Have you ever wondered how hackers stay anonymous while your cookies, IP address, and device information are easily recorded wherever you go online?

Hackers know very well what traces they leave on the Internet. They understand what is happening in the background and how all this communication takes place. What can we learn from the steps hackers take to remain anonymous?

Staying Private With a VPN

When you visit a website or web app, it obtains a lot of information about your browser, your device, and how you reached the site. Sites store this information, sometimes due to their own rules and sometimes due to the political rules of the country to which the site is affiliated. Being aware of this, hackers take various steps to hide this information.

One of the first concealment methods is to use a VPN and a proxy. A VPN makes the device you are using appear as if it is in another area, such as another country. With a VPN, you provide a connection with a temporary IP that acts as a mask.

But VPN and proxy providers can log what you do while using their services. Ultimately, someone still knows your real identity. Hackers who know this do not prefer this method.

It is possible to manipulate this situation. A hacker who does not want to take advantage of a ready-made VPN and proxy service can create their own VPN service. For example, a malicious hacker goes to a cafe with a public internet network. They connect a Raspberry Pi device to the network without being noticed by anyone. Then they connect to the port they opened on a separate Raspberry Pi back home and provide access to the internet. Now, this internet flow will pass through the cafe's network. This could work, but placing a Raspberry Pi in the cafe, not getting caught, and doing everything in perfect secrecy is much easier said than done.

All that said, your activities are likely not as high stake as a hacker's. In that case, there is no harm in using a VPN for your simple daily work and your sensitivity to your privacy.

Using Social Media Anonymously

Social media has created a space where many people constantly share updates on their daily lives. As a result, collecting information about people has become much easier. Hackers do not want to be so visible on the internet, so they stay away from social media accounts or use anonymous accounts instead. To keep these accounts anonymous, hackers abide by certain rules.

Let's consider a fake Twitter account. A hacker who wants to remain completely anonymous does not open a Twitter account using their phone, cellular service, e-mail address, or their home internet. Hackers first buy an old, keyed, and hard-to-track phone. Then the hacker obtains a new phone number without revealing their identity and without being caught by any security camera. Finally, the hacker opens the Twitter account by creating a disposable mail account or a working mail account on the Tor network. At this point, the hacker only gains access to this account through a public network where it can remain private.

Yet even this is not completely safe, because the hacker never knows how secure a public network is. And there is the high probably of making a slip-up.

Creating Long and Complex Passwords

Password security is an important issue for hackers as well as for individual users. Hackers use strong passwords to protect themselves. Strong passwords here are not 8 to 10 characters. Oftentimes, hackers use 25 to 30 characters passwords for illegal operations. Of course, these are difficult to remember, but there are some ways to make them easier.

You can create a new password by encrypting the lyrics of a poem or song that you know by heart. You can change letters using numbers and special characters and get strong passwords.

For example, let's turn a sentence in Dio's song Holy Diver into a password.

        You can hide in the sun 'til you see the light

######## Password
y0uC4nH!d3!nTh35uN?t1ly0u5e3TheL!gHt

    

Such a password is really hard to remember but can be remembered after a few tries. Also, hackers can use a password manager for their passwords. Although they prefer open-source password managers for this, they often do this themselves and code a password manager. But even safer than that is to use paper and pencil. They write their passwords on paper and only they know where the papers are.

Sending Email Without Divulging Your Identity

A hacker who wants to remain anonymous does not turn to mainstream email providers. Instead, they use systems that provide a disposable email address. They also do all of their transactions on the Tor network. This increases their secrecy even more. After using their mail, they abandon the email address and do not use it again.

Establishing a Secure Internet Connection

To keep hackers completely private and anonymous, they must have a secure and untraceable internet connection. You cannot achieve this by simply using a more private web browser or swapping out your modem.

Many people think that connecting to the Tor network will be enough for privacy, but this is wrong. It is necessary to continue to take all security measures while connected to the Tor network. A Tor browser downloaded by the hacker to his computer is not enough. The hacker needs to run his computer entirely on Tor. It is possible to use Windows and Mac operating systems over the Tor network, but these operating systems are not designed to be anonymous. Working with an operating system like Tails is much safer for hackers.

The Tails Linux distribution works like a disposable operating system. It uses the computer's RAM and does not store data on the storage drive. Thus, when you shut down the operating system, all the operations you have done in that session are automatically deleted. But of course, Tails still needs to download updates. In this respect, it is still not possible to talk about complete anonymity.

What Can You Learn From Hackers’ Privacy Techniques?

Most of us do not need to chase anonymity as much as a hacker, but it's still a good idea to learn some lessons from the privacy techniques hackers use quite often. The use of VPN and proxy makes a lot of sense for preserving a degree of privacy. And you improve your security by bounds when you set a longer, more complex password.

But it's not practical to use an operating system that loses your data whenever you shut down your computer. Being constantly connected to the Tor network is not necessary for everyday use. Besides, the vast majority of websites on the Tor network are insecure, and it is never recommended to visit them.