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From The Black OP Security Wiki

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Welcome to The Black OP Security Wiki.

This is a collection of tutorials with the primary goal of explaining digital security systems to those who likely could make use of them, but do not have the experience to properly set them up, or much time to research how to do so. The general break down of how the tutorials are laid out is this; there is a main page that explains the concepts involved in the underlying technology. From this main page, there are links to tutorials that explain how to configure and utilize the technology, but which do not go in depth explaining how the actual technology works. I suggest people read the main page, and then read the configuration and utilization tutorials. But some people may only be interested in the configuration and utilization tutorials, and you will get a lot out of just applying them even if you don't really understand what you are doing. You do not need to understand the underlying technology to make use of a security technique, but in all cases it will be beneficial to you if you understand what you you are doing.

A small word of advice before we get to the good stuff. Many people do not think that they need to be secure. I hear a lot of different excuses as to why people do not take security precautions, but some of the most common ones I hear are; "I am just a small timer, no one cares about me!", "Being secure is too hard, it is a waste of time to even try and learn unless you are extremely intelligent in the first place!" and "I think there is probably some elite and secret government agency that can break any security system I can utilize, so there is really no point in me being secure anyways". I will answer now for everyone how I have answered many times for the individuals I have heard these excuses from.

Firstly, it does not matter if you think you are small time, or even if you are small time. It doesn't matter if you don't do anything wrong at all. This is a cold world and there are indeed people out there who want to take advantage of you, be they con-men, identity thieves, business competitors or government agencies. To someone who wants to hurt you, you are not small time but are the perfect target. Many say that this is a paranoid mind frame, but I believe they are infarct naive and that this is a realistic mind frame.

Secondly, although fully understanding the underlying concepts of security systems is often hard (often only in the realms of PH.D academics), it is extremely simple to utilize the actual technology. One does not need to be a mathematic prodigy to use a calculator anymore than one needs to be an expert network analyst to utilize anonymity networks, or be a professor of cryptography to use GPG. Please do not doubt your abilities to use simple software programs before you even attempt to use them.

Last of all, perhaps there are elite government agencies who can really put a lot of security systems to the test. NSA is an elite military intelligence agency, and it would be foolish to assume they are not capable of doing some pretty extraordinary things. But at the same time, they are simply humans. And humans can not change the fundamental laws of mathematics upon which many security systems (cryptographic) are based. Even with adversaries with cutting edge computer equipment that may or may not even exist, there are indeed some precautions that can be taken that will defend adequately against super powerful adversaries. And although some of the concepts I write about will not stand up to them, keep in mind that they are (hopefully) not the ones that are after you. And they are not likely to compromise their resources or reveal their techniques by helping those who are going after you. They have their own fish to fry, and unless you are running a foreign military you have little chances of encountering anyone of this caliber.

One more thing I would like to add. The drug war has failed. Politicians need to think long and hard on what their true goal is. If their goal is to protect people, they should legalize and regulate drug distribution. As it is, they only lead to analog drugs, often more risky than the illegal alternatives, gaining popularity. Nothing will ever stop drug distribution and the war on drugs is a waste of money and skill that is actually counter productive to its stated goals.

Release two will include more tutorials and possibly contain additional information in the present tutorials. I have taken every effort to provide correct information, but you follow my advice at your own risk. I am prone to mistakes, as everyone is. Research things yourself, this is honestly just a starting reference. Come to your own conclusions, don't take me at my word.