Preventing our digital space from invasion is a necessity
Faced with the ever threats of cyber insecurity, social media spying and the need to keep all Southern Cameroonians on the social media safe from La Republique antics, the Southern Cameroons Ambazonia Consortium United Front has issued a number of steps which could help protect our digital privacy. These steps have been made public in a document released by the Department of Defense code name the DoD.
However, the DoD says they cannot endorse any particular services or products as they can change rapidly.
1. Install software updates.
keep all of the software on your devices as up-to-date as possible.
2. Use search engines and other services that don’t track you.
Many major search engines (including Google, Yahoo and Bing) store both your IP address and all the search terms you’ve used — an extremely revealing and usually sensitive set of data. As an alternative, consider using a search engine that doesn’t track your activities, such as DuckDuckGo, StartPage, or Disconnect.
3. Use a password manager.
The DoD suggest that everyone use a password manager that will automatically create and keep track of strong passwords for the many sites and services that we use. A couple of good password managers you can try are LastPass and 1Password.
4.Two-factor authentication.
One of the best ways you can protect your account from hacking and your emails and other private data from theft is by turning on “two-factor authentication,” which requires an additional source of verification besides the password before granting access to your account—typically each time you log on from a new computer. A growing number of online services offer two-factor authentication, including most of the big providers such as Google, Facebook, Dropbox, Apple iCloud and Twitter. If you haven’t turned this on yet, do it.
5. Don’t sign into your web browser or web service.
Signing in to a browser or web service, such as Gmail or Facebook, while you surf allows that service to easily track what you do and where you go online. Sign in only when you specifically need to do so. SC Department of Defense – (DoD)
6. Delete cookies and browsing history.
Cookies are small files saved on your device by your browser so it will remember things about you. They are useful for many things but are also used by advertising networks to track you. By deleting all of your cookies as well as your browsing history, you can reset the memory of the systems that track you. Use
the help menu of your browser to find out how to delete your cookies and browsing history.
7.Use encryption.
By using encrypted messaging communications where possible, you eliminate numerous sources of surveillance and tracking. Consider using Signal for encrypted cellphone and text message communication and using Tor to surf the web.
8. Use free and open source software.
This transparency reduces the incentives and ability of organizations or others to turn seemingly innocuous software into a mechanism for spying.
9. Don’t use strange internet-connected devices — computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. — to connect to your personal accounts. Typing your password into a public workstation at a hotel, an internet cafe, or even a friend’s house means that anyone who has taken control of that machine now knows your passwords.
10. Make use of browsers’ “private browsing” or “incognito” mode.
Using this setting where possible won’t protect you from all tracking by services you use within the session (or from tracking by your network provider), but it will avoid leaving traces on your local machine. Using a private browsing mode also means that identifying yourself to a service during that session is less likely to be linked to your activities in other sessions. Look in the help menu of your browser to find out how to browse privately.
Remember: You will never achieve absolute security from privacy invasions, but you can make great gains in fighting surveillance by LRC government, companies, or hackers with steps such as the above.
SCACUF DoD
