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XP operating system serious question.
19 July 2013 | self

Posted on 07/19/2013 9:18:15 AM PDT by SilverMine

I am concerned with NSA spying. I am wondering if I restore XP to it's original with no updates of any kind, am I safer than with the updates? For that computer, using TOR, will I have safe emails using nothing but Hushmail never going to any kind of browser other than TOR and no email other than hushmail?


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: silvermine; xp
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To: Paine in the Neck

>> Your only hope is to be a ‘gray man’.

Is “gray man hope” related to “white privilege”?


21 posted on 07/19/2013 9:38:38 AM PDT by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I would try Debian, mint, or Ubuntu.
if you like the old school look of xp than go with Debian and choose xfce as your window manager.


22 posted on 07/19/2013 9:49:22 AM PDT by NowApproachingMidnight (Civilizations die from suicide, not murder.)
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To: SilverMine

Agree with the linux from USB or CD option previously mentioned. An unpatched version of XP has very significant security issues anyone, including the NSA, can leverage.

BTW, there is no “safely” if its on a computer connected to the internet.


23 posted on 07/19/2013 9:58:10 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Nachum

They can learn your OS from your browser. Your PC tells every website you talk with.


24 posted on 07/19/2013 9:59:46 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SilverMine

Unless you absolutely need the MS Office suite, you should consider a Linux distro like unbuntu 12.10. As other Freepers have suggested, it installs from a USB drive with at least 2GB of storage - more is better. I am using this distro to write this and your PC will have much higher performance.


25 posted on 07/19/2013 10:10:38 AM PDT by CreviceTool ("They old...they old school...we new school...")
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To: SilverMine

Keep it updated and use this:

http://steghide.sourceforge.net/


26 posted on 07/19/2013 10:46:09 AM PDT by Jeff Chandler (- : Tagline for rent ; -)
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To: CreviceTool

While the entire MS Office suite is not a deal breaker for me part of it is. Almost everything can be done and sometimes done better in OpenOffice. Its the Almost that keeps me in Windoz land.

I use Access with a ton of various VB applications which need a reasonable size database with only a single connection and OpenOffice Base will not play nice with VB. A complete rewriting of my VB stuff and Access to OO Base ranks right up there with a root canal without anesthetic.


27 posted on 07/19/2013 10:54:00 AM PDT by Wurlitzer (Nothing says "ignorance" like Islam! 969)
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To: SilverMine
I would not recommend unpatched versions of XP (or anything else, including Mac or Linux). Those patches do keep the script kiddies out. NSA doesn't need into your OS in order to gather information - they have taps on the pipes.

One bit of information - Tor was designed by the U.S. Navy IIRC. Don't expect anything at all to be secure these days.

28 posted on 07/19/2013 10:59:31 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: SilverMine

I’d recommend DOS and mailing 5.25 inch floppies, but they’re checking the mail now, I’d recommend hand delivering them.


29 posted on 07/19/2013 11:02:17 AM PDT by dangerdoc (see post #6)
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To: dangerdoc

LOL! As if they maintain anything that can read 5.25 in floppies anymore!


30 posted on 07/19/2013 11:45:48 AM PDT by Sarajevo (Don't think for a minute that this excuse for a President has America's best interest in mind.)
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To: Sarajevo
LOL! As if they maintain anything that can read 5.25 in floppies anymore!

I've kept several 5.25" floppy drives from computers I sent to be recycled. I even have a couple double density drive that can only read 320K and 360K floppies. When I was archiving the contents of my floppy disks, I occasionally came across double density disks that could not be read in a high density PC-AT style floppy drive. The only way those disks could be read was to read them in a double density drive. What could really throw them for a loop would be to use 320K (8 sector disks). All versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 2000 are unable to read them.

31 posted on 07/19/2013 2:32:58 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative (Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not really out to get you.)
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To: SilverMine

Install Linux. All OS’s are keyed for NSA access, except the one they can’t control.

As far as secure browsing, get an anonymous swiss vpn account and use TOR for web browsing. It’s 9 bucks a month. Pay with a pre-paid CC from any store less monitored.

What protects you isn’t the location itself, but the multiple encrypted layers you are running through. The NSA tapped the trans-oceanic fiber lines as well.

And lastly, don’t log into backdoored servers. Microsoft, Skype, Yahoo, Google, and Apple are US based and their servers are directly accessed as well as passively monitored. Which means your encryption won’t do squat if you are connecting to a compromised server.

So that’s it.


32 posted on 07/19/2013 2:38:27 PM PDT by JFoobar
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To: JFoobar

Thanks that is pretty near what our IT guys are saying.


33 posted on 07/19/2013 5:05:25 PM PDT by SilverMine (silver@mainetv.net)
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To: BereanBrain

Even using Hushmail and Tor?


34 posted on 07/19/2013 5:07:09 PM PDT by SilverMine (silver@mainetv.net)
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To: Nachum

one way to find out some things.


35 posted on 07/19/2013 5:09:14 PM PDT by SilverMine (silver@mainetv.net)
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To: SilverMine

I have a BS and an MS in CS and worked in Gov Systems, and IT for 25+ years.

As I said, there is no electronic privacy


36 posted on 07/19/2013 6:45:20 PM PDT by BereanBrain
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To: BereanBrain
I have a BS and an MS in CS and worked in Gov Systems, and IT for 25+ years. As I said, there is no electronic privacy

between what has been said here and what our IT and security folks have told me, I have come to agree with you.

We have come up with a solution though, something simple out of the 1800's it is called the book code. Doesn't matter if NSA or anyone else intercepts it, they can't decipher it.

While we are not talking anything other than corporate business, that business info would be worth money to our competitors, customers, dealers, etc. I have little doubt that there are geeks in NSA smart enough to realize the profit potential they have in their ease dropped corporate information.

37 posted on 07/20/2013 2:16:45 PM PDT by SilverMine (silver@mainetv.net)
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To: SilverMine

you dont have to worry about the spy guys and commercial interests.

Only political stuff. That’s what changed since obama. Now they are making political points with evesdropping.


38 posted on 07/21/2013 8:52:22 PM PDT by BereanBrain
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To: BereanBrain
you dont have to worry about the spy guys and commercial interests. Only political stuff. That’s what changed since obama. Now they are making political points with eavesdropping.

I wish you were right, but you're not.

39 posted on 07/22/2013 4:05:04 AM PDT by SilverMine (silver@mainetv.net)
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