Howzit

The snooping bill in Zimbabwe means that Uncle Bob and all his little friends can intercept and monitor any of your activity on the internet – whether email, IM or just surfing.

In an effort to assist, I nicked this information directly from the SW Radio Africa site (here) – and although I didn’t ask, I am absolutely sure in my own mind that they will not mind me passing this information on.

Be sure to read the disclaimer at the bottom as I have no wish for people to come back at me, saying, “But Mandebvhu said…”

 

SECURE INSTANT MESSENGER (REVISED)

Following an article that I posted recently, I received dozens of emails applauding me for the effort to ensure that information flow is maintained free and safe. Also I did receive a number of e-mails from IT gurus who challenged my soft approach on the subject matter. As a result it became inevitable that I re-post a modified version easy to understand by the end user BUT secure enough in the eyes of an expert.

Here I will touch on 2 issues.

Namely secure IM messaging and anonymous browsing.

In that spirit of genuine quest to respect and preserve privacy - read on.

Secure IM Messaging

I am forced to introduce to you “secure” instant messaging service that goes a step further than Yahoo and MSN or AOL.

When you send IMs using Yahoo or MSN they are sent in clear text.

X-IM - this is an IM that encrypts whatever you type to your intended recipient.

What is encryption?

Before guiding you into downloading and installing X-IM let me try to explain the concept behind basic encryption.

In a few words - encryption is translation of data into a secret code.

Encryption in lay man’s language means that the actual message that I send you e.g. “Good Morning “ will be transmitted as “ HS$%ui&&- **7rtfgC#2”.So even if someone intercepts the message (however unlikely) all they will see is the junk that has been encrypted “HS$%ui&&- **7rtfgC#2” unless of course they are the intended recipients.

Unencrypted data is called plain text; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.

So in our example plain text would be “Good Morning” and the encrypted data would be “HS$%ui&&- **7rtfgC#2” !!

Again unless you are the intended recipient “HS$%ui&&- **7rtfgC#2” will not make sense to you even if you intercept the message.

Where do you obtain this secure X-IM?

http://www.x-im.net/

Point your browser to the web address above and download it. It’s free. Why is it free? Well, why is Yahoo IM free?

Install it and follow the simple instructions.

Sign up with whatever email you are using, be it @yahoo.com or @hotmail.com or @gmail.com

You will get a confirmation email with a code to activate it.

Enter the code. Login. Add those users who you want to IM!

Remember that the contacts you intend to chat with must also download and install X-IM and they also need to add you on their contact list by simply adding your email address.

You are done.

Anonymous Browsing

What is anonymous browsing? It is browsing the internet with not so real an IP address.

But why?

Every time you access a web page your IP address is logged on the system that you are visiting. In case you want to remain anonymous (in the true sense of the word) you can “alter” your IP address as seen by the website you are visiting. Its like you live in Kadoma but you post a letter from Vic Falls! It will have a Vic Falls stamp and not Kadoma stamp.

Let say your IP address from your ISP is 209.88.26.20 and that IP address is physically on say GoodISP somewhere in say Kadoma. When you use anonymous browsing the IP registered at the site you are visiting will NOT be your true IP address 209.88.26.20, but some other IP say 63.19.112.8 located in Japan!!

The good news is you don’t have to do nothing to change your real IP address other than using many FREELY available proxy servers.

You connect to a proxy server that will connect you to you intended destination. The proxy server will hide you true IP and send its own IP

Where do I go to do this?

Simple.

Go here and simply enter the website that you want to visit.

http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html [This is the website that will “hide your IP address]

Are you sure my IP will be hidden?

Yes let me show you this. Follow the instructions below and see what your TRUE IP address is as seen by the website you are visiting versus the “modified IP address that the “proxy” will send.

Let’s Go.

Open this website http://myipaddress.com/show-my-ip-address/

This will print your true IP address as seen by your visited website on your screen.

Write down the IP address printed on the screen.

Now close all the windows and restart your browser and go to

http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html

On the left hand bottom of that page you will see a button that says “Start Surfing”.

Copy and paste or type in http://myipaddress.com/show-my-ip-address/

And see what you “modified” IP address is.

Disclaimer:

QUOTE
• You may not use the Cloak for any illegal purposes. This includes but is not limited to the transmission or receipt of illegal material.

• You may not use this service to contact or communicate with minors in a manner prohibited by the law.

• You may not use the Cloak to violate copyrights or to break other forms of intellectual property law.

• You may not use the Cloak to send spam (unsolicited advertising, bulk email, mass news posts, or any other kind of undesired large scale abuse of the net).

• You may not use the Cloak to harass or annoy.

• If you have been blocked by the owner of a bulletin board or other service that allows the posting of messages, you may not use this service to bypass this blocking.

• Robots/web-crawlers and other non-human browsers may not use the Cloak.

In a nutshell if you commit a crime using this service you will have to face the music. The service is meant to foster the idea of - the right to communicate, what you want, when you want and how you want - of course without breaking any applicable laws.

 

In the words of the briefing Sergeant on “Hill Street Blues” – Let’s be careful out there…

Take care.

‘debvhu