Hardcore Hardware Control and Tips

General Tor and Anonymity Talk
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  • Steps to have them done might be tough but this is what at the moment best way to handle hardware at the market

  • Not all of them might be applicable on your pc

  • Remove = Physically cut ← if its not possible then → Disable = Physical burning/melting of the chip/object or from BIOS level NOT within the Operating System (OS).

A- Control Hardware by Hardware not through Software

Note: Dont switch the replacements as a wireless adapters , use always wire adapters because many of these bluetooth wireless adapters are transmitted in unencrypted way and can be attacked from wide rang.

1- Remove/Disable internal microphone (unless it come with proper kill switch) and buy new one from outside and plug it out once you finished using it

2- Remove/Disable internal speakers and buy new one from outside and plug it out once you finished using it because internal speakers can be turned into spying microphone:

https://cyber.bgu.ac.il/advanced-cyber/system/files/SPEAKEaR.pdf

3- Remove/Disable internal camera (unless it come with proper kill switch) and buy new one from outside and plug it out once you finished using it. Putting tape on the camera is not enough because some of them might have sensors like body heat sensors (infrared like) , heart rating …etc (there was a video show that but either deleted or hidden by google on youtube or i cant find it)

4- Remove/Disable internal bluetooth (unless it come with proper kill switch) and buy new one from outside and plug it out once you finished using it. Sometimes bluetooth comes built-in with motherboard , well try to disable it from BIOS rather than keeping it open (better to use external hardware like flash/hard drive when transmitting data)

5- Remove/Disable internal Wireless/WiMax (unless it come with proper kill switch) and buy new one from outside and plug it out once you finished using it. Better to always use wire/ethernet connection rather than wireless/wifi (recommended by Edward Snowden)

6- Remove/Disable internal GPS chip

7- Remove/Disable any touch/fingerprint stuff on keyboard,screen…

8- Careful when using/buying headphones make sure they come with microphone kill switch or get only audio headphone and buy the microphone separately (you can remove microphone physically from it if possible) plus make sure it using wire connection.

(Remove as much possible all the radio/waves that your pc produces)

B- Remove internal battery of your laptop and use only cable to make sure that the pc turned off and the memory wiped off to avoid memory forensic

C- Use Free or Open Source (might be with blobs) BIOSs

D- Use Free/Open Hardware Processors

Well there arent much yet (specially for laptops) but here are places to get an idea:

E- Avoid x86 Intel processors

F- Dont sell your flash or your external hard drive and you have used them before, and dont sell your pc without either changing the hard drive with new one or sell it without hard drive. If you have any used storage hardware and you dont need it then destroy it entirely (Burn/Melt it or cut/grind it or dissolve it using chemicals…etc)

G- There are markets that sell external hardware tools compatible with GNU/Linux without blobs e.g:

Extra Tips:

  • Avoid multibooting specially with malware OSs like Microsoft Windows as that might lead to make /boot in bye bye way.

https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/multiboot/

  • Qubes OS solves alot of these untrusted hardware issues even with external adapters
  • Watch Jacob Appelbaum great speech about NSA crazy hacking methods/tools
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