Security/Privacy Software Solutions

Secure Messaging, Voice, Video and File Transfer

Signal Messenger is a free/open source solution that affords users the ability to ensure complete privacy in communications through end-to-end encryption, thus preventing surveillance by anyone including Signal.org.  Servers reside in Switzerland and thus must comply with their strict privacy laws as well providing additional protections.  Signal is easy to use and on Android can be used to completely replace your messenger seamlessly sending non-Signal encrypted messages to those in your contact list not on Signal and Signal encrypted messages to those that are.  Note that you can also set messages to self-destruct (at a time you determine) if sent to other Signal users.  Signal now also features group texting.

Zero Knowledge SECURE Cloud Storage and Collaboration

Tresorit is the ultra-secure place in the cloud to store, sync, and share files with contacts, within an organization, and with external partners. Note that Tresorit employs true "zero-knowledge" encryption that ensures only authorized users have access to your data. More importantly, not  even Tresorit has access to your data (you control the encryption keys) and data is stored by default in Switzerland and Hungary (other countries are also available), and thus must conform to those country's strict privacy laws,  Tresorit is also an excellent solution for backup/recovery of data files as well as automatically provides Ransomware data protection and recovery. Tresorit is also certified under many security and global regulatory standards.  Most importantly, it's also extremely easy to use and available for Windows, Mac, Android, IOS, and Linux.  Tresorit offers both a variety of solutions, from consumer to white-label enterprise-wide solutions.

Encrypted File Volumes

VeraCrypt is a software for establishing and maintaining an on-the-fly-encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data is automatically encrypted right before it is saved and decrypted right after it is loaded, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys. Entire file system is encrypted (e.g., file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc). VeraCrypt is a free open source disk encryption software for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux. Brought to you by IDRIX (https://www.idrix.fr) and based on TrueCrypt 7.1a.

Privacy Focused Email

Runbox offers a very reliable, secure, and sustainable premium email solution that employs advanced encryption solutions for transport layer security (TLS 1.2 with PFS), strong two-factor TOTP authentication, with plans to fully integrate OpenPGP in the near future.  Most importantly, from a privacy standpoint, Runbox servers are operated in Norway, and ergo must comply with Norwegian Privacy Laws.  There are no ads, and your data is not read or sold by Runbox like other "free" cloud mail providers do.  With respect to surveillance:

  • Any foreign nation requesting disclosure of data must send a formal request via diplomatic channels to Norwegian authorities, to which Runbox responds with a request for a court order.
  • Norwegian authorities are not allowed to perform surveillance of data traffic without a court order.
  • Under Norwegian legislation, Runbox is not required to keep any traffic logs, and is permitted to delete your data if you ask
  • Alternative OS to Mac or Windows

    While there are specific Linux operating systems designed to provide compartmentalized, highly secured and hardened OSs (e.g., Qubes), many of those Linux systems are hard to use and limited in their ability to meet a diverse set of personal or business use cases.  Therefore, I have found two Linux distributions that are secure, perform well, and are easy to use with a large availability of software available. One is MXLinux. MXLinux is built on the very reliable Debian, but with a very user friendly interface, advanced capabilities, and ability to customize it to the user's preference.  It also has a very large supply of applications and is very stable while remaining up to date with the latest improvements and security patches. It also performs exceptionally well on a variety of hardware (both new an older PCs), and works very well through virtualization solutions such as Virtual Box (https://www.virtualbox.org/) and VMWare's Fusion for Mac and VWware player for Windows.  Another very user friendly reliable Linux Distribution is Linux Mint and Zorin OS.  Both are very easy to use and are based on the popular Ubuntu platform.

    Password Management

    Enpass provides a highly secure vault to store your passwords and other critical privacy data including your credit cards, identities, social security number and all the credentials you need handy in your daily life. From a security standpoint, our data is fully encrypted with 256-bit AES with 100,000 rounds of PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 using the peer-reviewed and open-source encryption engine SQLCipher, providing you with advanced protection against brute force and side channel attacks.  Enpass enables you also to either store your password vault locally, or via most cloud file storage solutions (of your choice) synchronize your data securely across multiple devices (e.g., PCs, Macs, Android, Linux, Windows, etc.).  In addition to storing passwords (has built in password strength verification and generation tool), it also can securely store images, documents, and other relevant files (e.g., image of driver's license, birth certificate, passport, SS# card, Insurance Cards, etc.), it also now has built in TOTP (Multi-factor authentcation) so you don't need a separate application.  It's extremely easy to use and one of the most secure tools of its kind available.

    Securing your Mac OSX

    While there are many tools available for Windows (including Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer), there are not many similar tools for Mac.  Objective-See offers a number of open source free security tools to help secure your Mac including, among others, Lockdown (helps securely configure your Mac OSX) and LuLu, an open-source firewall that aims to block unknown outgoing connections, protecting your privacy and your Mac.

    Learn more about Privacy and the International Surveillance Alliances

    What are "Five Eyes" (a.k.a. FVEY), "Nine Eyes", and "14 Eyes"?

    https://restoreprivacy.com/5-eyes-9-eyes-14-eyes/.

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