Robert - 6/8/24

Why anonymity isn’t enough for sensitive use

In this post we are going to see why anonymity is not enough for sensitive use, and what can be done about it.

Why anonymity is not enough for sensitive use

Let’s say Charlie is using a popular online forum to leak information about a government agency’s unethical behavior. To stay anonymous, he makes sure to connect to the forum only through Tor & VPN, and uses a burner email address to sign up.

This anonymity was essential, but not a complete savior. Only 10 people originally had access to the leaked information, so the government uses its key disclosure legislation to issue search warrants for all of their personal hard drives.

Thankfully, Charlie needn’t worry: he has set up VeraCrypt’s deniable encryption to separate his personal life from his leaks. He gives the authorities the key to the main volume; they find nothing related to the leaks. The government does not know which of the 10 people was the leaker.