[ExI] Fwd: [ZS] Project RES: #cryptoparties

[Anders Sandberg]

On 26/08/2012 13:46, BillK wrote:
> You need to be a bit of an enthusiastic nerd to learn about privacy, 
> anonymity, and cryptographic technologies. Most people can't be 
> bothered / don't think it is worth the effort. There are a few basics 
> which help a bit with privacy, but it starts getting complicated / 
> technical quite quickly. Most offices find that security and 
> convenience are trade-offs and convenience usually wins.

I recommend reading Bruce Schneier for a start. His sensible take on 
security and privacy is a good foundation for figuring out what 
protections you really want to take. Starting with tools is the wrong 
way around: first figure out what you want to protect yourself from.

For example, my personal threat profile is largely 1) drive-by-hacking 
from automated scripts and trojans, interested in using my computer as 
part of a botnet or steal credit card information, 2) crazies obsessed 
with transhumanism (I do have a few people who think i am part of the 
giant CIA-Sweden-Transhumanist mindcontrol project). The fact that 
various ISPs and data aggregation companies can guess my taste in 
pornography is not a problem unless they tell the crazies. That 
governments can mine my data is not much of a problem since I do my 
subversion in the open, often by talking at government agency functions. 
So that suggests that I should focus on making sure I don't gobble up 
trojans, and ensure I have a safely uncorrelated set of passwords for 
online services.

-- 
Anders Sandberg,
Future of Humanity Institute
Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University