Rethinking Online Anonymity with Lance Cottrell

In a world of cybersecurity and online privacy, anonymity seems
to be the key. VPNs are often promoted as the cure-all to our
internet needs. Let’s talk about some of those misconceptions.


Today’s guest is Lance Cottrell. Lance founded Anonymizer in 1995
and is an internationally recognized expert in cryptography,
online privacy, and internet security. He is the principal author
on multiple internet privacy and security technology patents.
Lance stayed on as Chief Scientist as Anonymizer was acquired by
Intrepid, and now advises start-ups through his platform.
Show Notes:

[1:09] - Lance shares his background and how he spent the
start of his career and into founding Anonymizer.

[3:03] - To continue destigmatizing being a victim of a scam,
Lance shares his own experience as a victim himself.

[5:38] - In-person scammers are very believable. They learn
through building a relationship the things that you want.

[9:47] - There are two reasons why people commit treason -
revenge and justice.

[10:42] - Prior to founding Anonymizer, Lance had fantastic
access to the internet in the early 90s and became involved in
the open-source community.

[13:58] - Lance describes how Anonymizer did business-wise
and where it capped.

[17:40] - There are different types of customers for
Anonymizer, general consumers as well as government entities.

[20:30] - There were certainly times where someone would come
to Anonymizer and they had done something that was really pretty
dire.

[23:28] - Anonymizer was able to develop some new
technologies that Lance describes.

[25:35] - If you need to trust someone, research who that
someone is and understand if you can.

[27:11] - The biggest mistake is thinking your IP address is
the important thing.

[29:19] - Actually achieving anonymity or pseudonymity and
maintaining overtime is incredibly challenging.

[31:09] - Human behavior tends to give away anonymity.

[33:47] - People don’t think anywhere near enough on the
threat model.

[34:58] - When are VPNs actually beneficial?

[37:32] - Be very specific about what you want to protect.

[40:05] - Obsession and trying to run your life around trying
to be anonymous is not helpful.

[41:41] - Lance discusses some of the interesting aspects of
the psychology of criminals.

[43:10] - Lance shares some parting advice and the basic
things to do to stay protected.



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