OPSEC for children
By Sally Taranto, VICE YOUR PHONE If you’re sending pics of your O-ring to the Patty Ding-Dong you met at Applebee's, do you really think your boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse isn’t going to find out? Nine times out of ten, it’s the cell phone that blows up your spot, yet idiots keep making the same stupid mistakes. According to Darrin, the first sign of an affair is when people start ... Continue Reading...
Introducing the ACLU's NSA Documents Database By Emily Weinrebe, ACLU National Security Project The public debate over our government's surveillance programs has reached remarkable heights since the first set of NSA disclosures in June 2013 based on documents leaked by Edward Snowden. Since then, additional disclosures by both the press and government have illuminated our government's vast and ... Continue Reading...
Negotiation is discussion aimed at reaching an agreement, and is not limited to communication with criminals and bad guys. Using negotiation techniques in our daily life with peers, friends and family can be beneficial because the rules of negotiation are basically the rules of how to better communicate. Chris Voss, former lead hostage negotiator for the FBI, was recently interviewed by Eric ... Continue Reading...
Developed by former NYPD detective Robert Gallagher to size up suspects, this infographic has been around for awhile but remains a relevant set of pointers in situational awareness (SA) and detecting a potentially armed individual. ... Continue Reading...
Firechat is a new iPhone app that allows nearby users to chat and share photos (anonymously, should you choose) without an internet connection. Using WiFi and Bluetooth, it enables users to communicate phone to phone (node to node) through a mesh network capability characteristic to Apple's iOS 7 Multipeer Connectivity Framework. Though this is the first implementation of a wireless mesh ... Continue Reading...
The majority of people waive their rights entirely during a police encounter, don't be one of them. 10 Rules for Dealing with Police 1. Remain calm and compliant. Do not talk back, and speak in an even tone. 2. You have the right to remain silent. During police encounters the best thing to do is stfu. 3. You have the right to refuse searches. The officer is not obligated to reveal you ... Continue Reading...
Compulsive sharing of information whether online or in public is not safe from adversaries. Your activities online are surveilled, and personally identifiable information is transmitted to websites when you visit them. You can go to such lengths as Richard Stallman to avoid online surveillance, or adopt our recommend tools and security practices. Online Privacy Have a security mindset and ... Continue Reading...
What is a VPN? A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a private group of computers networked over a public network, such as the internet. Connecting to a VPN secures and encrypts all of your internet communication, protecting your computer from adversaries, hackers, competitors or eavesdroppers. Synopsis of Best VPNs 2014 Compiled by our friends at greycoder, who created the list by taking ... Continue Reading...
Basic Online OPSEC 1. Never assume security, assume it is unsecured. 2. When security is needed, implement proper security practices. 3. Encrypt everything... Email Security 1. Always digitally sign messages. 2. Encourage peers to sign their messages. 3. Always verify suspicious messages before acting. 4. Secure emails with digital encryption such as PGP or GnuPG. 5. Use file encryption ... Continue Reading...
"Whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one." - Goethe Definition of OPSEC The USAWC Strategy Research Project, defines Operations security (OPSEC) as 1. A systematic process by which a government, organization, or individual can identify, control and protect generally unclassified information about an operation/activity and, thus deny or mitigate an ... Continue Reading...
What is Situational Awareness? Situational awareness (SA) is knowing what is going on around you and proactively influencing the situation for positive outcomes. Situational awareness is not a skill, it is a mindset anyone with discipline can adopt. It is important to recognize threat in the perilous world we live in. One doesn't have to pay attention. Maintaining a mindset which denies the ... Continue Reading...
Originally introduced by Jeff Cooper, the color code of awareness is an indication of one's mental state. It relates one's willingness to act and differing degrees of peril, so one may escalate from one level of mindset to another. Viewed as a progression of alertness classified by increasingly dark colors, learning the concepts of the color code is an important means of surviving a ... Continue Reading...