017 - Privacy During a Natural Disaster, Self-Hosting Nextcloud, Backblaze B2 & Restic, and Farewell Firefox

The Lockdown - Practical Privacy & Security

In this episode, recorded on October 10, 2024, I dive into privacy and security during natural disasters, highlighting essential tools like iOS 18’s satellite messaging and Starlink for maintaining communication when traditional systems fail. Next I dive into self-hosting in depth, particularly focusing on Nextcloud for privacy-conscious file sync. The episode concludes with a detailed analysis of a critical vulnerability in Firefox and the merits of switching to LibreWolf for enhanced privacy and security.

In this week’s episode:

1. Privacy During Natural Disasters. Using of iOS 18’s satellite communication features for emergency contact, Starlink for off-grid internet access, and the importance of internet and Sudo phone numbers for safety without compromising privacy.
2. Bug out bags for emergency preparedness, the utility of Starlink and satellite phones for privacy in disaster zones.
3. Overview of the blog post on hosting Nextcloud, importance of cloud backups using Backblaze B2 and Restic, encrypting backups and maintaining data privacy within home networks.
4. Other Privacy Tools and Practices, including Blue Iris for managing surveillance cameras without internet access, use of Proxmox for virtual machines and running DNS servers with PiHole.
5. Analysis of the Firefox vulnerability (CVE 2024-9680), discussion on the benefits of LibreWolf as a more private alternative to Firefox.

Show Links:

• Self-hosting Nextcloud - https://www.psysecure.com/self-hosting-nextlcoud
• Starlink - https://www.starlink.com/
• Backblaze B2 - https://www.backblaze.com/cloud-storage
• Restic FAQ - https://restic.readthedocs.io/en/latest/faq.html
• Nextcloud End-to-End Encryption - https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/admin_manual/configuration_files/encryption_configuration.html
• Firefox Users Fingerprinted via Cached Intermediate HTTPS Certificates - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/firefox-users-fingerprinted-via-cached-intermediate-https-certificates/
• Certificate issue causing add-ons to be disabled or fail to install - https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/fixed-certificate-issue-causing-add-ons-to-be-disabled-or-fail-to-install/39047
• Firefox CVE 2024-9680 - https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2024-51/
• LibreWolf - https://librewolf.net/

All warfare is based on deception.

- Sun Tzu
Podcast music: Recluse by Ray Heffer