[free-sklyarov] [nyc-geeks] Terror groups hide behind Web encryption (fwd)

[Sam Gray]

This article deserves a second look.  Here's my $0.02; I just got out of
bed, so let's blame any errors on that, shall we?  ;>

The link again:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-05-binladen.htm

I posted the following mini-rant web journal
(http://timestream.net/nonsequitur).  It is intended for public
consumption; use it as you see fit.

-- begin cross-post --

Here's another essential public relations step in the progression to a
complete surveillance state:  <a
href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-02-05-binladen.htm">linking
a scary scary terrorist with good encryption technology.</a>

This article is hopelessly vague on actual technical details.  For
instance, it mentions steganography (<a
href="http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~smanamal/steganography.htm">here's a
definition</a> -- just read the "introduction" section) but doesn't use the
proper name for it.  If the author didn't bother learning what the
technology is called, why should we trust his information on anything else?
 The other possibility is that the article was dumbed down (it <i>is</i>
USA Today) because only terrorists (and, by the way, millions of computer
geeks) would be so dangerous as to know what it is.

The truth is, email is the equivalent of a postcard -- it can be read with
very little effort by anyone with an interest in doing so.  Right now, I
doubt that anyone is more interested in reading everyone's email than the
federal government.  How much of your business would you entrust to the US
Postal Service if you knew that every single letter and package would be
opened and read by an FBI agent before being delivered?

Real people use encryption every day for thousands of legitimate uses. 
Let's not make the mistake of banning a good tool just because it can be
used to cause harm.  My brother recently injured himself with a handheld
rotary saw.  It would be just as ridiculous to ban encryption as it would
be to ban power tools -- but that's what this is leading up to.

Learn how to use good encryption while you still can.  That way you'll know
what you're missing when it's legislated against.  Start with <a
href="http://www.pgp.com/products/freeware/default.asp">PGP Freeware</a>
or, if you're a true geek, try <a href="http://www.gnupg.org/">GNU Privacy Guard</a>.

=====
"There is no energy crisis.  There is only a crisis of ignorance."
-- R. Buckminster Fuller
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