cyber psychosis

Whenever i do something privacy/tech related I get really anxious. Anyone else have this issue? Just recently after setting up disk encryption I got very paranoid IRL, checking over my shoulder and whatnot. In this day and age privacy feels like a crime. Could just be me, IDK.

>>89602 Maybe watch news? After what's been happening recently in the world, I feel the opposite, like I'm doing God's work and have a moral high ground. And even regarding piracy I historically felt slightly uncomfortable about pirating anything I can buy, but not nowadays. I would only feel sad about pirating cheap unpopular indies now.

>>89602 >Whenever i do something privacy/tech related I get really anxious. Take a few breaths. If you're not in a proper state of mind when taking privacy measures you run the risk of messing something up. >In this day and age privacy feels like a crime. I'd say watch Psycho-Pass (or Anon (2018), or any piece of media from the myriad of cyberpunk media), but that would probably make your paranoia worse. Ask yourself why you're taking the measures that you are and what you hope to accomplish by doing so. It will help you justify why you do what you do. >>89604 >Maybe watch news? After what's been happening recently in the world, I feel the opposite, like I'm doing God's work and have a moral high ground. Same, the only downside is seeing those that I care about being exploited. >And even regarding piracy I historically felt slightly uncomfortable about pirating anything I can buy, but not nowadays. I would only feel sad about pirating cheap unpopular indies now. I'd argue it's better to adopt the try before you buy model - if you try a piece of media, or software, or what have you, and you like it, do your best to support the creator. This encourages people (and indie companies) to make useful enjoyable things, and sends a message to those producing slop that it is not profitable.

>>89614 Hey anon, just passing by to bump your suggestion of watching anon (2018). I watched that movie too and it made me really curious about anonymity and personal privacy. Its a rly cool movie.

The only thing that should make you anxious is accidentally forgetting your password and locking yourself out without recovery. No one is coming after you, you're not doing anything illegal in the US at least, no one cares.

>>89602 I had that and for me it was just burnout related to specific technical work (I'd been implementing pretty unique and novel stuff and C off the cuff, while I'm far from a C powerlifter) and being tired of learning Linux stuff. So I used OpenBSD and Windows for a while and just used it more like a consumer. Also got myself two new keyboards to make it more comfy. Currently slowly and much more gently getting back into computer nerd stuff, while also still using normal person usecases like Internet browsing and media playback.

What I kinda talked around is, maybe the security essay and software people just rubbed off on you in an unpleasant way. Don't worry about it so much, retreat from computer-based security a bit. Maybe learn to take walks around town and how to do that safely, pick up a bit of new sportive stuff, health stuff, just give it a rest. If you have high-leverage passwords, write them down, hide them, and turn off the computer. Get a cheap second computer (maybe a 50 dollar laptop) to browse and watch movies, use a VPN if you want, just make it a cheap minimally private PC for non-exotic normal person stuff. I also have a separate PC for banking and have an authenticator device from my bank rather than the smartphone banking app, and I'm happy with that, physically separating that out to a device gave me a lot of peace of mind. But the bigger issue is to just giving it a rest and not rubbing shoulders with online security theoreticians so much. Growing out a better digital system takes time and care and can't be forced, and cannot be allowed to take precedence over IRL security let alone over wider life issues. Worries about security are really a failure mode, don't spend all your time unrestricted on fixing problems, make it the exception and spend your usual time on productive, start-new-good-things activity. (Sorry mods for my multipart posting lol, I'm used to double posting being cheap.)

I can only genuinely feel at peace if I put my laptop in another room and draw my curtains, and I wish I could turn this entire room into a thermally isolated, soundproof faraday cage with zero electronics.

>>89602 I don't know how people don't feel this way. I make a point of not bringing any tech for diversion when I'm out and about cause I'm afraid of a police officer taking my soykaf and scanning my files or an unscrupulous stranger spying on my screen. I have a dumbphone with fm radio and I use that for listening to my local jazz station.

>>89602 can't reply, but hope you don't get worse. can't explain anything.

>>89602 yeah what you explain seems only justified, given the implications of the whole digital manifestation of mankind spiralling out of control or at the very least towards a dystopian future that mixes medieval serfdom and the most perfidious neostasi methods think through the isolated implications of the mark of the beast lore from the sauce recipie book for pavlovian control meatballs during the past 72 hours i'm in a state of almost emotionally paralyzed by the recent changes in the system and its implications. there are only so few people who care about this but maybe it just feels like that because we all have been trapped into our panopticon living mousetraps regardless interesting times

>>89602 re >>89836 sorry i didn't mean to add fuel to the fire but i am convinced subjective subterranean ostrich play will not solve the problems that many will realize soon for the first time ( much like during the period of 19-23 ) i have heard of other people they are scared when i talked to them about this without them on their own mentioning the topic you mentioned, of course in general but it always leads to the same inconvenient catch-22 pitfalls everyone is facing due to the real systemic change being pushed by minds on the spheres of the wef and other gIobaIs sp i hope i didn't make it worse for you, i just wanted to tell you that it felt good to see your thread because i now know that there are people out there who feel similar ( i assume)

>>89614 not OP, but Ive been here. I think I merely want to make my private stuff unaccesible to novice hackers as in 'script kiddies' AND random "people can steal/"borrow" my phone and may gain access" but I feel some not so rational fear over this scenario: a novice three letter yob may be interested into putting his own three letter madskillz into a test w/me

>>90973 OP of >>89614 here. > I think I merely want to make my private stuff unaccesible to novice hackers as in 'script kiddies' AND random "people can steal/"borrow" my phone and may gain access" You can have this with fairly low effort. For your computer(s), use a password manager to store strong passwords, check if you've been in a data breach recently, use full disk encryption, use an antivirus to be careful of what you download (clamscan on Linux works well), etc. For your 'random people can steal/"borrow" your phone and may gain access', break it into it's logical parts and address those. > random people can steal my phone Be mindful about using your phone in public. Use a strong password/passphrase - police (and others) can and have forced people to unlock their phones by forcing them to unlock biometric locks (i.e. forcing your hand on the fingerprint reader, holding the phone up to your face, etc.). There are apps that lock your phone if a certain amount of motion is detected (i.e. the phone is shaken suddenly) - use those. Be careful about what information you keep on your phone, and have it backed up to your computer. Use a privacy screen for your phone (polarizing screen protector that makes it difficult to see the phone at a certain angle). > random people can "borrow" my phone Don't give out your phone unwillingly, then. Naturally this changes if you're being threatened, in that case do what you must to get out safe. Some phones (GrapheneOS) have a duress passcode you can put in that automatically wipes the device upon entry - set that up and be ready to use it. > random people may gain access See the above points on preventing people from gaining access to your phone and it's contents. In the event that you expect your phone to be forcibly taken, you can put your phone into "Lockdown Mode" (iOS and GrapheneOS) or "Android Advanced Protection" (Android), which can prevent others from using tools such as a Cellbrite UFED to automatically unlock your device and download it's contents. Micha F Lee has a good presentation about such practical defenses here: https://micahflee.com/practical-defenses-against-technofascism/ (Please spare me your comments about ICE and fascism and the current state of the world, I am not interested) > but I feel some not so rational fear over this scenario: a novice three letter yob may be interested into putting his own three letter madskillz into a test w/me Do you often go through life fearing you'll be beat up by professional fighters? In the same sense, why would a three letter agency spend time and resources on (what I assume is) a far lower priority compared to some person of interest. If the three letter agency people want to pwn you, they will do so one way or another - they have more time, resources, and manpower than you as an individual do. That said, be realistic about the threats you are likely to face in the immediate term and address those first, before you start addressing the more unlikely ones. Your above threat model (script kiddies and random people) is reasonable. Again, I assume you're not a major person of interest since you're posting here (no offense), and thus do not warrant a hyper vigilant threat model. If you would like to adpot one of your own volition, such as not using a smartphone and carrying around a corebooted hardened Gentoo laptop with SE Linux and a dedicated WiFi adapter, then by all means, do so - if you can live comfortably. But as I mentioned in >>89614, if you are not in a proper state of mind when taking privacy measures you will be worse off for it. TL;DR: what >>89623 said but more verbose.

>>89602 ahahahhaa My honest experience here is, various mags warn me there or here or there. Apparently there are the dangers of conveinience over security when it comes to the Internet-related consumer tech 1. Xample: Just this very day I ve realized it's not my G-account on my smartphone that needs to be thrown away - it's my dropbox-like app's password that has been very old and thus, very stale. 2. I am the kind of person who likes keeping a private un-connected thingy at home. I don't want my neighbour Tom/Yuki/Vasya to learn how my childhood toys looked like and then pwn me laughing how old my gaming computer is. 3. I think an LLM can give you a decent list of things to check monthly should you try this problem to crack: "I need a list of infosecurity measures a small business should perform at least annually in 2025 "I need a list of infosecurity measures a homeowner should perform annually or monthly in 2025 given the fact I like my privacy safe and sound" Bonus (copy the spoiler): a prompt to ask a rather sophisticated-minded Commie neuros like DeepSeek-R1 и QwQ-32B [/spoiler] [spoiler]You are tackling a complex problem that requires rigorous multi-perspective analysis. [/spoiler] [spoiler]Before providing your final answer, engage in a structured internal deliberation: [/spoiler] [spoiler]1. Initial Analysis (Analytical Perspective) Approach the problem systematically. State your initial understanding and reasoning path. [/spoiler] [spoiler]2. Critical Challenge (Skeptical Perspective) Now adopt a skeptical stance. Ask: "Wait—what assumptions am I making? What could be wrong here?" Actively look for flaws, edge cases, or alternative interpretations. [/spoiler] [spoiler]3. Alternative Approach (Creative Perspective) Consider: "What if I approached this completely differently?" Explore at least one fundamentally different strategy or framing. [/spoiler] [spoiler]4. Reconciliation & Synthesis Resolve the tension between perspectives. Which insights survive scrutiny? Integrate the strongest elements into a coherent conclusion. [/spoiler] [spoiler]5. Verification Double-check your final answer against the original requirements. Ask: "Does this actually solve what was asked?" [/spoiler] [spoiler]Throughout this process: - Use phrases like "But wait...", "However...", "Let me reconsider..." to signal perspective shifts - Explicitly disagree with your earlier reasoning when warranted - Don't just present alternatives—genuinely evaluate and compare them [/spoiler] [spoiler][YOUR TASK HERE] [spoiler][/spoiler]

>>89624 I'm burned out as well fren, upside at least for me is you do get to keep the "muscle memory". It translates well to other tasks but I'm running out of gas lately. >>90998 If I read it correctly this explains why Claude frames every interaction as a novel discovery + encouragament. Good catch!

>>89602 As a person who has Internet addiction (I am not a coder/programer so I can limit it though)... ...well! Yes! Unlimited Internet access + all those things by the big tech = I feel several flavors of tech anxiety at once AND I have the Internet of 2020s because I cannot really learn anything new AND interesting AND interactive; so now I have to resort to 2000s/1990s interactive discs, 2000s games' forms and such.