Government Surveillance

SteveBlack

Does Freedome protect from unwarranted surveillance by US government agencies such as NSA, FBI, and CIA?  Also, does it protect from other governments like United Kingdom, Russia, and China?

NKT

Tricky one.

 

Nothing in life is as hard to be certain of as IT security, and can anyone stop a nation state, especially *your* nation state, from watching and monitoring you?

 

Basically, adding a decent VPN is going to make life for those who would simply monitor your connection traffic much harder. Now they will have to decide if you are of enough interest to go after in other ways.

 

These ways include:

Targeted malware onto your device to bypass the VPN software

TEMPEST scanning of your devices

Long range telephoto

Physically adding a piggyback SIM card

Hacking through SS7 to remove the GSM encryption from your calls

Clone then swap your hardware for one that has been tampered with

 

I'm quite sure the list is longer...

Adding a VPN is simply another layer of security, like zipping your phone pocket shut adds to the security of your iPhone fingerprint scanner. Both help.

Enfcmedic384

To be honest if you watch the Mikko Ted Talks and read up on the systems they have. The technology they have from low level law enforcement to the NSA you are screwed. The problem is they own your connection and if you are target all they have to do is start working on you and they can break that encryption. The truth is that F-Secure can be the best company in the world and they are. The reason being is they were the only one that told me and helped me isolate what was really going on with my Malware and other issues.

 

The basic thing is what I am trying to say is that once they own your connection unless you can run your own internet. They own you. Like my 1 password is useless because they capture that too. All you can do is like NKT says use all the measures you can and try not to be a target.

NKT

If you want to ensure the security of your passwords, you could try going for Lastpass and using the 2 factor authentication. Costs a bit more (I don't personally use it, but it's $12 a year) but if you are that concerned, go for it.

Can't be certain with Three Letter Agencies, but that will stop 99.9% of attackers cold. They'll have to work a lot harder - just don't use your mobile as the second factor, as it isn't really, as it's just another IT based password that is sent over SMS!

(Physical security is a lot easier, I can be certain a home is secured to a given level in minutes, and boost it in a few hours. IT security is pretty much impossible when it comes to certainty, and anyone who says otherwise is a charlatan!)