Keeping out unwanted noses

I have a real tendency toward the paranoid. No problem there. They may very well be out to get me.

So in my writings here, I tend toward not saying anything specific. DHS is in fact out there, they don't like folk who "think different", and they are not above snooping in private conversations. Anyone who thinks that this is going to change because Georgie and Dickie have retired to their respective bunkers is going to be in for a rude surprise.

An acquaintance of mine recently sent me an interesting proposal via e-mail. It was in clear text. Horror of horrors.

So now is a set of primers on information security. Posting doomy maunderings on a blogger page is one thing. Posting business, serious political, or writings of substance is another entirely.

Go out and get yourself some encryption software. If you don't, you are a fool. Use it if you are writing any e-mail that may be potentially labeled as seditious. Use it if there is money involved. Use it if you are cheating on your wife.

http://www.gnupg.org/ offers an open source solution that will offer you a great deal of protection. A quick overview and discussion on the installation is available here.

I would also strongly recommend that you get away from the windows operating systems as quickly as you can manage. Linux offers an open source system that is much more crypto-friendly than the highly suspect Windows platform.

You will also have potentially interesting material on your computer. There are folks out there who don't like the way you think. If you have written something on your computer, it is there for God and the world to look at. I would recommend that you look into TrueCrypt or other similar software.

Now for practical truths. If you are fomenting rebellion and the NSA decides to take an interest in your activities, they may be able to break these cyphers. But it would take a concerted effort.

What I am saying is that privacy in the digital realm is very easy to take for granted and in truth, is nearly non-existent unless you take serious measures to guard it.