We need an "online self defence course". Interested?

I've been reading a bit about how horrible Kos was in the face of Kathy Sierra's brush with online threats.  What I've read seems so focused on how horrible Kos is and how victims deserve more respect, and all other manner of meta, that I think we're missing a bigger point.  How does one defend oneself against online agression?  

I don't have the knowledge or answers to address that question so I want to put it forth to the vast resources and experience of the DailyKos community and see if we can come up with real life strategies to not only practicing safe blogging, but how to deal with online threats.

Anyone want to contribute?

Here are, so far the biggest points we should be focusing on:

1. How to protect your personal information from online access.  This includes real life names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.

2. What legally constitutes a "threat" and what options are available in reporting/investigating threats?

3. What are some internet detective tips and resources one can go through to maybe determine the source or perpetrator of a malicious email?

Feel free to add more.  This is an open "online self defense course" thread.  Post about your experiences and anything you might have learned from them, or share your expertise in online investigation and security for everyone to learn from.

It is my hope to get enough information to compile together into an "online self defense" diary in the near future.

Thank you in advance.

•  I suppose I will start off with a few things.

  I don't have much internet expertise but a few things I've learned about securing your personal information:

  1. Never use your real name in your online names.  I think we all know a few examples of people who have been traced this way.

  2. Don't be listed in the phone book under your full name.  This one I learned from my mother.  You don't need your first name/last name in the phone book.  You can have first initial/last name instead.  

  3. If possible, don't have your address listed in the phone book? The phone book is a great resource but really, do you want people knowing where you live in general?  why give any of that away?

  4. Have many many email addresses.  Services like yahoo and hotmail are throw-away email addresses.   You can have one for if you need an email account to "sign up for free account" on websites you visit (essentially a junk email account). YOu could even have a dedicated "dailykos" email account if you so choose.  You don't even need your real name or such information to create the accounts.

  5. Don't ever sign up for sweepstakes or giveaways (those with entry forms anyway).  Many times these only exist solely to collect data to be sold later to spammers or telemarketers as a way to get past "no call" lists.  Sometimes you even see fine print on the form saying that by signing up for the give away you are consenting to being contacted by the sponsors and affiliates of the sweepstakes.  This goes doubley true for ONLINE sweepstakes.  avoid those like the plauge.

  by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:12:38 AM PDT

•  there is no 'secrecy'...

  ...and i never assume there is, that is one reason why i simply use my real name. if anyone really wants to find someone, they can and i don't think that 'anonymity' exists any longer, if it ever really did, on the internet.

  by james risser on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:17:16 AM PDT

  •  That is true, however,

    that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to make things more difficult for people to track you.  Of course there are those who may go to great lengths to get your personal information, but not everyone will.  To me, it's a lot like locking your doors at night.  It may not stop every break-in into your house, but it will probably deter 95% of them.  Those are the odds that keep me locking the doors before I go to bed.

    by Naniboujou on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:21:44 AM PDT

  •  Everything is tracable somewhere...

    ...and it's a good rule of thumb in life in general in addition to online that you don't say or do anythign you'd be ashamed to admit to anyone.

    But by making it harder you can weed out people with a passing or casual interest.  Most people wouldn't be willing to go through the hurdles of finding a well secured identity.

    by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:33:11 AM PDT

•  Other things to teach, in addition

  How, when, and whether to respond to online threats or cyberstalking (Do's and Dont's, based on real-life experience of what tends to work and what doesn't);

  How to seek a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), and what constitutes a threat upon which legal action can be taken;

  When NOT to seek a TRO (because there isn't sufficient evidence);

  How to avoid and deescalate online conflict;

  Where to find an online support group if you have encountered online threats or cyberstalking.

  by jhutson on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:18:41 AM PDT

•  For books and tapes, you can't possibly beat...

  http://www.paladin-press.com/

  by dov12348 on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:29:15 AM PDT

•  Dawn

  I'm on my way out but wanted to thank you for taking this initiative.

  Sometimes messages or emails are so disgusting you may want to just delete and get rid of them. But documentation is essential. Save the complete message with headers (properties) if possible, even if you save to disk.

  Be careful about what you send, and who you send email to. Most people are sending way more information than they realize through the message headers. Name your computer something that's not your name. Use a good firewall and don't open attachments from anyone you aren't expecting an attachment from.

  Take good care of your computer, antivirus, spyware scans, any critical updates or patches your OS needs. Someone who is very determined to invade your online privacy can be kept out if you are absolutely meticulous in staying a step ahead and double-locking all doors and points of entry.

  by Rippen Kitten on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:38:20 AM PDT

  •  In addition to that...

    Turn your firewall on.

    by kraant on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 11:00:37 AM PDT

  •  what about webemail?

    can you get header information from webmails?  I dont' think I've ever tried.

    by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:05:08 PM PDT

    •  Depends on the webmail

      I think usually, yes, there is header information, unless it's an anonymous webmail.

      by Rippen Kitten on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:57:24 PM PDT

•  ounce of prevention.

  #1. I don't think you can. Googling yourself is one thing, but the amount of information you can find on lexis-nexis is pretty creepy. You need an account to access lexis-nexis, but it's still readily available if someone wants to know about you. Some privacy activists made quite a stir a while ago when they used it to get the social security numbers and home addresses for a group of senators opposed to strengthening privacy regulations.

  I think the big thing is compartmentalization. If you don't want people to associate real world you with  blogger you, don't put information that personalizes you in your profile. Don't dribble out personal information through months of posts - it can all be put back together if someone really wants to. This isn't much fun - a community like the one here at DailyKos makes it natural to speak your mind and talk about personal issues using the same persona, but don't expect to do that and remain anonymous. If you're on another blog where you do discuss personal matters, use a different name and don't link to your posts on the blog where you are anonymous. Use different passwords for different blogs as well.

  #3. disposable email addresses. I use different ones for different subscriptions, blogs, vendors, etc. Besides limiting spam, if someone unfriendly gets ahold of one of your addresses you already have a clue about where they got it, and teminating that one address doesn't affect the rest of your email.

  by HiBob on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:39:16 AM PDT

•  EEK, Windows Address Book

  If you have to use it, try to use only in the Restricted Zone. Lots of trojans, viruses and spyware are written targeting WAB and you don't want to give some nosy person your employee or family contact info.

  by Rippen Kitten on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 10:41:51 AM PDT

  •  what's EEK? I've not heard of that. (n/t)

    by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:06:44 PM PDT

    •  LOL

      Just an expression I use when I see a mosquito or something, not technical.

      by Rippen Kitten on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:54:08 PM PDT

      •  LOL!

        Everything in computers is acronyms.  No one's got time to call it what it is anymore. :)

        thanks,

        by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 02:00:33 PM PDT

•  As a genuine recovering Y2K fanatic...

  ...I literally crammed self-defense and survivalist tactics and strategies for a year and a half.  I remember quite a bit.  I'll be happy to contribute from those angles.

  by dov12348 on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 11:07:45 AM PDT

  •  well...

    ...I don't want to know how to make toiletpaper from treebark if that's what you mean by survivalist, but if you have something to add then by all means feel welcome! {LOL}

    by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:07:51 PM PDT

    •  I learned something about a vast...

      ...amount of subjects -- from protecting yourself by throwing a cat at a guy's face and pulling your bra out your sleeve and choking him with it (that one was for my wife) -- to survival in a blizzard to learning how to eat crabgrass and many other wild edibles to lots of tricks to see if you might be being followed to understanding and improving your night vision, to general self-reliant living and a thousand other things.

      Plus I have boxes of books that I can reference.

      So I guess it depends on what the subject is.  

      by dov12348 on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 03:09:08 PM PDT

      •  LOL!

        OKay that is too freaking hilarious!  Throwing a cat at a guy's face, like there are tons of them just lying around waiting to be thrown.  what a big giggle that image gave me.

        And the bra thing, I can do that but it takes a little bit of time (even moreso when you're wearing long sleeves).   might be a good way to tie up a prone assailant but not to actually bring him down.

        When I was in highschool we had a free shelf in the library where they'd put books they didn't want and couldn't sell that people were allowed to take.  And I got a book called "how to survive in the wilderness". It was a paperback and already dogearred but OH it was the single most facinating book I'd ever read.  It talked about plants you could eat (ferns and lichens and the like), insects you could eat, animals you could catch and how to make snares and fish hooks and how to cure animal hides and how to make shoes out of tree bark and how to cook food underground using hot stones and how to make shelters using pine boughs. It was the single coolest book I'd ever read.  Years and many moves later I still have it.  really sparks the imagination.

        by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:00:10 PM PDT

        •  Yes, I love to leaf through the old books...

          ...when I have the time.  Glad you enjoy it. The cat and the bra things were from books that teach you to use whatever might be handy and potentially turn it into a weapon.

          The bra thing - I saw the book and they taught you through a series of photos how to do it.

          And there was one living-in-the-wilds book that gave a recipe for - I swear to god - wood bread.  Bread made out of 100% wood!  You've got to do a lot of grinding, baking, re-baking, etc.  but apparently it can be done.    

          by dov12348 on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:39:44 PM PDT

          •  the inner bark of a birch tree...

            ...is soft and can be cut into strips and eaten like spagetti (from my dog-eared wilderness survival book).

            by DawnG on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 04:48:58 PM PDT

            •  Yep - and the slippery elm is supposed to be...

              ...one of the most succulent.

              By the way, getting to women's self-defense -- check this out.  It's supposed to be a best-seller at Paladin.

              http://paladin-press.com/...

              by dov12348 on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 05:09:01 PM PDT

•  Buy a Gun and Learn to Use It

  If I was the Decider every responsible female would get a 20 gauge pump shotgun on her 16th birthday and training in it's care and feeding.

  Hiding as a tactic pales to insignificance next to the unmistakeable sound of a round being chambered in a pump shotgun.

  by The Baculum King on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 12:44:54 PM PDT

•  I gave up on anonymity.

  I'm incredibly identifiable, since I have a very unusual life history.

  I live with other responsible adults who would defend me in a fortress-like house in a very safe (but also relatively remote) area with very responsive police who we know.  We know the local judges, good people, too.  And we have plenty of money to pay any lawyers we might need.

  That's not an easily replicable formula though.

  by neroden on Sat Apr 14, 2007 at 01:06:18 PM PDT