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A Step-by-Step Guide to Secure and Anonymous Web Browsing

In today’s increasingly surveilled digital landscape, maintaining anonymity and privacy online is more crucial than ever. Whether you’re operating in a blood-red county, facing intense governmental surveillance, or simply concerned about corporate tracking, this guide will help you roll your own personal safety net to secure your browsing experience.

This guide covers setting up Mullvad VPN, using Mullvad Browser, integrating with Bitwarden for password management, and how to ensure your privacy and anonymity while browsing the web.

Be advised I run using ArchLinux most often on dwm. I’m not exactly mainstream, especially when you figure I’m 70+ years (formerly young). Your mileage may vary….

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Step 1: Setting Up Mullvad VPN

Mullvad is a top-notch, privacy-focused VPN that supports anonymity with minimal logs and powerful encryption. Here’s how to get it up and running:

Install Mullvad VPN (AUR version)

1. First, install Mullvad VPN from AUR using your preferred AUR helper (like yay or paru): yay -S mullvad-vpn
2. Once installed, launch the Mullvad VPN client and log in with your Mullvad account (you can create one on their website).
3. Connect to a VPN server of your choice to secure your connection and mask your real IP.

Hide Mullvad VPN in the System Tray

To ensure Mullvad runs unobtrusively, you can minimize it to the systray:

1. If you use dwm or herbstluftwm, you can install stalonetray to handle systray icons: sudo pacman -S stalonetray
2. Add stalonetray to your autostart script (~/.xinitrc or ~/.config/herbstluftwm/autostart): stalonetray &
3. Once started, Mullvad VPN should appear in the system tray, allowing you to easily access and disconnect the VPN.

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Step 2: Installing and Setting Up Mullvad Browser (Flatpak)

Using a privacy-focused browser is essential to maintaining anonymity. Mullvad Browser is designed with privacy and anonymity in mind, offering features like WebRTC leak protection, cookie blocking, and built-in Tor support.

Install Mullvad Browser from Flatpak

1. First, make sure you have Flatpak installed: sudo pacman -S flatpak
2. Add the Flathub repository: flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
3. Install Mullvad Browser from Flathub: flatpak install flathub net.mullvad.MullvadBrowser
4. After installation, launch the browser from your application menu or via the command: flatpak run net.mullvad.MullvadBrowser

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Step 3: Enhancing Security with Bitwarden

To securely manage your passwords and online credentials, Bitwarden is an excellent choice—open-source, encrypted, and privacy-conscious.

Install Bitwarden (Flatpak)

1. Install Bitwarden from Flathub (or via AUR if you prefer): flatpak install flathub com.bitwarden.desktop
2. Once installed, login to your Bitwarden account and configure your password vault.

Bitwarden Extension for Mullvad Browser

1. To enable autofill and password management directly in Mullvad Browser, add the Bitwarden extension.
2. Open Mullvad Browser and go to the Extensions section (you may need to enable it in the browser settings).
3. Install Bitwarden Extension from the Web Store or use the flatpak integration to install it directly.

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Step 4: Additional Privacy Enhancements

To ensure a fully secure and anonymous browsing experience, consider the following steps:

Modify Firefox Preferences (for Mullvad Browser)

To further enhance your privacy in Mullvad Browser (since it’s based on Firefox):

1. Open about:config in Mullvad Browser’s address bar.
2. Set the following preferences:
   • privacy.resistFingerprinting – True (Prevents unique device fingerprints)
   • privacy.firstparty.isolate – True (Isolates cookies to prevent cross-site tracking)
   • signon.rememberSignons – False (Prevents automatic login saving)

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Step 5: Going Further: Managing Your System Privacy

Use wmctrl for Window Management (Optional)

If you’re working with a tiling window manager (like dwm or herbstluftwm), you can use wmctrl to easily manage windows, including minimizing the Mullvad VPN window to the systray:

1. Install wmctrl: sudo pacman -S wmctrl
2. Minimize Mullvad VPN using: wmctrl -r "Mullvad VPN" -b add,hidden

Keep Software Updated

Regularly updating your applications is essential for security:

1. For AUR packages: yay -Syu
2. For Flatpak applications: flatpak update

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Conclusion: Rolling Your Personal Protection

With Mullvad VPN, Mullvad Browser, and Bitwarden as your core tools, you’re well on your way to securing your personal safety net online. Pair these tools with a minimalist, privacy-respecting window manager like dwm, herbstluftwm, or sway, and you’ve got a robust setup that ensures your anonymity.

Remember: this is just the foundation. You can always tweak the settings to your specific needs—keep experimenting and refining your setup as privacy evolves!

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