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https://github.com/mmomtchev/urban-tech-guerilla

A permanent work-in-progress guide for activists resisting state-sponsored crime in the 21st century
https://github.com/mmomtchev/urban-tech-guerilla

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A permanent work-in-progress guide for activists resisting state-sponsored crime in the 21st century

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README 

          
# Urban Tech Guerilla



## Dedication



I dedicate the *Urban Tech Guerilla* to Ernesto "Che" Guevara.



Despite having wildly different political ideas, Che has always been an inspiration to me.



A determined fighter who never gave up on liberty, Che has become a symbol of political activism.



Just as his guide inspired people around the world, and as a symbol of political pluralism, I will be writing this new guide, updated for the modern world, for everyone who fights for whatever cause he finds righteous. Because everyone who is willing to sacrifice personal comfort for a cause is worthy of my help.



## Ideology



This guide is meant for political activists and not criminals. In fact, the use of violence is probably the one most important element that has radically changed since Che's original book. Violence is no longer justified in the developed world - and for this we should thank people such as Che. While governments will always find means to oppress the people, in the Internet age, they will rarely do so through violence.



You will find nothing in this guide that is against the law. In cases where the laws vary by jurisdictions, this will be noted.



Another very important statement to make is that liberty always comes with a price. Policing a free society is much more difficult than policing an authoritarian one. If anyone ever uses it to further criminal goals, then this will be an undesirable side effect of liberty.



## Everyday life



Living the Jason Bourne lifestyle is usually much exciting than in the movies. You will be spending large amounts of time on the lookout for many basic necessities that average people take for granted. A place to spend the night, food, water, electricity - nothing will come to you without some effort.



In the movies, it is all about high-speed car chases. Car chases in the real life are very rare and high-speed ones are even more so. Do not forget that both the one who follows and the one who are followed do not want to attract any attention. Most real-world car chases end the very moment the followed realizes he is being followed. In the movies, they drive as fast as they can. In the real world one of the best ways to shake a tail is to drive unusually slow.



I will try to give you as many tips as possible, but you should know that there are many tricks that I won't be able to share before the conclusion of my own affair since these risk compromising my own safety.



#### Living in a van



These days a delivery van is the ideal choice for anyone leading a clandestine life. A second-hand delivery van is not that expensive and can easily be accommodated with a bed, a small gas appliance for cooking, solar panels, diesel heating for the winter and a small fridge. A shower and a chemical toilet are somewhat more complicated, but are very nice additions too. These will allow you to live almost completely off the grid while substantially lowering your food costs - compared to someone who has to buy ready-to-eat meals.



Once you have been living in a van yourself, you will learn to immediately spot one when it is parked on your street - unless it is a purposely built so called *stealth* van. However most people will never tell the difference and the *stealth* van will certainly pass under the radar even for the police. A normally built van will usually have outlets for filling in water, plugging in a charging cable and the a small trap door on the side for the chemical toilet. A stealth van won't have any of these and will have the driver section isolated from the rest with good tinted windows so that any interior lighting is not visible from the outside. Tinted windows for the driver are illegal in most jurisdictions, but tinted windows on the back of a van are usually allowed everywhere.



##### Parking the van



Parking the van is an art that takes some time to master. There are many things that are important for a good spot. Some spots will be very good during the weekend, others during the night or during a working day. There are some rare gems that are always good.



When I arrive in a new neighborhood, I usually spend every day at least an hour, maybe even two, walking to scout my surroundings. This also allows me to take breaks from working on my computer. All the best places I have found, I have always found them on foot - because most of the time these are slightly off the main road and not visible when driving.



#### Food



In the developed world, it is generally considered that the cheapest healthy good meal costs about $1 (or 1€) and the minimum amount of money that you need for your daily survival would be about $5 (or 5€). Below this amount, you will have to resort to scavenging. However you should not forget that the only way to go that low is to have an access to a fridge and a cooking stove.



##### Scavenging



Scavenging does not have to be about regular thrash bins. A prime location for scavenging are the wholesale food markets where most restaurants and smaller shops do their daily shopping. There are many perishables that are usually thrown at the end of the day - which would be something like 8am to 9am since they usually go shopping just before dawn.



#### Electricity



During the sunny season, electricity will never be a problem if you install solar panels. These will give you plenty of power to run your computer, charge your phone, power the interior lights, run the water pump and eventually the fridge (for the fridge you have two choices - electricity or gas).



In addition to the main engine battery - which I never use for anything but starting the engine since it is very inefficient when handling small loads over time - I have two large 12V batteries salvaged from large corporate UPSes. These are usually the best choice for cheap batteries that handle well small loads over time.



During the winter season, the situation is rather different - not only you will be getting much less power, but you will also need to power the diesel heater 24/24. The only way to charge the battery will be to get power from the outside. Luckily, thanks to the proliferation of electric vehicles, electricity is now widely available on the street. The most common in the EU Type-2 charging adapter can be used to get 220V which can be converted to 12V by a special charging transformer. You can buy the plug which you will have to wire yourself on Amazon. Charging fees vary widely between different providers, but if you find one that makes you pay per KWh and not per minute of charging, you should be able to charge your batteries for a few cents.



##### Converting a computer screen to run on 12V



Every computer screen that has an external power brick can very easily be converted to run on 12V without knowing anything (almost anything) about electricity. Just get a multimeter and measure its output. It will always be a direct current with a voltage that usually goes from 14V to 19V. Cut off the plug and connect it to a cheap DC/DC step-up off Amazon - these usually cost about $10 - and then connect it to your battery. You can install a 12V car fuse for peace of mind. Use a screwdriver to set the correct voltage and your screen should immediately work.



#### Keeping your physical location secret and using the Internet



There are two main legal ways to access the Internet anonymously:

 - dedicated data-only burner eSIM cards that can be bought with crypto currencies

 - wardriving and using public Wi-Fi hotspots



SIM cards offer the best mobility, but you should know that many EU countries severely restrict burner SIM cards - including France where this guide is currently being written. In most EU countries the law says that the mobile operator cannot sell you an anonymous SIM card, but there is nothing preventing you from buying one. This means that those are still available, but the cost is usually higher since you will have to be in roaming mode.



Wardriving for public Wi-Fi hotspots should work very well in every large metropolitan area. These days there are so many of them that usually you will be looking for a good parking place first, and then for a Wi-Fi hotspot.



Wardriving tends to be the safer choice. In most countries there are only a handful of mobile operators and these will be a very good central location for identifying you. Wardriving on the other side gives you access to very large number of completely independent networks that cannot be monitored from a central location.



In the addendum, you will find a tutorial for installing a dedicated Linux Tor router with a firewall using a virtual machine (the current version supports only macOS since this is what I am using, but this is possible on all OS). This router works for both eSIM cards and public Wi-Fi APs.



##### Wardriving for Internet access



I will be writing a separate tutorial for the wardriving setup itself.



You should avoid residential Wi-Fi APs. Even when these are open, they tend to be lower-end lower-power WiFi APs. Professional APs are made to cover large areas and are installed by professionals who know how to place the antennas to achieve the best coverage possible. These are found in most big retail stores, hotels, restaurants, bars, parks, universities, schools, hospitals, conference halls and everywhere where many people tend to come. These public APs will sometimes have restrictions, but Tor can be made to work on any network that allows HTTP(S) access (albeit somewhat slower than on a completely unrestricted network). It is purposely made to be difficult to detect.



Another excellent choice are the corporate APs for visitors. Most large office buildings will have a free AP for business visitors. These tend to offer very good Internet access with few restrictions since the business visitors are supposed to be able to connect to their own corporate VPN networks - which is essentially what you will be doing too.



One thing that you should be wary when using public Wi-Fi APs is to try to vary the locations.  Otherwise you risk to always use the same provider which, if identified, might start tracking you. Refer to the section on *Randomizing the MAC address* in the router guide.



#### Anonymous electronic payments



Unlike the (almost) universal untraceable Internet access, you should know that there is no such thing as universal untraceable electronic payments - not counting carefully used crypto currencies.



There are very strict international regulations - because of money laundering, fraud and tax evasion. There are very few open holes since there are already many people looking very hard to find them - on both sides of the law.



In the recent years, virtual bank cards have been gaining popularity and many companies promise fully anonymous online payments. Do not be fooled - once a merchant is identified and cooperating, the financial institution will be identified. Once the financial institution is identified, they can provide your balance and transactions. It is as simple as that.



Currently, the only thing that is actually possible is to use a prepaid debit card and to conceal the merchant that you are paying to. Prepaid debit cards are the modern version of travelers cheques. Some of these prepaid bank cards can be bought from traditional brick and mortar stores and paid cash. In most countries there is something called the KYC (for *Know Your Customer*) regulations that require banks to not only know the identify of their customer, but to be also reasonably sure that he is not a criminal. However in many countries, these regulations do not apply for payments below a certain threshold - usually 200€ per month or 100€ per week is a very safe bet.



Buying such prepaid debit cards - using fake names and addresses - can allow you to make small electronic payments. You can use a different card for each merchant for extra safety. In some states, some providers will require an ID to sell you such card. In other states, other providers will not.



As these payments will carry an extra cost for you, you should always use them as a very last resort.



#### Carrying a gun



If you live in a state with lax gun control laws, you might be tempted to carry a gun. Do not. Nothing good will every come out of it. In most real-world situation carrying a gun is a very serious liability and not a advantage.



Do not forget that a political activist is fighting for a tomorrow. One gunfight and there won't be a tomorrow - no matter who is killed or injured in it. It will surely be a huge political statement, but whether it will be the right one, is not that simple.



If you want to carry a gun, you should not only be prepared to kill someone with it - you should also be prepared to get killed yourself and to spend your life in prison.



Depending on your political goals, this might be a good choice. However those few situations which would actually require it are currently considered out for scope of this guide.



## Addendum



### Practical Guides



An early draft for a guide on how to make untraceable Internet connections using public Wi-Fi APs. I will certainly try to make it accessible to the average layman.



[macOS-untraceable-internet.md](macOS-untraceable-internet.md)