How to be anonymous with anonsurf and macchanger

If you want to perform a hack or if you are a pentester, then you need to know everything about being anonymous on the internet. Being 100% anonymous is very difficult since people make mistakes and leave traces. However, you can make it very difficult for someone to track you simply by using the following two methods I am showing below. So here are the tools to be anonymous

The two methods I recommend are using the two most famous modules:

1. Anonsurf
2. Macchanger

Anonsurf is a stealth and IP changing script for Kali Linux developed by Parrot Sec team. These are the same guys who made the Parrot OS. This script will run in the background and keep changing your IP address so that you are anonymous when traced by IP address. Anonsurf uses two main services for being anonymous on the internet. One is Tor, and the other is iptables which is a Linux service for managing IP addresses. This is an open repository on Github.

Macchanger is a built-in Kali Linux tool which can change your mac address. It has many features starting from random mac address to specific mac address. Anonsurf, along with macchanger, can help you stay anonymous.

So let’s start the installation and set up of Anonsurf and Macchanger in Kali Linux

Hiding IP Address with Anonsurf

Step 1: Open a terminal in kali Linux and use the following command clone the Anonsurf repository from Github

git clone https://github.com/Und3rf10w/kali-anonsurf.git

Step 2: Change the directory and give execution permissions to the anonsurf repository. You can do this with the following commands:

cd kali anonsurf

chmod +x ./installer.sh

Step 3: Once you have execution permissions for the script now run the anonsurf script as shown:

sudo ./installer.sh

Step 4: Now, the installation will start, and dependencies will be installed. Kindly wait for the installation to complete.

Step 5: After the installation is complete, type the help command to get a list of all possible options for the tool:

anonsurf help

Step 6: Now start the Anonsurf service with the start command. Once done after your IP Address will be changing at regular intervals.

anonsurf start

Congratulations now your system IP is hidden and your closer to becoming anonymous. The second thing we need to hide is the MAC address of your system.

Changing mac address with Macchanger

The short version:

So The shortcut and the less detailed way will be something like this

ifconfig wlan0 down
macchanger -r wlan0
ifconfig wlan0 up

Use the ifconfig command to find your device name. (replace the device with your device name)

The longer in-depth version:

Step 1: Turn off the network card

Use the following Linux command to turn off the network card

ifconfig device down

Use the ifconfig command to find your device name. (replace the device with your device name)

It will be either eth0,eth1 etc

or wlan0,wlan1 etc

Step 2: Set a random mac address

Now to set a random MAC address for your network device type the following command:

macchanger -r eth0

Since my network device is eth0

As seen in the image above, my mac address was changed to a random mac address. This is also called as mac address spoofing. Macchanger will show you the permanent, current and changed MAC address.

To check all the commands use the help option:

macchanger -h

Note: The permanent MAC Address will be restored when the system reboots.

Step 3: Turn on the network card:

ifconfig eth0 up

Since my device name is eth0

Viola your mac address has changed to a random mac address.

Step 4: Restore default mac address

If you want to restore the permanent mac address then use the following commands:

macchanger –p eth0

Step 5: Spoofing a specific mac address

You can also spoof a particular MAC address using the following command:

macchanger -m [Spoofing MAC Address] eth0

macchanger -m XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX eth0

Here XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX should be replaced with the target mac address

If you receive the following error:

ERROR: Can’t change MAC: interface up or not permission: Cannot assign requested address

Then you need to take down the network interface and then change the MAC address (Command: ifconfig wlan1 down):

Now you have become anonymous in the true sense since both your IP and MAC are hidden.

Note: Please use this knowledge only for educational purposes. 

How does changing the IP address and the Mac address make me anonymous?

Your IP address and your MAC address are the unique identifiers which can locate you. Your system data, as well as location, can be tracked with the help of your MAC address and your IP address. Thus when you change your mac and IP addresses it becomes very difficult to track you. Also, your device should technically keep changing the addresses after a certain time interval so that you can never be properly traced. Changing your MAC address to a random or specific MAC address is called as MAC spoofing.

Commonly asked questions:

1) Is this a full-proof method?

No, if someone really wanted to trace you they will but they will have to spend a lot of money and effort.

2) Is it legal to change your mac address?

Yes, there are no legal restrictions as long as you are not in a company. In a company, you will have to consult the respective IT department

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