What is onion-irc-opsec-guide?

This repository preserves a set of operational security lessons that were originally taught live on an IRC channel called Onion IRC back in April and May 2016. The original conversation logs are kept unchanged in a separate folder, and this document turns those class transcripts into a readable guide covering topics like Tor, VPNs, IRC hardening, basic Linux and bash scripting, open source intelligence gathering, DNS and network reconnaissance, port scanning with nmap, common web vulnerabilities, and security practices for activists. The guide's central idea is that operational security is not a single tool you install, it is a habit of thinking about what information an action leaks, who could see it, how long it lasts, and what it might later be linked to. It walks through building a threat model first, meaning deciding who you are actually trying to protect yourself from before choosing how much inconvenience is worth accepting. Several chapters explain compartmentalization, the practice of keeping separate online identities fully apart from each other, including separate accounts, writing styles, and schedules, since small overlapping details like typing habits or reused handles can quietly link two identities together. Other sections cover the idea of only sharing information on a need to know basis, even with people you trust, and explain how metadata, such as connection times or file details, can reveal more than the actual content of a message. There is also a plain explanation of how phones function as tracking devices through cell towers, WiFi, and Bluetooth, and a walkthrough of how the Tor network and Tor Browser work, including common ways people get caught while using Tor through mistakes rather than through any flaw in Tor itself. This is a text heavy, archival reference document rather than software, aimed at researchers, journalists, activists, or anyone curious about digital privacy history. It has 10 stars and no listed programming language, since it is a collection of educational writing rather than code. The full README is longer than what was shown.