. There is nothing to install or uninstall.

The online tool prompted me to select my device model and the latest version of the software. I had to flash it twice, but the process was quick and smooth. I now had a fully open-source firmware with many more features and fonts than the stock option.

Loading books is as easy as dragging them to the included 16 GB microSD. You can create any folders desired if you want organization. You can connect to the device via USB or connect the card to your computer. I prefer the latter. I try to keep my entire eBook collection in EPUB format, and every file I threw at it loaded fine. The first load takes a few seconds but subsequent loads are fast.

I have used traditional Kindle-sized readers which sit in the middle of the XTEINK X4 Pro and a 13.3" reader. At first, reading on the XTEINK X4 Pro was awkward. The small screen sort of reminded me of those speed-reading trainers which show you a limited number of words in fast succession. After about 5 minutes, my brain understood what was going on.

The default font was a little small for my eyes. I increased the font within settings and allowed my book to re-index. This looked better to my eyes.

The Pro model includes a front light, but I typically read in decent lighting. The following images show the front light in use on both a light and dark theme. The dark theme is only available with the custom firmware.

My initial complaint is the same issue I have always had with books on these devices. It is hard to understand how far into the content you are. This is not a fault of this unit, but all readers in general. With PDFs on large readers, this is somewhat remedied because I am reading the intended layout. Each page flip is a true page flip. The EPUB files reposition the text as needed for the reader. A 200-page eBook on a Kindle might be 1200 pages on the XTEINK X4 Pro. Again, no fault of the devices.

After a while, I got over this. I was sitting on a plane holding the XTEINK X4 Pro. I noticed my eyes did not need to travel as much with the smaller screen. It felt as if I was reading faster than a traditional book or Kindle. I was definitively ingesting data faster than a large device.

The biggest feature to me was the page turn buttons on both sides of the screen. I am used to readers which have "up and down" buttons on one side of the device. This is not natural to me. This unit has a button on the left to go back and on the right to go forward. It made sense, especially holding with one hand. Battery life was phenomenal, as expected with such a small screen. Page refreshes were quick and clean. I saw no ghosting of previous text. After reading for any extended time, my mobile device felt huge.

At the time of this review, the XTEINK X4 Pro was $85 on Amazon (https://link.amazon/B0crT7xQO). Retail is $99. If you do not want the front light and touch screen, the X4 was only $75 with a retail of $90 (https://link.amazon/B09plEaDk). Personally, I believe it is worth the $10 for these features.

If you want a truly portable and tiny e-reader, this is the way to go. Understand the limitations. You are not going to read large PDFs on this thing or any DRM-protected files. EPUBs work great. It really is a single-purpose device. It makes sense for me during travel or for notes during a presentation. I like that mine has never connected to the internet, has no apps, and runs on open-source firmware. I just want to read.

Disclosures: I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned within this article. I was not paid or asked to write any reviews. I receive commissions through Amazon affiliate links within this blog, but not directly from any of these companies.

Gear Review: OLYVUE V78 Dash Cam

Fri, 9 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I have been preaching about dash cams for years. I believe everyone should have one and I won't drive a vehicle without one. I have reviewed numerous dash cams on my podcast and within the magazine, and I recently encountered a situation which forced me to review my recommendations.

I have a friend who has always been resistant to placing a dash cam in his vehicle. He understands my reasons for using them, but had always assumed he would never find himself in a situation to need one. Recently, he was involved in a minor traffic crash where the vehicle in front of him backed into him while trying to allow someone to turn in front of them. The police showed up and made a report and my friend assumed it was no big deal. The car in front of him later told their insurance that they did not back in to my friend, but in fact, my friend had struck them. My friend's insurance took the stance of 50% fault to each party, which was likely to raise my friend’s insurance rates. He finally wanted a dash cam.

I picked him up and showed him the unit within my vehicle. A few years ago, when I was testing dash cams, I started with the popular brands from the big box stores. What I learned was that those overpriced devices worked the same as more affordable options available online. I felt like I was paying more for the marketing team instead of the hardware. After extensive review, I began using the VIOFO (https://link.amazon/B08O68uyS) dash cams in my vehicles.

What I liked about the VIOFO cameras is that they were small and out-of-the-way. These compact devices fit behind my rearview mirror and I cannot see them while I am driving. I forget that they are there. I showed my friend my camera and offered to play back video from just a few minutes prior.

His response was neutral. He didn't like the small screen, and he did not like the placement. He wanted a unit with a larger screen which could be viewed at any time within the vehicle. He wanted something he could use to show a police officer what had happened in the event of another crash. He wanted more "oomph" to let people know he was recording while I prefer to stay discreet.

I have never cared much about playing video in the car. I assume that I will always extract my own video from the microSD card when needed, and I don't ever need to show anyone video from the device itself (aside from this demonstration). My friend insisted on something bigger, so I began my research. I landed on the OLYVUE V78 (https://link.amazon/B0aehLDRA).

This unit has all of the common specs. 4K video in front with 2K in rear with access directly via SD card or over Wi-Fi. These are the standards. What I liked for my friend was the size. I tried to capture the difference in size and screen from the VIOFO (left) and OLYVUE (right).

We hooked it up and ran it through our tests. Video was sharp and everything worked right out of the box. Auto-recording to the included 64 GB SD card was already configured. However, he decided to buy a larger card.

The V78 came with a rear camera. I typically do not use these, but I understand those who do. You place it in the rear window, but must run a cable from the rear to the front device. With enough time and skill, you can hide this fairly well. He wanted the full protection while I can take it or leave it.

The unit is very lightweight and the provided adhesive was more than efficient. Video was always stable and the device never seems like it is going to detach. GPS coordinates are embedded and we decided to disable the audio. I believe this is appropriate for the other people in my car and my own embarrassment if caught singing.

You can download their app and connect to the device and recordings over Wi-Fi. I did not test this as I never use this feature. I simply want a reliable dash cam to capture the files. They can always be copied from the SD card or viewed from the device.

The price on the OLYVUE V78 is fair. As of this writing, the unit with both front and rear cameras with 4K on front was $159 on Amazon (https://link.amazon/B0aehLDRA). Similar devices in stores were over $300.

Do I really need 4K video of my driving? I guess it depends on whether I will ever need the detail. I think I could get away with 1080p at a minimum. However, if I end up in court over someone else's behavior, I want the best clarity I can get. Ideally, I will never need my dash cam footage and this is all a waste of money. If I am wrong, I will be glad I added one to my daily routine.

Disclosures: I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned within this article. I was not paid or asked to write any reviews. I receive commissions through Amazon affiliate links within this blog, but not directly from any of these companies.

UNREDACTED Magazine Issue 013

Thu, 1 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Special Double Issue #013 is now available (25 Articles - 105 Pages) by the IntelTechniques team for $15! The entire playbook for our popular "Complete Death Kit" service, plus many new privacy & security tactics for everyday use.

https://unredactedmagazine.com
https://payhip.com/b/RuHBY

Articles:

013A: New Digital Privacy & Security Tactics:

From The Editor
News & Updates
The Flock Pendulum Swing: Clawing Back Our Privacy
SMS Verification Services: Pacify Demanding Apps Privately
Virtual Machines as Primary Systems: Digital Life Completely Within VMs
Clone macOS & Linux Systems to VMs: Create Backups or Daily Drivers
Synchronize Anything with Syncthing: Easily Keep Your Data Updated
Private & Secure Photos with SnapSafe: An Elegant Mobile Photo Solution
Access Abandoned & Unlicensed Applications: Don't Get Locked Out of Paid Apps
Why Do You Need My Phone Number? More Public-Use Options
Email Verification Via Terminal: Confirm Accounts Directly
More X (Twitter) View Options: Bypass Account Requirements ... Again
Download Podcast Archives: Retrieve Everything with One Command
Gear Reviews
Reader Q & A / Feedback

013B: The Complete Death Kit:

Your Death Model: Identify Your Goals
Payable On Death Accounts: The Easy Transactions
Traditional Wills: Basic Asset Protections
Legal Documents: The Death File
Living Trusts: Avoid Probate
Asset Trusts: Ownership Privacy
Asset Assignment: Private Distribution
Account Auto-Pay: Payments After Death
Passwords & Data: Secure Transmissions from the Grave
Final Thoughts

No third-party ads.
No outside sponsors.
No AI slop.
No conflicts of interest.
No fluff.
No filler.
No agenda.
Only detailed information.

Updated OSINT Scripts

Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today we updated the scripts used to install and update the virtual machine from our book OSINT Techniques, 11th Edition. The following was changed:

Modified install.sh VM installation file to reflect changes within several applications

Modified update.sh script to reflect changes within several applications

Modified install.sh and update.sh to reflect changes with Amass

You can access these files via the online portal address included in the book. Full instructions for applying these changes are provided there. If building a new VM from the one-liner after today, you do not need to take any action.

New Socials

Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The team over here does not really like social networks. We have always maintained a Twitter account (now X) which was easy to access without possessing a user account (which is now required). We will keep our X account, but we needed other options. We have LinkedIn, but that has the same issue about account requirements. I never see any productive conversations on Reddit, so that is completely out. We decided to adopt a presence on Bluesky and Mastodon. Neither require an account for viewing our posts and both have decent adoption. All of our socials are below, and we will replicate any new notifications about our techniques across all of them.

https://x.com/IntelTechniques
https://bsky.app/profile/inteltechniques.com
https://mastodon.social/@inteltechniques
https://www.linkedin.com/company/74140357

Blog Archive

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Today we uploaded the entire blog archive from 2020 to present, excluding a few severely outdated posts. Most of these are notifications of new books, magazines, and podcast episodes, but there may be some minor value buried in there somewhere. Several people asked specifically for the podcast shows notes, so we dug those up from episodes 151-306. Everything before that has been lost for a long time, when the show was on a different host. Full details at https://inteltechniques.com/blog/

Free PDF Self-Publishing Guide

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 2020, I published a book called This Book Was Self-Published. I wanted to share my experiences self-publishing several books, and it also served as my own documentation of the steps I had taken up to that point. It included a chapter on digital publishing focused on the Amazon Kindle platform, but in 2023, I expanded that section to include native PDF publishing. At that time, I had chosen a service called SendOwl for PDF distribution, which worked well for several years. They offered a fair price, but more importantly they offered the option for us to send unlimited free updates to customers who had purchased digital books. This worked great for two years, but then it all collapsed.

In 2025, SendOwl notified us that they would no longer allow us to send out free updates to customers, and they were increasing our prices ten-fold (plus fees for all download bandwidth). This is not an exaggeration; you can read the public outrage at https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.sendowl.com. All legacy accounts would be switched to their new limited platform, which was unsustainable for us. Fortunately, we found a new service called Payhip (https://payhip.com/?fp_ref=michael76). I recently updated the section of the book about PDF distribution in order to reflect these changes and the purpose of this guide is three-fold. First, it is to share our experiences with Payhip after a year of their services, which may encourage readers to launch their own self-published project. Second, those who may have purchased older print or PDF versions of the book can have this updated content for free. Finally, it serves as a warning to stay away from SendOwl, a service we had previously recommended.

Payhip is now my preferred digital book purchase and delivery service. It is the most affordable option with the most robust features for our use. It also puts the most money in your pocket from sales. If you legitimately purchased any PDF from us over the past year, you purchased through Payhip. Payhip is not a completely free service. At the time of this writing, the "free" tier had no monthly fee, but Payhip takes 5% of every sale. On top of that, you will pay a 2.9% credit card transaction fee on every purchase. The next tier is $29 per month plus a 2% fee per sale and the "Pro" tier is $99 per month with no fee per sale. All paid tiers still pay the 2.9% credit card transaction fee.

This is where you must consider your predicted sales. While the cheaper (or free) monthly fee may seem like a better deal, those 5% and 2% fees may be more than moving to a different tier. Let's do the math. Assume you will sell 100 books per month at $20 per book. The following outlines the three basic tiers.

$0 (Monthly) + $100 (5% of sales) = $100 (Payhip Fee)
$29 (Monthly) + $40 (2% of sales) = $69 (Payhip Fee)
$99 (Monthly) + $0 (0% of sales) = $99 (Payhip Fee)

In that scenario, the middle plan is best. Let's assume you will sell 500 books monthly.

$0 (Monthly) + $500 (5% of sales) = $500 (Payhip Fee)
$29 (Monthly) + $200 (2% of sales) = $229 (Payhip Fee)
$99 (Monthly) + $0 (0% of sales) = $99 (Payhip Fee)

In that scenario, the "Pro" plan is best financially. This can be confusing since we never know how many books we will sell. I recommend testing with the free plan. If your sales are too much to justify this plan, you can always raise the tier before the monthly fee kicks in. In fact, you can switch tiers in either direction at any time. Always pay attention to the math for your own sales. As I write this, the "Pro" plan is ideal for my sales.

Once you have established an account with Payhip, the following explains the process to sell your book.

• Click "Products" in the menu then "Add new product".
• Select the "Digital Product" or "e-book" option.
• Provide the title of your book and the price.
• Click the "Upload product file" link and select your book PDF.
• Click the "Upload a product image" link and select your book cover image.
• Provide a description of your book and choose your desired visibility.
• Click "Add Product".

You can now click on "Products" in the menu and see your book. However, it is not available for purchase just yet. You must connect some type of payment processor in order to accept credit cards and deliver your product. I prefer Stripe for this, but PayPal is simpler. You will need to create an account at Stripe or PayPal, and then connect the account within Payhip by navigating to "Account" > "Settings" > "Payment Details". Select the appropriate option and follow the steps to associate the account. Once this is complete, you are ready to sell your book.

Return to "Products" and click the "Share/Embed" button next to your item. This presents several options. I no longer prefer to only sell through my website code, so I focus on the "Share" option. It presents the following URL for this book.

https://payhip.com/b/k5Zuy

I can now link to this URL on my site and forward people to purchase directly through the Payhip site. I do this for a few reasons. First, by purchasing through Payhip instead of my site, readers can place multiple items from my Payhip store into a "cart" and checkout later. If I had embedded code onto my own site, that could fail. Additionally, it does not require me to store any cookies from users on my site. Finally, purchasing with a credit card on Payhip's site is likely to work better than embedding code or an iFrame on my own site. I do not want to create any purchasing friction. The most likely way to complete the sale without Stripe being fussy about the purchase is on Payhip's site. The following displays the purchase and checkout pages.

The customer can provide any name, email and credit card information, then pay for the purchase. Payhip will immediately present the customer with a download link within their browser, and also email them a receipt with additional copy of the link. This all happens without any input from you.

Notice that it requests a country and state with zip code. This is for state sales taxes. Payhip will collect and distribute the taxes on your behalf. Some states require it while other do not. The tax rate varies between states. If a state is not selected, the tax will be based on the IP address of the reader. Again, these are all details I want done on Payhip's site and not mine. I highly recommend that you test all of these settings several times before sharing the purchase option publicly.

Regardless of how you facilitate sales, Payhip hosts your PDF on their servers and delivers the product without your input. However, we are far from pushing PDFs into people's inboxes. There are many additional options to configure in "Account" > "Settings > "Advanced Settings".

Protect your PDF files: With this option, the PDF is watermarked with the purchaser’s email address in small letters in the top left every page of the document. If I find a pirated copy of a book floating around the internet, I can look for this data and learn more about the culprit. I can also disable updates and downloads for that reader if desired. This eliminates SOME risk of the buyer pirating the PDF to the world. However, there are problems with this. The watermarks can be removed. Anyone who plans to upload your content to book piracy websites will know how to remove any evidence of the purchase.

Download Limit: The default download attempts of a purchased book are five. I find this to be acceptable. That should be plenty of attempts for someone to download their book. If they still have trouble, you have the option to reset any individual purchase by searching for the order and clicking "Increase download attempts" option.

Gifting: Enabling this option allows people to purchase the book from you on another's person's behalf. They can include the recipients email address so that they receive the book instead of the purchaser. I like this option.

Pricing: Previously, I chose $14.03 for printed copies of the original version of this book. I kept the price low to encourage sales, and I did not have to be involved in any phase of the purchasing process. For digital PDFs of this updated revision, I chose $20. This may seem high and counterintuitive to the print pricing, but I have reasons for this choice.

First and foremost, I provide free updates to this PDF digital guide (as seen here). You are not purchasing a one-time document, and later asked to buy the updates. I believe $20 justifies the purchase. I have also found that my audience responds better to an even price, such as $20, over a detailed price, such as $14.03 or $18.99. $20 per guide has worked well for my strategy.

Free Orders: You may want to issue a free book to someone as a gift or for a review. This can be done under the "Marketing" menu. you can create a coupon code and give it to someone to obtain the book for free. You do not pay an additional fee to Payhip for these orders.

Updated Files: This is the biggest benefit of this service. You can update your book from your word processor; generate a new PDF; upload the new PDF to replace the prior PDF on Payhip; and send an email to all purchasers notifying them of the update. You must do this at "Customers" > "Email Updates" > "New email update". As long as you include the following line at the end of your message, they will receive a link to the latest file. Below it is an example.

[download_link]

I am unable to successfully use this feature because many of our orders were placed through SendOwl in previous years, and our legacy account has since been terminated with them. Generating an updated email blast on Payhip would miss most orders. However, if you started with Payhip, you could use this feature at any time.

Additional Features: You can also sell bundles, allow items to be placed in a cart, and generate discount codes.

Why should you consider this over Kindle books? Two reasons: convenience and income. You already have a PDF, so your hard work is done. Payhip handles all of the rest. You receive the entire purchase price, minus the credit card fees. If you have a technical manual at a cost of $20.00, your take is $19.40. That is a 97% royalty! As long as you sell enough copies to justify the "Pro" monthly fee, this can be an option for some writers. If not, the free tier would still pay much more than Amazon. All of the transactions happen behind the scenes, and you are not responsible for delivering the goods.

Prior to 2023, I focused only on KDP print books. In late 2022, many people complained that print books were dead and digital files were the only way I should release technical manuals. I began offering numerous technical titles as PDF releases, and the response was mixed. Many people loved the new format, while many others complained because there were no print options. The lesson here is that you will never make everyone happy.

As I continued to release more PDFs, I made sure to update them often. Almost every month, I modified the content of each PDF to match various changes with the technologies discussed. This was a huge hit with my readers, and they appreciated the constantly updated material. When SendOwl terminated the legacy accounts, we had to switch to Payhip and the ability to send all of those customers free updates vanished. Again, if you sign up with Payhip and only rely on them, you could make it work.

Offering free updates to a $20 PDF may seem unsustainable. That may sound like a lot of work if you only have a few sales. I was fortunate to have a large audience, and the work was justified. Every time I issued updates to my books, I posted details of the updates on my blog and social media accounts. These posts generated a spike in new sales every time. The free updates were working well from a marketing view. Digital PDFs are much easier to create. However, this worked well because I have already established an audience. Your first book(s) may rely on Amazon sales to get going.

Overall, only you can choose whether PDF delivery is appropriate for your audience. While it is the easiest distribution option, PDFs do not transfer well to a Kindle or other E-book devices. Reference manuals, such as my OSINT and privacy books, opened on a laptop may work well, but a fictional novel in PDF is not desired by most. The majority of your readers will not want a PDF from you unless it is a large trim size with technical content. If you want to reach the largest audience possible, you might create a Kindle version of your book, which brings along many nuisances, as explained in the book.

Today, we rely solely on Payhip for all digital orders and I could not be happier. We pay them less per month than any month we were on SendOwl, even before the huge price increases. All of the paid issues of UNREDACTED Magazine were through Payhip and the current PDF books are too. After I wrote this update, I noticed Payhip had an affiliate program, so I signed up. If you want to let them know we referred you, which gives us a few bucks, please sign up through Payhip (https://payhip.com/?fp_ref=michael76). Our affiliate programs greatly help support this whole thing. If you want to read about all of my experiences self-publishing print books, digital books, and a podcast, consider my book This Book Was Self-Published

OK, what do you want to write about? Please create something from which the world will benefit, generate some income during the process, and share it with us when you make it!

OS Telemetry Update

Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Shortly after publishing the OS Telemetry Guide, we received a lot of feedback. A lot. There were two concerns. First, when enabling telemetry in order to update, would all of the locally-stored telemetry be delivered, making the protections useless? Second, many people asked why we excluded Linux from our guide. Let's tackle both.

The Linux response is easy. Linux does not natively collect much telemetry. Many distributions collect none at all. There is no central repository snooping on your daily activity. Therefore, we have no recommended DNS block list for Linux in general. If you are concerned, we recommend a software firewall such as Open Snitch instead of DNS filtering.

The other concern is more complicated. Yes, enabling all connections to Apple or Microsoft does open the flood gates for telemetry delivery, but not the way you might think. If you never use Apple's Music, News, Photos, or other stock applications, there is no telemetry to deliver. If you use those apps but have not opened them since the last reboot, much of the logs have been purged. If you are following our previous guides on purging logs, even less is stored (and transmitted). This is why I insist on only applying updates after a reboot with everything closed. Also, if you have no Apple account associated with the macOS device, there is no account to store all of the details. The general idea was to block the non-stop sending of data every minute to Apple or Microsoft and only allow connection when we need something from them. However, I respect the concerns and agree that opening the flood gates is not ideal.

Therefore, let's modify things a bit. When attempting to update macOS with DNS filtering set to block all connections, I can see in the DNS logs that things are working as desired.

I can also see that the updates were blocked.

If I disabled all blocking, it should all work fine but would leak out too much data. Instead, I applied the following to my "Allowlist" within NextDNS.

These are the bare minimum connections required to allow Apple to update macOS without openeing every connection on the domain. We are blocking every connection to apple.com but allowing swdist.apple.com (software distribution). These specific domains are related to updates and would not send telemetry based on applications such as News, Photos, Music, etc. After enabling these, I attempted updates again.

Everything worked and I allowed my machine to update. When complete, I simply disabled each rule but left them in the Allowlist for future use.

This could be replicated for Windows by watching your NextDNS logs while attempting an update. It takes a bit of trial and error, but should be straight-forward. However, both Apple and Microsoft constantly tweak these connections so expect failure at some point. When that happens, simply repeat the process and see what changed, adding the new domain to your Allowlist.

New OS Telemetry Guide

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition I explained how I use a software firewall to prevent my computers from sending out details about my usage to the companies which create the applications and operating systems powering them. In Issue 011 of UNREDACTED Magazine, I explained how the Apple operating system now bypasses the software firewall to send data about your actions back to their servers without any notification. This generated a lot of feedback. Some wanted to know exactly what they should block for their own macOS machines while others wanted an updated list for Microsoft. Others were curious if this would apply to Windows virtual machines (yes, it does).

The purpose of this guide is to allow you to create a DNS filtering block list which can be used without a software firewall to prevent all telemetry from being sent to either Apple or Microsoft (or both if using a VM). You will need a free NextDNS account and your host operating system must be using this specific account for it all to work, as explained in Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition. Once you have that working, the following block lists block all telemetry by placing each option in the "denylist" within your NextDNS profile.

Apple Block List

apple.com
icloud.com
itunes.com
apple-dns.net
apple.news
apple-relay.cloudflare.com
apple-relay.fastly-edge.com
cdn-apple.com
aaplimg.com
akadns.net
dsce9.akamaiedge.net
sentry.io
demdex.net
mgr.gcsp.cddbp.net
safebrowsing.googleapis.com
ohttp-relay1.fastly-edge.com

Microsoft Block List

microsoft.com
microsoft.net
windows.com
windowsupdate.com
bing.com
live.com
msedge.net
office.com
skype.com
msn.com
office.net
xboxservices.com
cloud.microsoft
msftconnecttest.com
msftncsi.com
nelreports.net
t.ssl.ak.dynamic.tiles.virtualearth.net
img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net
edge-consumer-static.azureedge.net
prod-video-cms-amp-microsoft-com.akamaized.net
sentry.io
demdex.net
safebrowsing.googleapis.com

Once these are applied and activated, your system can no longer send data about your usage back to the motherships. However, that also means your systems can no longer receive updates or scan files and programs for suspicious behavior. This can be a serious risk for those who need that protection. I would never recommend this for a non-tech-savvy user. I also insist that I disable the DNS filtering at least once a week to download and apply system updates. During this time, I have no other apps open and I re-apply the DNS filtering upon a reboot.

I believe macOS users should still use a software firewall such as Little Snitch or Lulu in order to block telemetry of software applications (unless you want to constantly modify your denylist in NextDNS with their domains). It is also vital to change your time server to a nuetral provider (not Apple or Microsoft), as explained in the book. This keeps your time synchronized without allowing Apple or Microsoft to suck up everything else about your usage.

Overall, please do not apply any of this unless you understand the risks and benefits.

Results

Within a few seconds of booting my Apple computer, the following is only a partial output of the connections being blocked. This was without opening a single application.

Within a few seconds of booting my Windows computer, the following is only a partial output of the connections being blocked. Notice that a connection to Proton was allowed since it was not on the denylist. Also notice that a connection to Apple popped in because many people with Windows systems may also use Apple-related applications. There is no harm in applying both block lists to any computer. The unused domains won't harm anything.

I want to say one last time that you should use caution when blocking system connections. In theory, it sounds great. You are preventing your host from snooping on you and documenting a lot about your activity, including your IP address, machine identifiers, accounts, programs you use, and when (and how) you use them. You are also preventing your system from protecting you. Only you can decide if you need their protection. If you have good digital hygiene, understand how cyber threats come into systems, and have the discipline to manually apply updates, you should be fine. If you are prone to viruses, this is not for you. Always understand how to reverse your DNS provider before making the switch. See Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition for more details.

New Firewall Guide

Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We have released a brand new Firewall Guide at https://inteltechniques.com/firewall/. This guide walks through every step of creating your own pfSense firewall with Proton VPN and Wireguard.

The New Blog

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I have hosted a WordPress blog on this site for almost 20 years. I don't any more.

WordPress was great. Type what you want to say; click a few buttons; and poof, your post is available to the world while your RSS feed is auto generated. It was so easy. It also brought a lot of trouble.

Even though we self-hosted the blog, WordPress continued to add various tracking capabilities. We would remove them as they emerged, but tracking was still possible. We try to prevent us from knowing the IP addresses of our visitors whenever possible. This gives you more privacy and us deniability if we were to receive a court order for traffic. The feds were not knocking down our door, but we like to practice what we preach.

We use Cloudflare as our CDN and full caching prevented our web host from receiving the requests for pages. This eliminated both our host and us from seeing your specific traffic and IP address. However, searches on the blog would generate a direct hit to the host and bypass the protection. We disabled search but that did not stop all logging when an un-cached page was accessed.

My main beef with having WordPress on our site was the attacks. Thousands of bots brute-force and scrape WordPress installations looking for content and vulnerabilities. This can result in hundreds of thousands of page loads every day, sometimes millions. Our CDN stops some of it, but most gets by.

I also just don’t like having a large amount of code and a database on my site just to deliver text content and a few images. WordPress is very excessive for our needs. So we killed it. Doing this left us with an entire site existing of only HTML and JS. This allowed us to stop using our web host (Namecheap) and simply cache the static pages on a Cloudflare worker. The entire site is under 100 MB and our old host is no longer logging your activity. Cloudflare is now the only server which can see the data and traffic, and they do not share IP address or traffic logs with us, outside of temporary security logs when attacked. That is not to say THEY don't store the data, but they could do that as our CDN anyway. We have just eliminated one of two middle-men (Namecheap). We updated our Privacy Policy to reflect these new benefits at https://inteltechniques.com/privacy.

Today, we offer a pure HTML with Javacript Blog at https://inteltechniques.com/blog/. There is no database or bloat. Images only load if you expand a post in order to keep bandwidth down for you and us. We created an RSS feed to continue supplying updates to those who rely on RSS readers for content. We even forward the old feed to the new so that your existing configurations should just work.

We have already posted new content and pruned the old and outdated material so be sure to take a look and subscribe to the RSS feed. We have many big things planned.

OSINT Tools Update

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We have update our online OSINT Tools at https://inteltechniques.com/tools/. They now allow automated query of an X (Twitter) username across XCancel for data retrieval without being logged into a X (Twitter) account including filtration by year.

Online Training: Updates and Membership Discounts

Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Periodically, we like to share some of the tactics, tools, and topics that we’ve been tackling recently in our online training program. If it has been a while since you last visited the training, the summary below will bring you up to speed on what has been added recently. We continue to add new lessons every month, along with the tools, templates, and resources that you have come to expect from your IntelTechniques membership.

We also wanted to remind former training members that, although training costs have risen in recent years, you are always welcome to renew your membership at your original discounted price point. Contact Jason at training@inteltechniques.net directly to reactivate your account or if you have any questions. No chatbots, no AI agents, and no call centers. Laura or I will assist you directly because we think you deserve proper support from real humans.

New Lessons and Updates

The training currently includes more than 130 hours of video content, 1,000+ pages of digital guides, a custom OSINT virtual machine, specialized scripts, and report templates, with new content added every month. Below is a sample of recent lessons, tools, and resources added to the program and you can view the full curriculum at inteltechniques.net.

Triaging Leads Best practices for deciding which leads to pursue early in an investigation, with an optional real-world practical exercise.

Event Threat Assessments A scenario-based lesson on researching events, related issues, and online discussions to support safety planning and tactical decision-making.

Privacy Assessments A workflow for conducting vulnerability assessments on cooperating targets. New Excel and Obsidian templates are provided.

Developer Tools: Removing Page Elements A demonstration on using browser developer tools to remove overlays and reveal hidden page content during online investigations.

Cultural Intelligence Guidance on interpreting interests, beliefs, online behavior, photos, videos, usernames, and cultural context to improve investigative analysis.

Investigating a Scam Email – Exercise and Demo A practical attribution exercise using a real-world scam email, followed by a walkthrough of the investigative workflow.

Domains, IP Addresses, and DNS A foundational overview of how domains, IP addresses, and DNS work in the context of web traffic.

How Packets Work A companion write-up to the Domains, IP Addresses, and DNS lesson, explaining what happens at the packet level when a browser requests a website.

APIs An overview of application programming interfaces appropriate for OSINT work and how to add them to your workflow.

Due Diligence Reports An overview of core components, templates, and best practices for professional due diligence reporting.

Updated Tools Dashboard An updated set of custom OSINT tools available only to training members, including hosted and self-hosted options.

Client Expectations: Bug Sweep Scenario A real-world counter-surveillance scenario used to discuss best practices for managing challenging client expectations.

Sanctions Evasion Report and Resources A sample report and resources focused on business-entity research in the context of a sanctions-evasion investigation.

Address Verification Demo A demonstration combining search engines, people-search results, and government databases to locate and verify a target residential address.

Premium Breach Data Services A comparison spreadsheet covering popular premium breach-data services. This supplements our lesson series on building and self-hosting your own breach-data collections.

Triaging a Personal Data Security Incident Actionable steps to take in the first 24 hours after a cyber incident to stop the bleeding and mitigate damage.

OSINT Case Study: “Call to Arms” This case study was shared by one of our members and walks through their approach to an OSINT investigation.

Investigative Pivots Best practices for identifying new leads and uncovering new investigative paths.

PDF Editors and Utilities Alternative PDF readers, editors, and utilities for preparing OSINT reports. This is a useful lesson for anyone interested in moving away from Adobe products and unfriendly subscription fees.

Transitioning to Linux from Windows Tips and considerations for moving away from Windows and over to Linux as a primary operating system.

Cloudflare Tunnels A practical introduction to using Cloudflare Tunnels for low-cost remote access to infrastructure and self-hosted tools.

Note-taking Templates in Excel Format Two new Excel templates for collecting, organizing, and reusing investigative findings.

Telegram Scraping with Python, Part 1 The first lesson in a series using Python scripts to automate collection of Telegram content.

GitHub A walkthrough of GitHub navigation, search options, and profile research.

Images and Photographs An updated lesson on tactics and tools for processing digital images during OSINT investigations.

10-Day Security An updated digital-security guide with tips for coaching others through a 10-step digital security makeover.

Regular Expressions This lesson explains how to use regex for locating and filtering patterned data in large files, such as breach data.

Executive Summaries An example-driven lesson on writing stronger executive summaries.

Linux Terminal A beginner-friendly guide to the Linux terminal and common command-line tools.

Infiltration Tactics and guidelines for online infiltration work, with discussion of policy, risk, and the importance of professional judgment.

What Makes IntelTechniques Training Different

IntelTechniques instructors are active-duty professionals from the U.S. intelligence community with decades of real-world experience. When evaluating OSINT training, we believe that instructor qualifications matter. You should know whether the people teaching the material have actual experience using these tactics at a professional level. When we are not teaching you about intelligence work, we are actively working real cases and operations in the intelligence field.
Our training format is demonstration-based and uses real-world targets. This is not “death by PowerPoint.” The program is built around practical tools, repeatable workflows, investigative tradecraft, and the full intelligence process from triage through report writing.
We write our own curriculum. Our materials have become the foundation that many other OSINT training programs, instructors, and academic courses use as a reference point.
The program is designed to provide substantial value at a practical price point. We encourage you to compare programs carefully and look at the details: depth of content, instructor experience, student support, templates, tools, updates, and practical application.
We focus our time and resources on curriculum and student support rather than marketing. Our growth has relied largely on word of mouth, and we are proud that the program is known for the strength of its content. This is why you do not hear from us often about the program. We want to respect your time and inbox.
Support is direct and personal. Michael, Laura, or Jason will assist you directly; you will not be routed to a call center, support bot, or random staff member.

Certification Considerations

Many certification programs rely primarily on academic testing and recurring fees. We believe a written test alone does not prove that someone can perform intelligence work, so our certification process is different.

Candidates complete a 10-day real-world OSINT mission resulting in a professional intelligence report that can serve as a meaningful portfolio sample.
The process is challenging and not for everyone, but successful candidates clear a high bar for OSINT certification.
IntelTechniques certifies your work directly. We do not charge additional fees for a third-party logo, and we do not believe you should have to pay recurring maintenance fees to keep a certification you earned.

Our certification is tough and requires a significant time commitment, but if you pass, you will have achieved something that sets you apart from most intelligence professionals.

Reactivating Your Membership Former IntelTechniques online training members are always welcome back at their previous rate. If you would like to reactivate your account at your previous discounted rate, please contact Jason directly at training@inteltechniques.net, and we will provide a payment link at your discounted membership rate. There is no deadline, no strings attached, and no hoops to jump through. You are welcome to reach out any time with questions or to regain access to our new content.

UNREDACTED Magazine 012

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Issue #012 is now available (18 Articles - 66 Pages) by the IntelTechniques team for $10!

https://unredactedmagazine.com
https://payhip.com/b/fS2NA Contents:

"../../News & Updates

Hardware TOTP: Revolving 2FA Codes Without an App
Placing Telephone Orders to Avoid VPN Flags: Bypass IP Blocklists
Minimal Android Emulation: Terminal-Based Mobile VMs
The ID.me Challenge: Create Accounts with the Least Invasion Possible
The Photocopied ID Strategy: Copies of Copies of Copies...
Access Full Terminal History: Never Lose Another Command
Fun with AppleScripts: Daily Convenience and Productivity on macOS
Your Health Records are Leaking: Any Office Can Access Your Data
Repurpose Hard Drives with TrueNAS: Merge Smaller Drives for Backups
Self-Hosted Genealogy: Research Without Compromising Control
Deleting Un-Deletable Accounts: Bending the Truth to Force Removal
Security.txt is Broken: Abuse by Spammers, Scammers, & Wannabe Hackers
Drive Specifications Matter II: 80Gbps Enclosures
SDRTrunk: Avoid Expensive Police Scanners with Software
Q&A

No third-party ads.
No outside sponsors.
No A.I. slop
No conflicts of interest.
No fluff.
No filler.
No agenda.
Only detailed information.

We anticipate #013 will be released in Autumn or Winter of 2026.

Updated OSINT VM

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

We just pushed several updates to the OSINT VM:

Updated linux.txt and install.sh to reflect changes within several applications.

Modified user.sh to reflect change with Maigret.

We highly recommend building a new VM to take advantage of the modifications, which bring back full function to several dead applications. Log into the OSINT portal from the book to see everything.

Updated GrapheneOS Settings

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 03:00:00 GMT

The 2026 macOS and iOS guides deviated substantially from the content within Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition. This is because Apple added many new invasions to your privacy with their latest offering. While Apple devices are extremely secure, even more so than most Android devices in my opinion, this comes at a privacy risk. The settings presented in the previous articles eliminate much of the concern for Apple users, but we have to always be watching for the next embedded data collection utility.

With GrapheneOS, there is not as much to discuss, as it has always been a bare-bones mobile operating system allowing you to add what you want instead of being force-fed new features. However, much like Apple, many things have changed over the past two years. Let's revisit the entire content for GrapheneOS customization to match their latest release.

I suspect that most of these settings will already be applied to your device. However, new features are now available and it is always good practice to confirm your desired settings annually. While GrapheneOS does not typically revert any modified system settings after an update like iOS does, individual apps may have encouraged you to disable some of the overall protection.

The following represents how I set up my own device. Some of these settings may be too restrictive for your needs. As I stated in the previous articles, do your own research and understand what these modifications change. Only then can you make the most informed choice for your needs.

Again, the following is simply a supplement to the content within the book.

Settings > Network & internet > Private DNS > (Enter your preferred DNS)
Settings > Network & internet > Internet connectivity checks > GrapheneOS server
Settings > Network & internet > Attestation key provisioning > GrapheneOS proxy
Settings > Network & internet > Widevine provisioning > GrapheneOS proxy
Settings > Apps > Contacts storage > Device only
Settings > Notifications > App notifications > All apps > Disable undesired
Settings > Notifications > Notification history > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Bubbles > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Notifications on lock screen > Don't show any notifications
Settings > Notifications > Notification cooldown > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Flash notifications > Camera Flash > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Flash notifications > Screen Flash > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Wireless emergency alerts > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Enhanced notifications > Disabled
Settings > Sound & vibration > Media volume > Lowest
Settings > Sound & vibration > Notification volume > Lowest
Settings > Sound & vibration > Media > Pin media player > Disabled
Settings > Sound & vibration > Media > Show media on lock screen > Disabled
Settings > Sound & vibration > Default notification sound > None
Settings > Sound & vibration > Dial pad tones > Disabled
Settings > Sound & vibration > Screen locking sound > Disabled
Settings > Sound & vibration > Charging sounds and vibration > Disabled
Settings > Display > Screen timeout > Low
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Pin
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Settings > Scramble PIN > Enabled
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Settings > Enhanced PIN privacy > Enabled
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Settings > Lock screen timeout > 5 seconds
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Settings > Power button locks > Enabled
Settings > Security & privacy > Device unlock > Screen lock > Settings > Allow camera access > Disabled
Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy controls > Show passwords > Disabled
Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy controls > Location access > Disabled (until needed)
Settings > Security & privacy > Exploit protection > Auto reboot > 18-24 hours
Settings > Security & privacy > Exploit protection > USB-C port > Charging-only
Settings > Security & privacy > Exploit protection > Turn off Wi-Fi automatically > 1 minute
Settings > Security & privacy > Exploit protection > Turn off Bluetooth automatically > 1 minute
Settings > Security & privacy > Exploit protection > Secure app spawning > Enabled

These settings provide a more hardened Android system while taking advantage of GrapheneOS's robust security features. Modify your device as needed and never let our fascination with privacy completely break the functionality of technology.

Updated iOS 26 Settings

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 02:00:00 GMT

Much like the macOS guide, Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition also offered many privacy and security considerations for previous versions of iOS. That content is also pushing two years old now, so I am again overdue for an update. This article revisits that entire section for the recent changes within iOS 26.

The following assumes you are on iOS 26.1, which was the latest version at the time of writing. Now that we have let Apple offer the first major update to that OS, the menu settings should be fairly locked in. I always prefer to wait for a ".1" update before documenting specific menu settings. This guide also assumes you have already purchased and booted the mobile device, created your Apple ID, and configuring any personal customizations as explained in the book.

The purpose of this article is to revisit all of the System Settings for optimal iOS privacy and security. While everything here will work if you logged in to an iCloud account, which is different than an Apple account, some menus may appear differently. Consider it a supplement to the content within the book.

Once you can access the system on the device, the following configurations should be considered through the Settings menu. Note that some of these settings may disable features which you find desirable, and some options here might not be present within your device. Research any modifications and apply settings which are most appropriate for your usage. Never blindly accept my opinions, understand why you want the change.

Settings > Apple Account > Personal Information > Name and Photo Sharing > Disabled
Settings > Apple Account > Personal Information > Communication Preferences > Disable all
Settings > Apple Account > Media & Purchases > View Account > Personalized... > Disabled
Settings > Bluetooth > Off (If not used)
Settings > Cellular > Disable as desired
Settings > General > Software Update > Automatic Updates > Off
Settings > General > AirDrop > Receiving Off
Settings > General > AirDrop > Bringing Devices Together > Disabled
Settings > General > AirDrop > Use Cellular Data > Disabled
Settings > General > AirPlay & Continuity > Disable all
Settings > General > Picture in Picture > Disabled
Settings > General > AutoFill & Passwords > Disable all
Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Apple Store > Disabled
Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Shortcuts > Disabled
Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Voice Memos > Disabled
Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Correction > Disabled
Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation > Disabled
Settings > General > Keyboard > Stickers > Disabled
Settings > Battery > Battery Percentage > Enabled
Settings > Passwords > Password Options > Autofill Passwords > Disabled
Settings > Camera > Scan QR Codes > Disabled
Settings > Search > Show Recent Searches > Disabled
Settings > Search > Show Recent Searches > Show Related Content > Disabled
Settings > Search > Show Recent Searches > Help Improve Search > Disabled
Settings > Search > Each App > Disable all
Settings > Siri > Disable all
Settings > Standby > Standby > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Scheduled Summary > Off
Settings > Notifications > Show previews > Never
Settings > Notifications > Screen Sharing > Notifications Off
Settings > Notifications > Siri Suggestions > Disable all
Settings > Notifications > Disable notifications on sensitive apps
Settings > Notifications > If desired, disable all Government Alerts
Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback > Sound > Disabled
Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback > Haptic > Enabled
Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Lock Sound > Disabled
Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Password AutoFill > Disabled
Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Allow Access When Locked > Disable undesired
Settings > Privacy & Security > Location services > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Motion & Fitness > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Nearby Interactions > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Paired Devices > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Research Sensor & Usage Data > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Journaling Suggestions > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Sensitive Content Warning > Disabled
Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising > Personalized Ads > Disabled
Settings > Privacy & Security > App Privacy Report > Off
Settings > Privacy & Security > Wired Accessories > Automatically Allow When Unlocked
Settings > Game Center > Disabled
Settings > Apps > App Store > Automatic Downloads > Disable all
Settings > Apps > App Store > Video Autoplay > Off
Settings > Apps > App Store > In-App Ratings & Reviews > Disabled
Settings > Apps > App Store > Offload Unused Apps > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Apple Store > Video Autoplay > Off
Settings > Apps > Maps > Share ETA > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Maps > Air Quality Index > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Maps > Weather Conditions > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Maps > Ratings and Photos > Disabled (If Present)
Settings > Apps > Maps > Show Ratings and Photos Suggestion > Disabled (If present)
Settings > Apps > Maps > Follow Up by Email > Disabled (If Present)
Settings > Apps > Photos > Shared Albums > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Photos > Show Hidden Album > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Photos > Show Recently Viewed & Shared > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Photos > Show Featured Content > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Photos > Enhanced Visual Search > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Siri & Search > Disable All
Settings > Apps > Safari > Search Engine > DuckDuckGo
Settings > Apps > Safari > Search Engine Suggestions > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Safari Suggestions > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Show Recent Searches > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Quick Website Search > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Preload Top Hit > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > AutoFill > Disable All
Settings > Apps > Safari > Prevent Cross-Site Tracking > Enabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Fraudulent Website Warning > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Highlights > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Camera > Deny
Settings > Apps > Safari > Microphone > Deny
Settings > Apps > Safari > Location > Deny
Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Privacy Preserving Ad... > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Check for Apple Pay > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Shortcuts > iCloud Sync > Disabled
Settings > Apps > Shortcuts > Private Sharing > Disabled

These settings provide more privacy from Apple while taking advantage of their secure mobile operating system. Modify your device as needed and never let our fascination with privacy completely break the functionality of technology.

Updated macOS 26 Settings

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 01:00:00 GMT

In Extreme Privacy, 5th Edition, I offered many privacy and security considerations for macOS. That content is pushing two years old now, so I am probably overdue for an update. This article revisits that entire section for the recent changes within macOS 26.

The following assumes you are on macOS 26.1, which was the latest version at the time of writing. Now that we have let Apple offer the first major update to that OS, the menu settings should be fairly locked in. I always prefer to wait for a ".1" update before documenting specific menu settings. This guide also assumes you have already purchased and booted the device, skipping the request for an Apple ID, and configuring things such as Wi-Fi, application firewall, Spotlight, Gatekeeper, FileVault, and any personal customizations as explained in the book. Consider this a supplement to that information.

The purpose of this article is to revisit all of the System Settings for optimal macOS privacy and security. Major updates are known to re-enable undesired settings, so this is a good time to check everything. While everything here will work if you logged in to an Apple account, some menus may appear differently. The following was conducted within System Settings from the Applications menu.

Settings > Wi-Fi > Ask to join networks > Off
Settings > Wi-Fi > Ask to join hotspots > Never
Settings > Bluetooth > Disabled (if not used)
Settings > Network > Firewall > Enabled
Settings > Network > Firewall > Options > Automatically allow built-in... > Disabled
Settings > Network > Firewall > Options > Automatically allow downloaded... > Disabled
Settings > Network > Firewall > Options > Stealth mode > Enabled
Settings > Battery > Options > Wake for network access > Never
Settings > General > Automatic Updates > i > Disable All
Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > Allow Handoff > Disabled
Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > AirDrop > No One
Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > AirPlay Receiver > Disabled
Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > Allow Airplay for > Current User
Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff > Require password > Enabled
Settings > General > AutoFill & Passwords > All Your Password... > (Close "x")
Settings > General > AutoFill & Passwords > AutoFill Passwords and Passkeys > Disabled
Settings > General > Date & Time > Source > Set > pool.ntp.org > Set
Settings > General > Date & Time > Set time zone automatically... > Disabled
Settings > General > Date & Time > Time zone > Desired location
Settings > General > Date & Time > Closest City > Desired location
Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions > Remove or disable those desired
Settings > General > Sharing > Disable all
Settings > Accessibility > Siri > Type to Siri > Disabled
Settings > Accessibility > Siri > Listen for atypical speech > Disabled
Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Apple Intelligence > Disabled
Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Siri > Disabled
Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Siri History > Delete Siri & Dictation History > Delete
Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Siri Suggestions & Privacy > Disable all
Settings > Desktop & Dock > Show suggested and recent apps in Dock > Disabled
Settings > Desktop & Dock > Show recent apps in Stage Manager > Disabled
Settings > Desktop & Dock > Automatically rearrange Spaces... > Disabled
Settings > Spotlight > Show Related Content > Disabled
Settings > Spotlight > Spotlight Search History > Delete Search History
Settings > Spotlight > Help Apple Improve Search > Disabled
Settings > Spotlight > Results from Apps > Disable all
Settings > Spotlight > Results from System > Disable all
Settings > Spotlight > Results from Clipboard > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Show previews > Never
Settings > Notifications > Allow notifications when the device is sleeping > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Allow notifications when the screen is locked > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Allow notifications when mirroring or sharing the display > Disabled
Settings > Notifications > Application Notifications > Disable undesired
Settings > Sound > Alert volume > Minimum
Settings > Sound > Play sound on startup > Disabled
Settings > Sound > Play user interface sound effects > Disabled
Settings > Sound > Play feedback when volume is changed > Disabled
Settings > Focus > Share across devices > Disabled
Settings > Focus > Focus status > Off
Settings > Lock Screen > Turn display off on battery when inactive > For 1 hour
Settings > Lock Screen > Turn display off on power adapter when inactive > For 1 hour
Settings > Lock Screen > Require password after... > Immediately
Settings > Lock Screen > Show password hints > Disabled
Settings > Lock Screen > Show message when locked > Disabled
Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > Off
Settings > Privacy & Security > Confirm app access
Settings > Privacy & Security > Sensitive Content Warning > Off
Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Disable all
Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Advertising > Personalized Ads > Disabled
Settings > Privacy & Security > Apple Intelligence Report > Off
Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault > Enabled
Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessories > Always ask
Settings > Privacy & Security > Background Security Improvements > Enabled (if desired)
Settings > Touch ID & Password > Use Touch ID for Apple Pay > Disabled
Settings > Touch ID & Password > Use Touch ID for purchases... > Disabled
Settings > Touch ID & Password > Use Touch ID for autofilling passwords > Disabled
Settings > Internet Accounts > None
Settings > Game Center > Disabled
Settings > iCloud > None
Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Autofill Cards > 0
Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Shipping Address > None
Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Email > None
Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Phone > None
Settings > Wallet & Apple Pay > Add Orders to Wallet > Disabled

These basic privacy and security settings plus a properly-configured software firewall such as Little Snitch or Lulu will provide the optimal macOS setup. Most telemetry and overall Apple invasions will be eliminated and you can simply enjoy a secure operating system.