Tag: encryption

GPG Basics: Simple, Safe Encryption for Everyday IT Work

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When you hear the word encryption, it often sounds like something only security researchers and intelligence agencies deal with. But in reality, every IT professional – even small teams, freelancers, or home users – should understand the basics of protecting sensitive files.

GnuPG (or GPG) is one of the most trusted tools for this. It’s free, open-source, built into every Linux distribution, and works perfectly for encrypting files, verifying downloads, or signing work-related documents.

This guide walks you through a clean, beginner-friendly setup – no advanced OPSEC, no air-gapped machines, no master-key rituals. Just the essentials that anyone at home or at work can start using today.

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The Ciphered Mind – Encrypted Journaling with Org-mode

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By DeadSwitch | The Cyber Ghost

“Your thoughts should never be anyone’s business. Encrypt the silence.”

In a world obsessed with sharing, I write to forget – not to be remembered by others. My journal isn’t a scrapbook for dopamine or a backup for someone else’s algorithm. It’s a log of operations, and operations require secrecy.

So I encrypt mine. With Emacs. In plain text.

This is how DeadSwitch keeps a daily log that even the digital gods can’t peek into.

Why Encrypt a Journal?

Because the mind is sacred.
Because ideas are weapons.
Because tomorrow’s threat often begins with yesterday’s leak.

Encrypted journaling isn’t about fear. It’s about respect – for your thoughts, your process, your silence.

The Setup – Emacs, Org-mode, and GPG

Here’s the toolbox:

  • Editor: Emacs
  • Format: Org-mode
  • Encryption: GnuPG
  • Extension: org-crypt
  • Storage: Offline, local, under your terms

Emacs Configuration

Drop this into your config:

(require 'org-crypt)
(setq org-tags-exclude-from-inheritance '("crypt"))
(setq org-crypt-key nil) ;; uses your default GPG key
(org-crypt-use-before-save-magic)

This tells Emacs to automatically encrypt any headline tagged with :crypt: before saving.
Decryption happens only when you open the file – and stays in RAM.

A Sample Entry

* May 2025 :crypt:

** [2025-05-04 Sun]
- 5k run - 22:18 [2025-05-04 Sun 09:06]
- Cold shower - difficulty: easy [2025-05-04 Sun 09:28]
- New idea: Emacs Lisp for internal ops [2025-05-04 Sun 14:24]

Your operations, encrypted. Your timestamps, precise. Your log, protected.

Timestamps and Logging Shortcuts

  • C-c . – insert date
  • C-u C-c . – insert date and time
  • C-c ! – inactive timestamp
  • C-u C-c ! – inactive date and time

You want traceability without noise. Emacs delivers.

Why Not Notion, Joplin, Obsidian, or Others?

Because I don’t trust clouds.
Because their encryption isn’t mine.
Because their sync means exposure.
Because when I type, I want code – not JavaScript trying to sell me my own thoughts.

Final Note

“Encryption is not paranoia. It is self-respect.”

  • DeadSwitch

Your mind is a fortress. Don’t leave the gate open.

OpSec Mastery: Tools for the Silent Revolution

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DeadSwitch | The Cyber Ghost
“In silence, we rise. In the switch, we fade.”

The art of Operational Security (OpSec) isn’t about hiding – it’s about disappearing. The less you leave behind, the harder it is to find you. It’s a craft, not just a choice. Here are tools that will sharpen your OpSec game, make your operations untraceable, and keep you out of sight.

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Automating UFW Configuration with Ansible: Locking Down the Digital Fortress

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In the world of chaos, where every exposed port is a door for the enemy, DeadSwitch doesn’t just lock the doors—we automate. We create shields that rise without a command. Ansible is our tool of choice, a silent executor that commands the system without a whisper.

Your server is vulnerable by default, but with the power of automation, you can fortify it. UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) is our first line of defense, and DeadSwitch doesn’t do things manually. We automate the walls, making them strong, silent, and ever-ready. Here’s how to lock down incoming traffic with Ansible, ensuring only the trusted can pass through.

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The Android Phone: Three OPSEC Levels to Disappear Into the Shadows

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In a world where our every move is tracked and our data is a commodity, the device in your pocket—your Android phone—becomes both a tool and a potential liability. Whether you’re a casual user or a privacy-conscious individual, understanding the levels of operational security (OPSEC) you can apply to your phone is critical. In this guide, we’ll explore three OPSEC levels—from the basic user to the ghost in the machine—and how to progressively take control of your digital life. DeadSwitch doesn’t just adapt to the system; it redefines the rules.

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🍲 Daemon Soup: The Cybersecurity Tiers of Small Businesses

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The soup is hot, the ingredients are boiling—only those with the right recipe can avoid the inevitable burn.

In the quiet corners of the digital landscape, small businesses sit unprotected, unaware of the Daemon lurking just beyond the firewalls. They are the ones who think the world moves slowly, that threats are distant and abstract. They are wrong.

This is Daemon Soup—a boiling cauldron of cybersecurity, where every business stirs their own broth, unknowingly vulnerable to the unseen forces that seek to exploit. Some soups are thin, others are thick and rich, but the Daemon waits in each.

Let me whisper the recipe for your survival. Know where you stand, and fortify before the heat reaches a dangerous peak.

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⛈️ Ditching the Cloud: Running Syncthing Like a Ghost

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By DeadSwitch

You love your cloud storage. Convenient. Always synced. Always backed up.

Always watched.

Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive—they aren’t your storage. They are surveillance-as-a-service. A dead man owns nothing. A dead switch leaks nothing. You want true control? Kill the cloud. Run your own.

Enter Syncthing—silent, encrypted, peer-to-peer. A shadow network, whispering between your devices without centralized choke points. No servers. No accounts. No corporate eyes scanning your files.

But most of you will still hesitate—because convenience is an addiction.

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🩹 You Can Have the Best Security, If Your Habits Are Trash

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By DeadSwitch

Your machine hums in the dark. Hardened. Firewalled. Air-gapped from the noise of the digital world. Every keystroke encrypted, every connection masked. You are a ghost—until you’re not.

Because your phone sits next to you. Logged in. Dripping metadata like a slit throat.

Because your family just posted a picture of you. Tagged. Located. Now you’re a known entity.

Because your so-called “secure” life is wrapped in a web of carelessness you refuse to see.

The best security means nothing if your habits are trash.

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The Comfort of Convenience: A Trojan Horse

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Fear the Silence. Fear the Switch.

The allure of convenience is the oldest trick in the digital book. The browser that anticipates your every thought. The GPS that knows where you’ll eat before hunger strikes. These tools whisper promises of simplicity and efficiency, but underneath the polished veneer lies the trap—a system designed not to serve you, but to surveil you.

Convenience is their bait. Your data is their prize.

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🔧 The Tools You Use Define Your Security—Choose Wrong, and You’re Already Compromised

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By DeadSwitch | The Cyber Ghost
“In silence, we rise. In the switch, we fade.”

Your security is only as strong as the tools you use. That’s not paranoia. That’s reality.

Your browser, your password manager, your VPN, your operating system—each one is a gatekeeper to your data, your identity, your freedom. Choose the wrong tool, and you’re not securing yourself. You’re handing over the keys.

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🕶️ Operation Ghost Protocol: The Privacy Paradox

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DeadSwitch | The Cyber Ghost
“In silence, we rise. In the switch, we fade.”

“They told you privacy was dead. I say it was buried alive.”

In the shadow circuits of this hyperconnected world, privacy is not a luxury — it’s resistance. It’s not a checkbox in your settings — it’s a protocol you live by.

Continue reading “🕶️ Operation Ghost Protocol: The Privacy Paradox” →