Black Bag Confidential

Internet privacy regulations are on the chopping block this week, which means it’s more important than ever to do whatever you possibly can to protect your personal data.

This edition of the weekly drop covers some advice on where to bug out when the SHTF, what electronics to protect in the event of an EMP, the best guns for home defense and one more item you could add to your escape bag. Let’s get started.

Even though they probably should be more careful, people send confidential information through email all the time. Today, I’d like to share with you a simple, secure and free way to encrypt any email that contains sensitive information.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, most of this week’s articles focus on prepping. Because any number of crises could throw your daily life into turmoil — from an unexpected weather event to the imposition of martial law. Don’t you want to be prepared?

Part of my goal for the Weekly Drop is to foster a dialogue among my readership. Pooling the best prepping advice means everyone can be better prepared for the unexpected. When the SHTF, you’ve got to look out for you and yours, but there’s no us-versus-them in prepping

Surveillance is a big part of intelligence gathering. Agents spend long days and even longer nights listening, watching and waiting. But what if there were a simpler solution? What if intelligence officers could record information with their eye? Let’s discuss.

If you, like my colleagues on the East Coast, are stuck inside on this snowy day, don’t worry — I’ve prepared this batch of must-read articles so you can pass the time and brush up on some important safety and survival information.

A 50-foot wall of water is headed your way — what do you do? You’ve got an empty Altoids can — what survival items should you put in it? Your home is a fortress — but how do you fortify your yard? Let’s find out.

Fusion centers are a way for local, state and federal agencies to share intelligence information for analysis. Are these centers useful in thwarting terrorist plots? Or are they invading the privacy of innocent Americans? Let’s take a look.

This week’s selection of articles strikes a pretty even balance between technological threats and the perils of Mother Nature. It just goes to show that in this day and age, you need to be prepared for anything.