A few hours ago we had a question about the XKeyscore project in our wiki service and we promised to post a blog post on the subject with information on how to protect your personal information from the NSA’s ultimate spy tool. So here it goes, but first we should try to understand how the system works in order to fight it.
Edward Snowden, NSA’s whistleblower, provided the information and The Guardian has released it. According to him, XKeyscore (XKS) is able to collect and, most importantly, process the data of all internet users, including: browsing and search history, not only from Google but from other search engines, emails and social networks.
The NSA manager does not need any warrants or approval from senior executives to view all of this information. All he needs is your personal email address. As Snowden said, NSA Executive enters your personal email into the simple online search form, noting the reasons for the search query and the time period for which data is needed.
XKS also allows IP addresses to be identified by any user visiting a host specified by the executive. The raw data collected from this project is really huge, 1-2 billion records are added every day. In 2012 there were at least 41 billion records that XKS saved for each 30 day period.
As you can see, XKeyscore offers even more ways to spy than PRISM, and it is not controlled in any way. All data is collected without your permission and even without your message. We have therefore decided to provide you with information on how you can protect yourself from such non-violent espionage.
First of all, it is necessary to break any connections between you and your actual IP address. To do this, just use TOR and what is more effective VPN. VPN, or a virtual private network, will be able to encrypt all of your internet traffic and push it through a couple of virtual hosts. This will make it really difficult to recognize your actual IP address.
Also, you will receive an anonymous email address that is not linked to your private information, which will likely help. Avoid social networks. You should always remember that social networks are the cause of data leaks as they not only contain your personal information and log your chat history, but can also process and use them as needed.
To ensure that your data is safe, avoid using the mobile internet, as the mobile internet connection leads directly to you. In addition, modern mobile devices are particularly vulnerable, especially Android smartphones. Your smartphone sends its phone number and IMEI to connect to the wireless network of your mobile operator. So be careful with it. As we said on our wiki, it is recommended to use a portable 2G, 3G, 4G portable 4G jammer to ensure that your data remains your own.
We recommend that you keep an eye on your browser’s cookies. They can also be used to track your activity. It is therefore advisable to deactivate them in your browser settings or at least to clean them up daily. Remember that the security of your privacy is in your hands and you should think carefully about it before posting anything on the Internet, especially personal information, as everything posted on the Internet stays there.