Austin gun shop accepting Bit Coin

[Das Jared]

How far can I boil it down and still keep you safe?

Silk Road is a hidden service (aka onion site) accessible only via anonymizing, encrypted routing software.

The easiest intro that's also safe would be:

1. Download TAILS from https://tails.boum.org/download/index.en.html
2. Burn it to a CD.
3. Boot your machine from that CD.
4. Browse. For destinations, see tip #2, below.

Tips and caveats.

1. By default, TAILS does not touch your hard drive. You won't be able to save data to it or access it while using TAILS. Until you understand the risks, use all default settings. When you feel you're ready to mess with that default, come back and ask me why I think it's necessary to downgrade to version 21 to keep finer-grained control of your online safety. You may decide I'm being alarmist and ignore me but at least let me give you some input.
2. The easiest source of initial links is Wikipedia. After booting into TAILS, look up the Wikipedia article on TOR. (So you'll recognize it when you see it again, it's here: Tor (anonymity network) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) At the end of the article (here: Tor (anonymity network) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), there are onion links to both The Hidden Wiki and Silk Road. From those two starting points, you can find links to take you pretty much anywhere on the onion network.
3. Never use TOR to visit any web sites on the clearnet where you have an identifiable presence. Never identify your real-world self while on any darknet. Keep your darknet and clearnet lives entirely separate.

That's as brief as I can be and still feel that I won't be getting anyone in any trouble.

When the onion network and router get to be too simple and mainstream for you, come back and ask me about I2P and Freenet.

ETA -

1. Onion routing is slow; do not expect onion sites to pop up in your browser like on clearnet. It's more like using a 300bps analog modem.
2. Regarding Freenet, if anyone reading is active, don't ask me for trust. I don't run private. I don't want your node identification and won't provide mine. I shouldn't have mentioned Freenet but I couldn't resist the joke.

I just heard this vwooshing noise, sounding like a damn airplane..

sent from Jennifer Lawrence's bedroom

 

[benenglish]

I just heard this vwooshing noise, sounding like a damn airplane...

Seriously?

This -

1. Download TAILS from https://tails.boum.org/download/index.en.html
2. Burn it to a CD.
3. Boot your machine from that CD.
4. Browse.

is too complicated?

 

[Phoneguy]

And just to add.
Some people won't use their home internet for Deepnet. They will go to some place that has free wifi. Just another step in keeping anonymous. And like benenglish said, don't go logging into your frequented websites nor webmail while on Deepnet.
And use what they call a 'live cd/dvd' if at all possible. For those people that don't know, a "live CD/DVD" is one that runs right from the disc. It uses your RAM and CPU but never your hard drive. Some versions of a live CD/DVD can use programs and save data to a USB memory stick.

 

[breakingcontact]

Very interesting.

 

[Das Jared]

Seriously?

This -
is too complicated?

The concept is easy. But for me, to actually do it.. hahaha. I think it best I just not trifle with something of that nature

sent from Jennifer Lawrence's bedroom

 

[Younggun]

Got the surface net, got deepnet, only place left is .........SKYNET!

 

[Edwarethered]

Got the surface net, got deepnet, only place left is .........SKYNET!

Not quite the skynet you were looking for, but Sky Net | WorldWide Express

 

[jordanmills]

Seriously?

This -
is too complicated?

Honestly, the only security compromise I've had was a random virus that came from a friend's burned windows install CD. I've never had a security breach on a windows installation. I DID recently have like 6 BTC stolen from me, but it was because some attacker compromised a google account (google runs Linux) and exploited a two factor authentication bug in Coinbase.

I'm not going to cite that as evidence that windows is more secure, but it generally is better to use what you're more familiar with once you're past a certain level of competence.

 

[Anger]

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange and its owner Mark Karpeles, seeking damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars and the return of bitcoins to users whose accounts were frozen on the site.


The situation is akin to a bank being robbed and then closing up shop and simply saying “sorry,” said Jay Edelson, managing partner at Edelson PC and the plaintiffs’ attorney.

Class-action suit charges Mt. Gox with fraud, seeking the return of users' bitcoins | PCWorld

 

[benenglish]

Honestly, the only security compromise I've had was a random virus that came from a friend's burned windows install CD.

Yeah, I agree. However, I was responding to a question about how to surf in the .onion domain. Given that the FBI has run servers with malicious software solely to identify folks who hang around there, I believe more precautions are in order. The Freedom Hosting bust didn't just impact obscenity seekers; it demonstrated how vulnerable most Tor setups were at the time. Hardening against such attacks is, in my opinion, a basic requirement before attempting to explore the deep/under/dark/whatever net.

That's just me. I'm well aware that lots of people use old versions of the Tor Browser Bundle on Windows and will never have a problem. I, however, wouldn't be comfortable with that set-up.