Go Dark
The half of this book that works with the network switched off.
Save it to your device once. After that it opens on a dead network, in a blackout, on a phone in a drawer. No account, no signal, no server.
Offline readiness
Is this device ready?
Checking
Checking what is already stored on this device.
Network right now: Online
Roughly 2 MB. Stored by your browser, on your device, for you. Nothing is uploaded and no account is created.
Sentry
A calm helper that asks short questions and walks you through a bad hour. It never claims to know what happened.
Printable cards
Seven incident cards with fill-in blanks. Print them once and put them where a frightened person can find them.
Emergency Lifeline
A specification for an emergency-only connection. Not a product, and never a replacement for 911.
The kit
The air-gapped home kit.
An air gap simply means a copy or a device kept physically disconnected from any network. Here is the household version, and none of it is exotic.
On the shelf
- The printed binder, including the seven incident cards
- A written call tree: names, roles, and numbers you already trust
- A printed account list with no passwords on it
- Recovery codes, stored somewhere else entirely
- An external backup drive that stays disconnected
In the drawer
- A charged battery bank and the right cables
- A torch and spare batteries
- A battery or hand-crank radio
- Cash in small notes
- One old phone, charged, with this site saved on it
How to disconnect without making things worse
- Check physical safety first. If anyone or any critical equipment may be in danger, call emergency services and follow their instructions. Nothing below outranks that.
- Record before you change anything. Photograph the screen. Write the exact wording, the device, the account, and the time.
- Prefer isolation to shutdown. For an ordinary computer, take it off the network and leave it powered on so a responder can look at it. Power it off only for a physical hazard, or if isolation is impossible and harm is continuing.
- Never disconnect operational systems yourself. Medical, vehicle, building and industrial systems have a safe sequence, and the authorised operator owns it.
- Switch to the paper process. Use the binder, the call tree, and known-good numbers. Contact details that arrive during an incident are not trusted.
- Write everything down as you go. Who decided, what changed, at what time, what you expected, and how to undo it.
Two rules that never bend
Do not connect an unknown drive, and do not accept remote-support software from someone who called you. Both are how a bad evening becomes a bad month.
Working offline
What still works when everything is dark.
| If this is happening | Open this | The immediate principle |
|---|---|---|
| A device may be infected | Sentry, then card 1 | Isolate the device if it is safe to do so. |
| Files are being encrypted or deleted | Card 2 | Contain now. Evidence must not delay stopping harm. |
| Someone is in an account | Card 3 | Change the password, then sign out everywhere. |
| An app changed on you | Card 4 | Record first. Change one boundary at a time. |
| The internet or a cloud service is down | Card 5 | Use known-good offline contacts and records. |
| A phone was lost or stolen | Card 6 | Lock the device, then change what it can reach. |
| A child safety event | Card 7 | Stay with them. Preserve evidence. Call for help. |