Tag Archive for 'Communication'

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Xerobank, Zero Customer Service

Published on March 27, 2009 in Communication, Privacy and Private Investigator. 14 Comments Tags: , , .

In a previous post we mentioned XeroBank as a possible alternative to TOR.

Once you’ve figured it out, XeroBank is a great system! It’s a VPN connection to their servers which assigns you either a Dutch,
US or Canadian IP address; other nation’s IP addresses are not available. There is some confusion on their website as to whether other countries are available or not. The website merely says you can choose a country.

Once connected via the VPN, you can use all your browser and other programs to access the internet. We did not try their email service. The system is fast and you can even stream in video quite easily. Basically, it’s a great service if you have lots of time to read up on it and figure it out on your own because there is no customer support or documentation from the company; the public forums are the only place you’ll get any answers.

The sign up process and administration process are not straightforward.  It is very hard to understand how to log in to the account and how to use it. Four emails to customer service over the course of 3 weeks after sign up and no answers.

They say the first month of the service is free but as you’re signing up you’re asked for your credit card and they charge you $1 for the first month; it is then very difficult to cancel your subscription, actually you can only put it on hold by going onto the website of the billing company that they use and suspend your account, but we only learned that by asking the question on their public forum where we received an answer from someone we presume to be an employee; emails to support were never answered.

Customer support is non-existent. They are more interested in the technology than their customers.   (If you want to see the people who might be behind the XeroBank, please have  look at the delegation they sent to the last DEFCON event.)

Orwell’s 5 Rules for Effective Writing

Published on March 20, 2009 in Communication, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Poor writing is not a recent problem. In 1946, George Orwell wrote his essay, Politics and the English Language, about his five rules of writing effectively.  Orwell concluded that if you follow his five rules, then you would distinguish yourself by clearly communicating your ideas.

Orwell’s Rules

  1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech seen in print.
  2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

Texter

Published on March 16, 2009 in Communication, Power User Tips, Report Writing and The Investigator's Computer. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Texter saves you countless keystrokes by replacing abbreviations with commonly used phrases that you define. It runs in the Windows system tray and works with applications you’re typing in. It can also set return-to markers for your cursor and insert clipboard contents into your replacement text, in addition to more advanced keyboard macros.

How did I ever live without this?

Caller ID Block Defeated

Published on February 26, 2009 in Communication and Telephone Resources. 3 Comments Tags: , .

Trapcall will reveal the caller name and number when transmission of caller ID is blocked. If the party receiving the call on his mobile telephone subscribes to the free service, they will see the caller’s phone number. If the called party subscribes to the paid service, they will also receive the name of the caller. Trapcall is not available on all cell phone networks in the US, but it does work where it is available. I don’t know if it will work in Canada.

This is something to be aware of when calling subjects of an investigation or making pretext calls.

Fact Checking

Published on February 13, 2009 in Communication, How to Become a Professional Private Investigator, Methods, Private Investigator and Report Writing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Every writer, reporter, and investigator should read the article entitled Checkpoint by award-winning author John McPhee in the Feb. 9-16, 2009 issue of New Yorker Magazine . The abstract is available, but you must be a subscriber to read the full article online. Of course, you could go to the library and read the article, or just buy the magazine.

The Virtual Investigator

Published on February 4, 2009 in Communication, Methods and The Investigator's Computer. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Secret Identity

Secret Squirrel would be jealous of all the facilities available to the Virtual Investigator. These things let the Virtual Investigator ask questions and communicate without revealing his secret identity.

Secret Email

Setting-up your computer for TOR use, or XeroBank’s anonymous proxy server network, then getting an email address from www.hushmail.com or www.mail.com begins your transformation into a Virtual Investigator. Continue reading ‘The Virtual Investigator’

The Anonymous Investigator

Published on February 2, 2009 in Communication, Methods, Private Investigator, Security and The Investigator's Computer. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

The Onion Router (TOR)

Thousands of people around the world use Onion Routing or  TOR to do things on the Internet. Private Investigators should use it to maintain anonymity during investigations. Continue reading ‘The Anonymous Investigator’

Spread FUD Not Propaganda

Published on June 20, 2008 in Communication, Competitive Intelligence, News Media and Reputation Management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

An excellent article at Knowledge Is Power about using a blog to spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) about competitors and manage the spin on news about its rivals while usually reporting positively about your own employer.

Another post about Black PR defines this as distinct from a disinformation campaign.

VoIP Encryption

Published on March 20, 2008 in Communication, Encryption and The Investigator's Computer. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

In 1991, Philip Zimmermann developed an encryption technology known as Pretty Good Privacy. Zimmermann, the CEO of PGP Corp., created ZRTP, a technology for encrypting Internet telephone calls. PGP Corp. has just released Zfone, which is ZRTP-enabled Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software that prevents Internet telephone call wiretapping.

Forbes.com spoke with Zimmermann about why his company created Zfone which he offers to the public for free. The article is interesting because Zimmermann points-out the intelligence value of traffic analysis, which I mentioned in a previous article. Zfone makes it nearly impossible to eavesdrop on a conversation, but it does not prevent an intelligence service or police service from conducting traffic analysis.

VON Magazine also interviewed Zimmermann in its January 2007 edition about issues surrounding wiretapping and VoIP.