1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:06,990 In the previous sections we learned how to use a number of programs and a number of services that help 2 00:00:06,990 --> 00:00:10,230 us improve our anonymity and privacy. 3 00:00:10,230 --> 00:00:15,930 We also learned how to access hidden services or online services or what's known as the darknet. 4 00:00:15,930 --> 00:00:21,480 And we learned how to use some of these services and some of these websites and all of these sections. 5 00:00:21,510 --> 00:00:23,980 We used an operating system called tails. 6 00:00:24,150 --> 00:00:32,100 And as mentioned this is alive and Amnesiac operating system that is based on a fully polished and hardened 7 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:33,650 Linux distro. 8 00:00:33,790 --> 00:00:40,440 Throughout all traffic through the Tor network so it's relatively secure and it's relatively private. 9 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:46,800 We installed it on a USB stick so we use the USB stick to put into it from any computer and then as 10 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:54,000 soon as we shut down that computer or pull the USB stick out everything will be wiped from that computer 11 00:00:54,030 --> 00:00:56,430 and it'll remove all traces. 12 00:00:56,580 --> 00:00:58,800 So all in all it's a pretty nice package. 13 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:05,100 It's very portable very convenient and that's why I chose to use it in all of the previous sections 14 00:01:05,310 --> 00:01:10,530 because it provides relative security and good privacy and anonymity. 15 00:01:10,530 --> 00:01:17,010 As long as you don't make any OPSEC mistakes such as logging into an account that is tied to your identity 16 00:01:17,220 --> 00:01:22,330 or interacting with other accounts that can be linked to your real identity. 17 00:01:22,410 --> 00:01:23,690 Now this is all great. 18 00:01:23,820 --> 00:01:29,540 But note that I said relative security I said that because we can do better. 19 00:01:29,580 --> 00:01:35,760 See the problem with tales and most operating systems is the fact that everything is running under one 20 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:36,620 domain. 21 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:42,810 So if a hacker manages to hack into this computer whether it's running tailors or or any other operating 22 00:01:42,810 --> 00:01:46,050 system they'll get access to this whole domain. 23 00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:52,290 And first of all they'll be able to bypass whatever anonymity measures you're using and they'll be able 24 00:01:52,290 --> 00:01:59,430 to easily anonymize you and they'll also have access to all of your files and be able to control the 25 00:01:59,430 --> 00:02:03,450 computer and do anything that you can do as a user. 26 00:02:04,910 --> 00:02:10,820 So even if you're using the greatest anonymity methods and you're using different proxies in Tor and 27 00:02:10,820 --> 00:02:12,500 VPN and all of that. 28 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:15,590 If somebody hacks into your computer it's game over. 29 00:02:15,590 --> 00:02:17,990 All of that can be bypassed easily. 30 00:02:17,990 --> 00:02:23,550 That's why security is very very important and that's why it's linked to privacy. 31 00:02:23,570 --> 00:02:27,860 You can't be private or anonymous if you're not secure. 32 00:02:27,860 --> 00:02:34,220 A good solution to this problem that can improve our security is to use different computers for different 33 00:02:34,220 --> 00:02:34,910 tasks. 34 00:02:34,910 --> 00:02:38,630 For example use one computer for work related tasks. 35 00:02:38,630 --> 00:02:43,960 Use one computer for your personal related stuff use another one for the untrusted stuff. 36 00:02:43,970 --> 00:02:49,430 Whenever you're just browsing through websites and open attachments and so on use one computer that 37 00:02:49,430 --> 00:02:56,710 is not connected to the Internet to store your passwords and keys this way If somebody manages to hack 38 00:02:56,740 --> 00:03:02,680 into one of these computers they'll only get access to one computer and it will be very difficult for 39 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,470 them to move from this computer and compromised the other computers. 40 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,880 Not only that but the fact that you have an untrusted computer that you don't do any personal or work 41 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:19,270 stuff on means that this will be the computer that will probably be hacked not the other ones. 42 00:03:19,270 --> 00:03:25,480 So all of your important stuff in work and personal will not be hacked and the hackers will not be able 43 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:27,650 to gain access to them. 44 00:03:27,670 --> 00:03:34,870 Also if you're using a separate identity on this untrusted computer then your real identity or the identities 45 00:03:34,870 --> 00:03:39,430 that you use on work and personal again will not be compromised. 46 00:03:39,460 --> 00:03:41,650 So this is a really really good solution. 47 00:03:41,650 --> 00:03:43,870 The only problem is it's not cheap. 48 00:03:43,870 --> 00:03:47,830 You need a number of computers and it's also not easy to achieve. 49 00:03:47,830 --> 00:03:53,620 So imagine having to use a different computer every time you want to do a different task. 50 00:03:53,710 --> 00:04:00,070 You can make this slightly easier and use one computer but use multiple tells us Be sticks and again 51 00:04:00,070 --> 00:04:05,190 use each one of them for a separate domain one for work one for personal work one for untrusted. 52 00:04:05,650 --> 00:04:12,730 But again this is not very usable because let's say for example you are using the work USB stick and 53 00:04:12,730 --> 00:04:17,890 you open your work email your region and email and there is an attachment and you really want to open 54 00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:22,840 that attachment but you can't really trust that attachment because it could be anyone it could be a 55 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:28,970 hacker pretending to be a friend or it could be someone who gained access to your friend's account so 56 00:04:29,180 --> 00:04:35,180 if you want to follow this model and if you want to be secure you need to boot into the untrusted distro 57 00:04:35,210 --> 00:04:41,090 or at the untrusted USB stick and open the attachment there then wants to open it and read it if it's 58 00:04:41,090 --> 00:04:47,990 fine you need to turn this off booth back into your work USB stick your work domain and then reply to 59 00:04:47,990 --> 00:04:54,170 the email so you can see that if you're doing this everyday it's not very practical and it's going to 60 00:04:54,170 --> 00:04:56,460 become very very annoying. 61 00:04:56,540 --> 00:05:04,400 This is where the idea of cubes came from cubes as an operating system that is designed to improve security 62 00:05:04,580 --> 00:05:13,150 by compartmentalization so as soon as you boot into this operating system it boots into Zen which is 63 00:05:13,150 --> 00:05:17,290 a hypervisor and then wants the operating system starts. 64 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:23,710 Everything inside this operating system is separated into different domains. 65 00:05:23,710 --> 00:05:28,300 You'll have a domain for work a domain for personal and untrusted domain. 66 00:05:28,300 --> 00:05:29,130 And so on. 67 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:35,080 And each one of these domains is a completely separate virtual machine. 68 00:05:35,650 --> 00:05:41,350 So you can think of these virtual machines like completely separate computers and hence the name virtual 69 00:05:41,350 --> 00:05:42,180 machine. 70 00:05:42,190 --> 00:05:49,590 So each one of these virtual machines has its own ram its own CPSU its own file system and so on and 71 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,850 is completely unaware of the other virtual machines. 72 00:05:54,160 --> 00:06:00,310 So just like running different computers if you're untrusted virtual machine or the untrusted domain 73 00:06:00,340 --> 00:06:07,150 gets compromised or hacked it is very difficult for a hacker to move from there to your work or to your 74 00:06:07,150 --> 00:06:08,680 personal virtual machine. 75 00:06:10,020 --> 00:06:16,230 Not only that but cube is also a separate other system components and two virtual machines. 76 00:06:16,230 --> 00:06:23,160 So you have your networking your file system your USB controller and your firewall all the running inside 77 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:24,800 their own virtual machines. 78 00:06:24,810 --> 00:06:31,290 So if a hacker manages to exploit a vulnerability in any of these components then only get access to 79 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:37,830 this isolated virtual machine that is not even aware of the existence of your work and your personal 80 00:06:37,830 --> 00:06:38,360 domains. 81 00:06:38,370 --> 00:06:46,200 And so one and with this you won't need to have multiple computers and you won't need to keep restarting 82 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,020 and booting into different ESB sticks. 83 00:06:49,050 --> 00:06:54,900 You'll always be using the same operating system and the different virtual machines will be running 84 00:06:54,990 --> 00:06:58,520 inside this one single operating system. 85 00:06:58,740 --> 00:07:01,800 Now these nice features come at a price. 86 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,630 Cubes is very resource hungry and has specific requirements. 87 00:07:06,660 --> 00:07:10,140 I'm going to include these requirements in the resources of this lecture. 88 00:07:10,230 --> 00:07:14,520 So please go through them before attempting to install it. 89 00:07:14,550 --> 00:07:20,400 Now before moving into the next lectures Well I'm going to show you how to install cubes and use it. 90 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,600 I know right now you're thinking Do I really need to install cubes. 91 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,490 And the answer really depends on you and your threat model with cubes. 92 00:07:29,490 --> 00:07:33,850 We're not going to be using any other magical methods to become more anonymous. 93 00:07:33,870 --> 00:07:38,280 So you'll still be using Tor you can still use a VPN and multiple proxies. 94 00:07:38,490 --> 00:07:40,810 Nothing that you can't do entails. 95 00:07:40,830 --> 00:07:47,880 The only difference is the added security that cubes allows by compartmentalization. 96 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:54,990 Therefore if you if someone targets you specifically trying to anonymize you they're less likely to 97 00:07:54,990 --> 00:08:01,810 be able to hack into your computer or to gain access to it and therefore the anonymize you. 98 00:08:01,950 --> 00:08:07,220 So cubes is only more anonymous and more private because it is more secure. 99 00:08:07,260 --> 00:08:13,080 It makes it more difficult to hack into your computer and therefore more difficult to deal anonymize 100 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:14,580 you. 101 00:08:14,580 --> 00:08:19,650 So whether you should use cubes or tails really depends on your threat model. 102 00:08:19,950 --> 00:08:26,220 If you think there are people that will actively try to hack into your computer in order to deal anonymize 103 00:08:26,220 --> 00:08:32,070 you then obviously cubes is a better solution because it's a more secure operating system. 104 00:08:32,070 --> 00:08:32,730 Other than that. 105 00:08:32,740 --> 00:08:34,140 Tell us is good enough. 106 00:08:34,230 --> 00:08:41,330 As long as you don't make any OPSEC mistakes such as communicating with accounts linked to your identity. 107 00:08:41,460 --> 00:08:48,240 And as long as you use it within one domain so you don't need to use tools for work personal and for 108 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:52,990 browsing you're only using it to access the darknet for research or for other reasons. 109 00:08:53,070 --> 00:08:56,100 Then in that case tales can be good enough. 110 00:08:56,100 --> 00:09:02,250 So just like anything else in this course go through the cube section understand how it works and why 111 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:08,760 it's useful and at the end based on your threat model and based on what you want to do make a decision 112 00:09:08,910 --> 00:09:10,850 on what's best in your case.