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Posted on 02/24/2022 4:43:50 AM PST by Lazamataz
A friend on FR sent me a Freepmail, warning me to take prudent electronic measures. This is due to the recent actions in Ukraine, and our possible (hamhanded) response, followed by a likely all-out cyber war.
A cyber war could do quite a bit of damage, disrupting financial institutions and even shutting down our water and electricity. Therefore, I will take my friends post, and expand it.
Please take some prudent measures. If nothing happens, GREAT.... but if something happens, you'll think back to that time when your good ole' buddy Laz warned you, and you heeded him.
PRUDENT MEASURES BELOW:
FINANCIAL:
- Make sure you have a secure connection to your banking & investment accounts first;
- Get on your banks, investment accounts;
- Download copies of statements of each today. Complete with up to date balances, your account #’s, etc..;
- Store them on a removable USB drive. DO NOT leave them on your computer. I'd actually go entirely to paper...;
- If you do not have an SSL VPN provider, get one today. I use NordVPN;
- If you have the technical capability, run pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi 3 (or better) device OR on an existing Linux box.
- Do not “run naked” on the internet. Personal security on the internet right now is even more important than ever. Whatever you do, don’t rely on your router’s firewall or Windows Security to protect you.
PHYSICAL:
I might suggest:
- You have as large a backlog of meds as you can. I have laid up about a years worth, including insulin.
- You secure yourself as large a quantity of water as you can. I got a 55 gal plastic drum. If you don’t have that, and you have a swimming pool, you’re good... if it is filled. If not, get a bathtub waterbob (which I also have) and water purification methods. At bare minumum, lay in some 2 liter empty-soda bottles. DO NOT USE MILK JUGS, that will kill you.
- Make sure your weapon(s) are functional and sighted in, and that they are by your side.
- Hopefully you have dried, canned, or otherwise preserved food. While a cooking source is nice, for canned goods it is optional.
- If shit gets hairy, contact your neighbors to form an area-defense league. Be sensitive to when the law no longer matters. That is called the Inflection Point. When the Inflection Point occurs, be ready to kill to defend yours. And remember: More trigger-pullers always beats fewer trigger-pullers.
The Official Lazamataz Sometimes-Funny, Sometimes-Disturbing Ping List
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Ping to all. Jim, you have physical disabilities, so please have someone around that can readily assist you.
To all: See you on the other side, if things go south. If not, see you tomorrow! :)
👍
Thanks Laz. We are going into the fray one way or the other. Its just a matter of time.The China play is next.
We’re all going to diet!
I’ve got the Kraken.
Good to see you about. Just wish we were jokingly discussing what to hit rather than the current situation.
Bump
I would go a step further and suggest that any and all accounts that support MFA, now is the time to enable it. Also learn how to leverage TOR along with VPN. And double plus support for PiHole and DNSCrypt if you can make it work. Your DNS searches are open text without them.
I don’t share directly in your pessimism, Laz, but I do believe in being prepared. I’m also the first to admit that I’m a chronic sufferer of normalcy bias.
I’m not pessimistic! Not in the slightest.
I am, however, prudent.
MFA?
What is that?
(Search revealed “Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) - Microsoft Security”
If so...sounds like a GREAT suggestion.)
Add this, cash is king if electronic goes down, most people don’t even have much just laying around these days because a card is so convenient.
Go to the bank and withdraw some of your savings, or however you can and set it aside. When things calm down you can just put it back, but a $20 will still get you food and supplies at a local Bodega, so will a silver dollar.
I have seen the internet go down here many times and the sign gets hung up on the door: CASH ONLY. I have watched so many people just get in a huff and storm off. I can only imagine how bad it will be when EVERYWHERE has this sign hung up, and the anxiety, fear and anger takes over when Billy Bob runs out of cigarettes and beer and has no way to get it and reality then sets in for him, especially in your more heavily urban neighborhoods when many families only HAVE a card given to them and cash is not even am option.
Great photo AND tagline!
Wise to be aware and concerned with this now. There is more risk now from Russia messing with us.
You missed an important one. Have your cars remote handy. Any issues, you set off the car alarm so neighbors know to help neighbors.
“You mess with one of us, you just messed with ALL of us…”
Putin doesn’t need a cyber war for FR, it’s already largely one of his many left and right mouthpieces...
It is good to every few years read your profile page.
Jeff Nyquist in the article I posted last night (and he’s said it in other articles) that a source has told him that, behind the scenes, Russia has explicitly threatened to take out our power grids and other infrastructure with cyber attacks in the event we place sanctions (which has happened).
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