Friday, August 29, 2008

Personal Security

In a comment a while ago, someone mentioned it was probably not a good idea to go over all my preps because I am letting the world know what I got. I'm pretty good about sanitizing my posts on exactly where I live and work, and more importantly removing clues that would, when tied together, lead to my location.

Eventually there will be enough information out there to track me down. No matter how careful I am, eventually, someone I know will post a comment with my real name, or I'll slip where I work or have worked in the past. No matter how hard you try, if someone wants to find you, they will. Even if I pack up, and head out to the boonies, so long as I am in communication with anyone, I will eventually be found.

For now it's a big game of hide and seek. I'm not worried about someone finding me, I have dogs, a license to carry, and a security system. I doubt anyone's looking for me anyways. I don't own a big-screen TV, or a fancy car. All my firearms are locked up in the MOAGS (mother of all gun safes) unless I'm carrying it, or it's under my direct control at the shooting range.

Likewise I have no interest in where my readers live. I could easily capture IP address information when someone connects to the site, then by tracking that IP I could eventually track them down. But to what purpose? I have no interest in my reader's personal information other than a general area of where they are from. I also value your (the readers) opinion, or knowledge you may have that might help me and the rest of the readers survive and prosper. The little map to the right is just so I can see if I am providing benefit to the community or just spinning my wheels - by the number of connections.

You need to protect yourself in layers. Keeping your actual home's location vague to strangers is the first step. Then having a security system in your home, it's $40 a month well spent. Then having your valuables locked in a strongbox. Dogs are a bonus. There are companies out there that will mask your IP address, but they charge a monthly fee, billable to a credit card, so the fedz can get you if the average citizen can't.

Have an excellent weekend!

5 comments:

Kyle D said...

or you can use a proxy service. Check out the blog at Be a Survivor. he just had a recent post about internet security.

Ryan said...

One of my weird paranoid blogger fears is that someone will use those little snippets of information to somehow figure out who I am and steal all of my stuff or something to the like. I try to be pretty careful about what exactly I mention but someone who read between the lines for all of my posts might be able to figure it out.

The Other Mike S. said...

At work, I used TOR to mask my IP. Since it was a fairly large bank, the IP range was openly registered - the name was spattered all around when I posted comments. TOR fixed that.

At home, it shows my ISP and city, but I have enough layers to my PC, you'd need a warrant to see who I actually am.

Staying Alive said...

I pretty much don't care about snoops and such. Who knows? Maybe the time will come when knowing where I live will save someones life.

Michael

Natog said...

Michael has the advantage of having a good community around him, and you can see the difference in his additude.

Up here I do not have the same luxury of having neighbors that are, well, neighborly. There are a few, but the nitwits outnumber the good ones 25:1.

I wonder if Michael has to even lock his door? Probably not. (the lucky S.O.B.)