[QUOTE=FarFarAway;2934798]Hi, all. I have benefited greatly from reading through your posts, and hope to make a contribution to you. I have almost always been extremely careful about my online presence, as my SO is a suspicious type (ex cheated on her in a particularly vicious way, and she has suspected me of 10000 of the last 5 times I stepped out on her). Anyway, I only ever use the Tor web browser, and I don't have it on my actual computer. It's on a thumb drive. I also use its private windows, so it never stores anything (history, cookies, bookmarks) on my machine. I have checked. My SO isn't savvy enough to find such files, but if she took my computer to a geek they could likely find them if they were there. Anyway, Tor maintains your anonymity by bouncing your IP address around the world a few times. I am amazed when I get a notice on a site that says I am logged in from Kazakhstan. There are many sites that track your IP address, and unless you are logging in from an internet cafe, they will always have some knowledge of you. I make it a practice to NEVER use anything other than Tor when I am accessing illicit sites. Using a regular web browser just once potentially exposes you. I also use Hushmail. They don't track you and the service is free so long as you log in once every three weeks. I know you don't get those goodies that other free email provides, but keeping my ass out of a sling and a courtroom is pretty important, too. I do log into Hushmail using Tor. It is a little slower because even at the speed of light it takes some time for your signal to get around the world.
[/QUOTE]If you have a super suspicious spouse then you probably have to go in super stealth mode and take every precaution. Especially if you have a lot to lose.
But I also think there has to be a happy medium between super stealth mode and convenience / accessibility. If you have to jump through ten hoops on one leg while reciting the prime numbers in reverse order to check your illicit messages, then chances are some point when you're in a rush or feeling lazy, you're going to skip those steps and access the messages in an insecure way. You'll let your guard down further and only access your messages securely half the time, eventually you make a major slip-up and you're busted. Or even more simply your wife catches you jumping through a hoop on one leg and asks you what the fuck you're doing (ie. She sees you booting up the TOR browser).
So I think it's important to find a secure way but also a relatively convenient / accessible way to access illicit content. This way you're more likely to be consistent with it, which is actually more important. As you know, the common tale goes, most guys get busted "leaving the VHS tape in the VCR". Not because the wife found it hidden in the dry wall. Most of my close calls have been due to similar carelessness on my part.
