Post: #1

I have heard some complaining about it around the web (particularly the amazon add on thats difficult to remove). Particularly for what we do (browse and post on a "hate speech" forum) would you consider it safe?

P.S: I'm in the U.S

Post: #2

https://fixubuntu.com/

That helps you turn off some of the telemetry stuff that's associated with Unity.

I've never heard of Ubuntu doing anything like the shit Microsoft is trying to pull with Windows 10, where they're actually installing keyloggers and stuff. But I'm not an expert. I still use Windows 7 most of the time for my desktop environment work, and I use Ubuntu for my servers.

You probably have more to worry about from your ISP and similar entities than your OS if you're not on a VPN, though.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in.

Post: #3

I have the Zorin OS (another linux one) on my laptop and love it. Small footprint, stable, yet similar to Windows

Post: #4

This whole VPN thin is driving me up the fucking WALL. I can't get this VPN installed on Ubuntu, the webpage gives vague fucking directions and I'm running into a fucking mountain to climb every 5 minutes. All this for some rational privacy. FML

Post: #5

Link?

Welcome to Linux in general. They always assume you know shit you probably don't if you're new to it.

Post: #6

I'll PM you some problems I'm encountering so I won't derail the thread.

Post: #7

It's better than any Microsoft or Apple OS, but Tails is more or less the gold standard for security.

Post: #8

(04-13-2017 07:17 AM)Thrill Jackson Wrote:  I have heard some complaining about it around the web (particularly the amazon add on thats difficult to remove). Particularly for what we do (browse and post on a "hate speech" forum) would you consider it safe?

P.S: I'm in the U.S

Yes, Ubuntu planted a form of spyware. There was major uproar. That's a couple of years old news now. I think some stuff might have changed, but I wouldn't recommend Ubuntu to start off with for a noob. I wouldn't trust it after that debacle.

What you need to use is Linux Mint LTS (Long Term Support). Forget Ubuntu for now. Ditch it. Start again. It will save you much time and headache. See this review of the OS (operating system) you need to download the .iso of:

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/linux...-xfce.html

---------------------------
Conclusion

Seriously, Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa Xfce is a blistering good distribution. If not for the issues I had on my G60 laptop, I'd be one super-ultra-happy bunny. But my faith is being restored by the moment. First, a smooth, flawless upgrade from Rafaela. Then, this fabulous experience today.

Honestly, I can't think of anything bad except for a couple of tiny glitches, and they are so irrelevant in the overall scheme that there's nothing to worry or even consider. Everything worked. Everything. There were no warnings, errors, stutters, doubts. No matter what I tried, Rosa Xfce handled it gracefully, with speed and elegance. This warrants a perfect score. It's been a while, but we're back in the game. 10/10. Rosa Xfce, YOUR next distro.
------------------------------------

I also suggest that you use the XFCE edition. It's a much lighter desktop than the alternatives (cinammon, kde, mate). It's also the one I use and it is very light on resources if you have an older computer - very windows like as well. This is a perfect distro for a noob as it will not just stop working in a year's time. You get a few years out of this one!

Also, don't worry about the spying NSA stuff. We are all fucked. I've been going through the exploits in the Wikileaks Vault releases and there is a lot of compromised Linux stuff. Trust no one and no thing. I don't know enough about Linux to make a quick judgement about it, but on first look, I just assume it is all fucked, so we won't worry about that for now. Nothing is safe. Every single fucking thing has been poisoned.

This is actually based on Ubuntu as you can see. Read the release notes for any 'gotcha's' for your particular hardware. Might save headaches later. Also I would highly recommend you you do a hash check of the downloaded file before you start using it (a slightly corrupted iso can wreak havoc and be hard to diagnose). It's hassle but worth it. You don't need to do this if you just want to play about for now. But for a serious OS it's pretty much essential.

Get the linux distro here:
https://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=26

You want the ones at the very bottom - select whichever CPU type you have (32-bit or 64-bit) - this is important! You will be selecting the XFCE edition as I said - it's lighter on resources and less shit to deal with later - it's tried and trusted and I'm sure you will love it.

If you don't know how to do a hash check, let me know. It's not hard.

Post: #9

Ok Thrill. Sorry for the confusion, if you got Ubuntu up and running already. Don't worry about the privacy aspect - it's fine - despite what I said. It depends how long you want to spend on it.

I'm going to PM you rather than us clogging up the board!

You can post later when you get it all set up and working!

Post: #10

Anyone have opinions about Kali Linux distro for cyber security penetration testing and ethical hacking???

Post: #11

There's probably more powerful esoteric stuff out there, but it's a good standard with most of the tools you need. I bookmarked some the other day, I'll try to find it.

Meanwhile there are some great links here to forums and reviews to answer your question more in depth:

https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=kali

The website:

https://www.kali.org/

It's based on Backtrack which I downloaded and got up and running without any problems. The tools will take some time to learn (not that long though). I'll look for those links.

Post: #12

I found these (got some more somewhere):

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/wi...gh-part-1/

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/best-compati...rcrack-ng/

https://www.aircrack-ng.org/doku.php?id=...ible_cards

Not sure what card you are running but you can pick up some powerful ones for not very much dollars. All Kali related.

Oh, and of course you will be wanting to look at Metasploit too, if you don't already have it: https://www.metasploit.com/


EDIT: This is a list of the tools with Kali:
http://tools.kali.org/tools-listing

I'm sure I don't need to tell you that quite a few of those could get you locked up in jail if you don't know what you are doing or just decide to test the 'wrong' network. Pinging Google's servers on 8.8.8.8 won't get anyone in to trouble for a quick test to see if your internet is working, but more than that, I really wouldn't advise it. Some companies even see that as an intrusion attempt! Of course you knew all that. I'm sure you know what you are doing.

EDIT 2: If you want to get in to pentesting then this is the daddy: http://tools.kali.org/information-gathering/nmap

It was what they used in the Matrix, so it must be good, right?

https://nmap.org/movies/matrix/

EDIT 3: If you didn't already know it, then you really need to take WireShark for a spin as well! Hours of fun.
http://tools.kali.org/information-gathering/wireshark

Lots of great tools in Kali!

Post: #13

If you're looking for ultimate security and privacy you'll probably want to check out openbsd.

Post: #14

Unless you know Linux inside and out, you're not granting yourself any extra privacy. At the worst end of the spectrum, you're exposing yourself to even more insecurities simply because you're not sure how to update certain things that aren't obvious.

Post: #15

Ultimately true The Beast1. But perfection is the enemy of good enough.

What with all the recent revelations about the exploits in Linux, it's never going to be as secure as other more obscure OS's. Then again, I think they might have done over OpenBSD as well, I know they went to town on Solaris. Nothing is secure.

But Linux is an order of magnitude better than Windows. It doesn't take too much effort to make sure you have a freshly patched box. And it's easier than OpenBSD or Solaris as you can get help easier.

I get the impression that Thrill is in a bit of a hurry. Nothing wrong with that. Everyone has to start somewhere. He's getting stuck in and we'll soon know if he's got it all working. He has a base to work from. If he chooses to be lazy or just doesn't have the time to update, then on his head be it. For now, he has a system he can trust enough, at least to know he is not low-hanging fruit.

But the point you made is one worth repeating. Security is an on-going concern. Valid point, indeed.

Post: #16

I tried using Ubuntu for like 30 minutes and was like fuck this. There's a reason Windows is the most popular OS. Why can't Linux make their shit more user friendly?

And I sort of want to run a VPN, but part of me thinks it draws even more attention to yourself once you start hiding behind a VPN. I can't imagine what anyone could ever allege I've done, but I simply don't like the thought of my ISP and Google and Windows tracking my ass all over the internet.

Post: #17

^ Exactly, my attitude is better safe than sorry. So far from what I've seen from Trump, I have even less hope for the culture war. We are officially fucked and it's time to retreat

Post: #18

Well it really depends on your goals... i mean what exactly are you trying to achieve?

Are you trying to get around the new rules that says your ISP can collect anything about you?
You could simply build a proxyserver with squidproxy in a data center and sshtunnel into that proxy. That way the connection going to and from the proxy server is encrypted. They'll know its you but they won't know what you're doing.

Do you want to get around NSA Bulk Collection? Well then that requires that you have a lot of different identities online so that you leave no footprints. A lot of guys for example got caught cause they used the same email address or username somewhere. On top of that then you have to put a proxy server in a country where they don't collect anything and then sshtunnel into that server that way your connection in and out of USA is encrypted which is where your is bulk collected. You also have to take into consideration the routes your packets take and if they can be bulk collected or not.

If you're looking for privacy from fb/google..etc then your best bet is a browser plugin (can't remember the name) that can block certain scripts from running.

If you're looking for a system that is secure by default then i'm sticking with my recommendation for OpenBSD. There is no other operating system more secure than it in terms of getting exploited.

tl;dr It depends on what your goals/budget/skills are. There are many options.

Post: #19

Well, it took from 4-6pm to get the VPN set up for Thrill.

It's now taken him over 2 hours to tell me what country he is running from and the result from a simple test.

I half expect him to turn around and say: HA HA, I don't even own a computer!

What's up Thrill my man?

I'm not going to spend another 2 hours, after spending 4, for you to just tell me: Is your VPN working or not? And if so, please answer the last 2 simple questions I have asked you twice now. This will be the last time I ask.

I'm still happy to help if you didn't get it working, but at least let me know, if it's not too much trouble.


Ah, I just got an answer just as I was previewing this. Still not answered the question.

I will ask you one last time:

What is the country that you have your VPN set up to run from?
And what is the first line of the result from 'doileak' which you must have because you claimed the other tests were taking a long time?

You had this setup and working over 2 hours ago, they are not difficult questions.

Pointing me to my mini-data sheet all of a sudden doesn't cut it.

I also want you to give me the actual IP address now as well, not just the country. Don't worry, there are thousands and thousands of people on that IP so you give away no information. Obscure half of them if you like. But that way I know best how to help you in the future. ;-)

EDIT: Got another reply. This time Thrill wants to set up WebGL even though he doesn't know if his VPN is working yet. I thought it was odd, after getting the VPN set up, that he didn't want to use it or test it, but was asking me how to set it up on android. I answered him. He did not reply to that either.

Thrill my man, you got some 'splainin' to do.

Post: #20

delete

Post: #21

(04-13-2017 12:53 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  I tried using Ubuntu for like 30 minutes and was like fuck this. There's a reason Windows is the most popular OS. Why can't Linux make their shit more user friendly?

And I sort of want to run a VPN, but part of me thinks it draws even more attention to yourself once you start hiding behind a VPN. I can't imagine what anyone could ever allege I've done, but I simply don't like the thought of my ISP and Google and Windows tracking my ass all over the internet.

Open source software attracts spergy nerds who think anyone who doesn't understand their programming also doesn't deserve to use it.

Post: #22

OK Thrill. Not sure what's been going on here. I missed your deleted message. No worries.

I'm happy to help you sort this out and get you up and running.

I'm even happy to spend another 4/5 hours with you on top to get it all tested and go through the browser hardening and whatnot.

Please forgive me for having a cutoff point. It rarely ever ends well for me when I help people, for some reason. Yet I still do.

Having said that, we can pick this up again next time I'm available to take it further.

But look on the bright side! You got Ubuntu Linux and a VPN set up in one afternoon (at least my end it was afternoon). And I got something out of it as well, because there was a parameter I had missed in my testing which you brought to light. So I must sincerely thank you for that.

Look forward to chatting again. Have a good evening.

Post: #23

(04-13-2017 03:03 PM)BortimusPrime Wrote:  

(04-13-2017 12:53 PM)BrewDog Wrote:  I tried using Ubuntu for like 30 minutes and was like fuck this. There's a reason Windows is the most popular OS. Why can't Linux make their shit more user friendly?

And I sort of want to run a VPN, but part of me thinks it draws even more attention to yourself once you start hiding behind a VPN. I can't imagine what anyone could ever allege I've done, but I simply don't like the thought of my ISP and Google and Windows tracking my ass all over the internet.

Open source software attracts spergy nerds who think anyone who doesn't understand their programming also doesn't deserve to use it.

What an excellent description of the Arch Linux community.

Post: #24

After doing some research i finally came across

https://www.whonix.org/

This is the most anonymized OS i've found so far.

Post: #25

...
Isn't privacy, for our purposes, as simple as running TOR on TAILS?