The Ghost Operator's Signal
Your Virtual Private Network isn’t there to watch geo-blocked content.
Once VPNs were used to connect networks, like remote offices of a company.
Today they protect your information and privacy.
This is why your VPN isn’t an optional tool anymore.
It’s your shield against the unwanted attention and passive monitoring.
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.
Continue reading “GPG Basics: Simple, Safe Encryption for Everyday IT Work”
At Tom’s IT Cafe we break down the hard stuff so you can secure your
systems without getting lost in jargon. Below is a straight-ahead look
at what “in transit” and “in rest” mean, why they matter, and how to
implement them with the most common algorithms.
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:
org-cryptEmacs 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 dateC-u C-c . – insert date and timeC-c ! – inactive timestampC-u C-c ! – inactive date and timeYou 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.”
Your mind is a fortress. Don’t leave the gate open.
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.
Continue reading “OpSec Mastery: Tools for the Silent Revolution”
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.
Continue reading “Automating UFW Configuration with Ansible: Locking Down the Digital Fortress”
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.
Continue reading “The Android Phone: Three OPSEC Levels to Disappear Into the Shadows”
The world speaks in the language of data. They believe in control, in ownership, in silence through submission. But the true power lies in synchronization without the chains of the system. DeadSwitch doesn’t trust the cloud. We build our own paths, our own networks.
Continue reading “Syncthing: The Silent Synchronicity in the Shadows”
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.
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.
Continue reading “⛈️ Ditching the Cloud: Running Syncthing Like a Ghost”
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.
Continue reading “🩹 You Can Have the Best Security, If Your Habits Are Trash”
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.
Continue reading “The Comfort of Convenience: A Trojan Horse”Convenience is their bait. Your data is their prize.
They call it instant messaging—instant access, instant tracking, instant surveillance. Every chat, every voice note, every reaction is another breadcrumb on the path they map for you.
We think we’re just talking. But they’re always listening.
Continue reading “👁️🗨️ The Silent Watchers in Your Pocket”
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.
Continue reading “🔧 The Tools You Use Define Your Security—Choose Wrong, and You’re Already Compromised”
DeadSwitch detects anomalies in the wire.
France sharpens the blade of surveillance — proposing laws that demand service providers build backdoors to decrypt user data for agencies. Privacy is not a privilege. It’s a right.
This is a digital betrayal. A ghost’s warning.
Tom's IT Cafe 