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(Need help) Tehnical opsec advice

by /u/MarkMarcology · 0 votes · 5th July, 2022 00:37

Hi, I am new to the site and new to the dark net in general. Before I do anything other than browsing and before I completely understand the concept of opsec, I do not plan on doing anything else.

My current mindset is like this:
ISP > VPN router with OPNsense or similar > Qubes main machine with disk encryption > Whonix anon VM which will be the main machine

My downside when it comes to privacy and anonimity is tehnical measures, I do not know much about this so I want to ask a few questions.

1) Which is better? VPN router or VPN on my actual Qubes/Whonix environment? Ive seen some of the posts here that say Tor + VPN is not a good idea, but what about a vpn router that has a firewall like pfsense/opnsense?

2) Public VPN that is trusted, bought anonimously, or OpenVPN with an offshore server located in a country with good privacy laws, such as Iceland or Netherlands? Manual log clearing?

3) Any links/guidelines on kernel hardening or anything related to properly securing main machine? Should kernel hardening be done on qubes, whonix or both?

4) What is the whonix gateway and are there any special measures needed to secure it as ive heard it interferes with the router?

5) If my setup is bad, could you suggest any other setups and explain why mine sucks (feel free to roast me, im kinda new to all of this)

Sorry if Im asking any dumb questions. Thanks in advance!

User: /u/MarkMarcology

Thanks a lot. I dont currently feel safe enough to explain what im going to do on dark net because I still havent fully taken the precautions that will make it harder for federal entities to spy on me, and it could be probably used against me if they somehow link my upcomming new indentity up with my current one. Currently browsing, gaining knowledge, learning from others is what im using Tor for. I am only doing research, research and research. I want to get educated before the feds knock on my door. My current priorities are tehnical security measures, as I am sure that I know some of the basic irl opsec concepts. As long as I am not 100% sure that I am ready I am not going to go any further from just normal browsing. I appreciate your help and I will definitely save your recommendations for later use.