[dba-Tech] protecting our privacy

On 2013-09-05 7:55 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote:
> Hi Peter:
>
> The truth is that there is no way protect against a concerted effort by the NSA to search your personal information.

As Bruce Schneier enumerates, there are defences that go some way toward 
protecting us, If we don't avail ourselves of them, shame on us.

It might be time to re-read some of Milan Kundera's meditations on his 
experience with this kind of surveillance, esp his novel "The Joke".

PB

------

>
> I agree that it is a total betrayal of our system and the frontier of the internet, which gave everyone in the world, at least the perception of privacy, is gone. It is not just the NSA but the hundreds of other governments and companies who now know restrictions have been removed and will now feel no obligation to protect or guard anyone's privacy. If there was a community understanding of limits and rights and freedoms, they have been removed. As individuals, it is up you to protect or at least obscure your personal data as much as possible so that the harvesting will be difficult and expensive.
>
> Tor is a good start but the owner is now up on charges, I understand. BitMessage (https://bitmessage.org/wiki/Main_Page) client and a new BitMessage gateway (https://bitmessage.ch)as addons to your other email clients might be worth investigating. Good encryption, is always recommended especially if you are using the internet to transport people's personal information.
>
> Of course an individual's or company's best defenses is to use OSS software as most major proprietary software companies have been forced to participate in this backdoor scheme.
>
> Jim
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Peter Brawley" <peter.brawley at earthlink.net>
> To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues" <dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2013 3:44:56 PM
> Subject: [dba-Tech] protecting our privacy
>
> US and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet
> http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-gchq-encryption-codes-security
>
> "...the National Security Agency and its UK counterpart GCHQ have
> broadly compromised the guarantees that internet companies have given
> consumers to reassure them that their communications, online banking and
> medical records would be indecipherable to criminals or governments.
>
> Those methods include covert measures to ensure NSA control over setting
> of international encryption standards, the use of supercomputers to
> break encryption with "brute force", and – the most closely guarded
> secret of all – collaboration with technology companies and internet
> service providers themselves.
>
> Through these covert partnerships, the agencies have inserted secret
> vulnerabilities – known as backdoors or trapdoors – into commercial
> encryption software."
>
> Sigint – how the NSA collaborates with technology companies
> http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/sep/05/sigint-nsa-collaborates-technology-companies
>
> The US government has betrayed the internet. We need to take it back
> http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/05/government-betrayed-internet-nsa-spying
> 1) Hide in the network eg with Tor, 2) Encrypt communication with TLS or
> IPsec, 3) isolate sensitive documents with sneakernet, 4) for encryption
> use ony open source software,
>
> PB
>
>
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