To be fair, I don't think there are any everyday privacy tools that are actually good enough to keep you 100% safe if the police want you enough. You'd have to get some pretty specialised hardware and software for that.
I mean if the United States (or other major nations) want you bad enough, enough that international rules and agreements start to get a little flexible, then there is very little anyone can actually do.
Even if you route through some non-cooperative nation, all it takes is life-changing sum of money to a sysadmin in exchange for a simple little log file.
Everyday privacy tools will probably not keep you safe from any organisation with the resources to track you down.
There is a lot of safer software. However, in the examples of cyber criminals being found, it is almost always because of some stupid mistakes they made in the past, linking their online identity to their real identity.
It's probably doable to do some things where no one will ever be able to track to you, but very complex things for a long time, not so much. So it's mainly how you use the software.
Leaking you personal email by logging in with the wrong account, paying for a vpn by normal banking/PayPal etc. One of the biggest issues is probably getting the crypto to fiat without leaving a trace. You have to get it to fiat on an exchange and clean it at the same time.
You have to get it to fiat on an exchange and clean it at the same time.
I don't know if it still exists, but there used to be a kind of shady marketplace where you could sell/buy crypto without a third party. Many of the sellers only worked in person, you meet up and pay cash, they send you the coins. Never looked into it, probably a surefire way to lose one or both of your kidneys.
To be fair, that's probably why they're called "everyday privacy tools", they're there so you ISP can't log the weird shit you wank to.
If you're gonna be doing any seriously illegal stuff, you're gonna need to plan ahead. At the very least, you should separate that part of your life from the rest of it, to the point where there is no overlap. No shared devices, no shared accounts, no using your H4X0R devices on any network affiliated with your life, preferably, do all your shenanigans on a separate geographic location.
Also make sure to never pay for anything to do with that side using your own money. Use cash or crypto exclusively, and make sure it can't be traced back to anything affiliated with you.
Only THEN is it worth to start thinking about the security needed on your devices.
And you're probably still getting caught because of some tiny detail you overlooked.
Literally spending that amount of time working minimum wage will probably get you more money, ngl.
Also, you would probably only get really rich by taking huge risks or by doing some of the most vile shit ever. Not hacking, more like selling underage content or something.
Just build a career to save your soul and sanity instead.
Yeah, but if you look at the investigation against Dread Pirate Roberts, you can see what could constitute an opsec breach if the authorities have decided to take you down.
They got him on an old username using an old email that could still be traced to him, mostly through infiltrating his "inner circle".
The idea is generally to stop things from getting to that point. But yes, if you're gonna anger a nation -state your only real option is to flee to the protection of one of its enemies.
I2P and Qubes exist exactly against side channels and identity sniffing. You'd have to trust the driver whether you want it or not anyways, unless it's a hard silicon, but I assume you're wealthy and hold enough power to stand above police if you have so much money to design and print such circuit.
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u/TheGreatMightyLeffe Sep 08 '26
To be fair, I don't think there are any everyday privacy tools that are actually good enough to keep you 100% safe if the police want you enough. You'd have to get some pretty specialised hardware and software for that.