Category: privacy

Link: Access Google Authenticator on the Desktop

No longer are you limited to using your smartphone to use Google’s two-step authentication. There are many apps that you can use easily on your desktop to help keep your accounts more secure.

Keep in mind, though, that using a two-step authenticator app is less secure on your computer. Anyone who has access to your desktop can get your security key and log into your account. But if you don’t own a smartphone, using a program on your computer is better than nothing.

To use any of these apps to secure your accounts, you need to make sure you go through the usual process to enable two-factor authentication on Google or activate any other services that need two-factor authentication. Instead of entering the key into a mobile app, all you do is to enter it on your desktop.

Full article here:
Access Google Authenticator on the Desktop (Make Tech Easier)

Link: OpenVPN-Setup: Shell script to set up Raspberry Pi (TM) as an OpenVPN server

About

Shell script to set up Raspberry Pi (TM) as a VPN server using the free, open-source OpenVPN software. Includes templates of the necessary configuration files for easy editing, as well as a script for easily generating client .ovpn profiles after setting up the server. Based on the ReadWrite tutorial ‘Building A Raspberry Pi VPN’ by Lauren Orsini (see sources 1 and 2 at the bottom of this Readme).

To follow this guide, you will need to have a Raspberry Pi Model B or later (so long as it has an ethernet port), an SD or microSD card (depending on the model) with Raspbian installed, a power adapter appropriate to the power needs of your model, and an ethernet cable to connect your Pi to your router or gateway. You will also need to setup your Pi with a static IP address (see either source 3 or 4) and have your router forward port 1194 (varies by model & manufacturer; consult your router manufacturer’s documentation to do this). You should also find your Pi’s local IP address on your network and the public IP address of your network and write them down before beginning. Enabling SSH on your Pi is also highly recommended, so that you can run a very compact headless server without a monitor or keyboard and be able to access it even more conveniently (This is also covered by source 4). And last but not least, be sure to change your user password from the default.

Full documentation and download here:
OpenVPN-Setup (GitHub)
Discussion in this Reddit thread

Link: 4 Tools to Securely Delete Files from Linux

Any computer user with normal level skill set knows that any data removed from computer system can be recovered later with little bit of efforts. This is a good thing in the scenario when you have accidentally deleted your critical data. But in most cases, you don’t want your private data to be recovered easily. Whenever we remove anything, the operating system deletes just the index of the particular data. It means that data is still there somewhere on the disk, this method is insecure, as any smart computer hacker can use any good data recovery tool to easily recover your deleted data. Linux users utilizes the well know “rm” command to remove data from their operating system, but “rm” command works in the conventional fashion. Data removed using this command can be recovered by special file recovery tools.

Let’s see how we can safely and completely remove files/folders from our Linux system. The methods mentioned below remove data completely so it becomes very hard for recovery tools to find traces of the actual data and recover it.

Full article here:
4 Tools to Securely Delete Files from Linux (LinOxide)

Link: Understanding Linux File Permissions

The Unix operating system (and likewise, Linux) differs from other computing environments in that it is not only amultitasking system but it is also a multi-user system as well.

…..

In order to make this practical, a method had to be devised to protect the users from each other. After all, you could not allow the actions of one user to crash the computer, nor could you allow one user to interfere with the files belonging to another user.

This lesson will cover the following commands:

  • chmod – modify file access rights
  • su – temporarily become the superuser
  • chown – change file ownership
  • chgrp – change a file’s group ownership

Full article here:
Understanding Linux File Permissions (Project: Fenix)

Link: How to Create YouTube Playlists without Logging In

There’s however a simple URL hack that will let you create “virtual” playlists on YouTube – they are like regular playlists except that they are not connected to any Google account and you can still add or remove videos on the fly.

Full article here:
How to Create YouTube Playlists without Logging In (Digital Inspiration)

Link: How to Block Ads on Adblock Plus Paid Whitelist

Adblock Plus is a widely used free browser add-on for controlling the ads shown on web pages. For some time the add-on has employed a whitelist that allows certain kinds of ads to pass through and to be displayed. Google has previously been reported to be paying to get its ads displayed. Now, it has just been reported that a number of large companies such as Microsoft are also paying to be whitelisted. However, the paid whitelist can be circumvented. Here is how to configure three common browsers to block ads that are whitelisted by Adblock Plus.

Full article here:
How to Block Ads on Adblock Plus Paid Whitelist (Gizmo’s Freeware)

Link: 10 SCP Commands to Transfer Files/Folders in Linux

Linux administrator should be familiar with CLI environment. Since GUI mode in Linux servers is not a common to be installed. SSH may the most popular protocol to enable Linux administrator to manage the servers via remote in secure way. Built-in with SSH command there is SCP command. SCP is used to copy file(s) between servers in secure way.

Full article here:
10 SCP Commands to Transfer Files/Folders in Linux (Tecmint)

Link: How To Disable Unity Online Search Feature On Ubuntu 14.10

What Is Unity Online Search Feature?

The Unity search function in Ubuntu operating system is provided by Canonical Ltd. When you enter a search term into the dash, Ubuntu will search your computer and will record the search terms locally. Unless you have opted out, the search terms will be sent to productsearch.ubuntu.com link and selected third parties including Facebook, Twitter, BBC, and Amazon. Canonical and these selected third parties will collect your search terms and use them to provide you with search results while using Ubuntu.

Full article here:
How To Disable Unity Online Search Feature On Ubuntu 14.10 (Unixmen)

Link: Spotlight: Privacy Advocates Furious As Apple Feature Siphons Off Location Data of Yosemite And iOS 8 Users

The privacy world is peeved at Apple again. It’s emerged that anyone who uses the Spotlight feature in either Mac OS X Yosemite or iOS 8 will have their location and search data passed to Apple servers. The same data will also be sent to Microsoft …..

Full article here:
Spotlight: Privacy Advocates Furious As Apple Feature Siphons Off Location Data of Yosemite And iOS 8 Users (Forbes)
Related:
Apple’s Mac computers can automatically collect your location information (Washington Post)
How to Stop Apple From Snooping on Your OS X Yosemite Searches (Wired)
fix macosx

Link: 8 Cool Ways To Use SCP

The SCP protocol is a network protocol, based on the BSD RCP protocol, which supports file transfers between hosts on a network. SCP uses Secure Shell (SSH) for data transfer and utilizes the same mechanisms for authentication, thereby ensuring the authenticity and confidentiality of the data in transit. A client can send (upload) files to a server, optionally including their basic attributes (permissions, timestamps). Clients can also request files or directories from a server (download). SCP runs over TCP port 22 by default. Like RCP, there is no RFC that defines the specifics of the protocol.

SCP is an awesome tool. Learn it, Love it, Use it….

Full article here:
8 Cool Ways To Use SCP (UrFix’s Blog)