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I know there is a firefox mobile that can be run from a flash drive, but i have no idea if it's anonymous

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I remember a while back a thread about using a flash drive to run programs on a public computer so that you stayed completely anonymous, however I can't find it now.  The issue is that I find myself using public computers to assess my E-mail ( web based) and several other sites and are somewhat sensitive. While I always clear my history I find that this is a PIA at times.

What I want to know is, would it be possible using a flash drive with the correct programs to use a public computer completely anonymously? My real concerns are is opening attachments and someone being able to access them after I'm done, be it a spread sheet, Word doc, PDF or picture. Lets say I want to surf Arfcom at work and view a picture attachment of a gun in the EE that someone sent to my gmail account, and not leave any trace of this on the computer I'm using. Can this be done?

I've got my 4GB card sitting right here ready to go.

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If you have the option of booting from a usb drive, could transfer a LiveCD version of linux to a usb drive, and boot from it.  When it boots, it loads everything into memory, and doesn't touch the hard drive.  When done, reboot, and the memory is now cleared.

Puppy linux has the utility to build a bootable usb drive alady installed, and is very compact (85MB, give or take.)  You can also add additional applications to your drive, and store it's configuration when your session is finished.  It should have the most common hardware (network) drivers already, so all you need to do is plug and play.

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Portable apps is probably the most notable.


If this is over your head, it is ok.  Just be aware that the potential for this malicious activity is real.

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Thanks for the link, I'll have to explore it a bit more later on. I understand that no matter what precautions I take there will always be someone out there who can undermine them. Like I said I just want to be able to keep my Arfcom surfing on the down low at work and make sure the next time I get an e-mail attachment consisting of something off the BOTD forum it does not get downloaded onto the main office computers picture viewing program.

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If you are worried about your employer seeing things while you were surfing, maybe you shouldn't surf at work.  Most companies can and do monitor Internet usage.

There are things such as proxy servers, but they can be pierced.  A company can find out what sites your computer has been to if they want to know badly enough.

I would not want to give my employer a reason to pick me if they are deciding who to lay off.

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This.  Using public computers at school libraries and internet cafes anonymously is one thing (booting a LiveCD is the right answer here, as others have said).  Using work computer resources to surf without a trace is another.

At a public computer lab, since its public, it's hard to tie a given bit of network traffic to a given person, since the machines are all communal.  What you're worried about is a malicious user snooping your traffic, logging your keystrokes, capturing passwords, or tricking you into disclosing sensitive information to a fake site.

In the workplace, where access to a given machine is more limited and probably involves authenticating in some way, what you're worried about is keeping your friendly neighborhood IT gestapo from seeing you peek at arfcom during work hours.  Since they own and control the network, they get to see everything coming in and out.  They get to see where it came from, and when.  It doesn't take much to put 2 and 2 together.

If you must surf at work and don't want your boss to find out, get a broadband card for your personal laptop and surf with that exclusively.  Proxies/encrypted tunnels/etc are either not secure, not subtle, or too hard to set up.