On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 11:23:08AM +0800, Oon-Ee Ng wrote:
On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 8:49 AM, <sungpae@gmail.com> wrote:
Neither of these things would stop a truly determined government-level attacker (unencrypted mail is still vulnerable in-flight for instance), but it would be useful if you have not yet been identified as someone of interest.
guns
Being ON the Internet in itself means you cannot truly stop a 'determined government-level attacker', unfortunately. Especially true in some countries (China, for instance). My own government, for instance, probably has more reason to snoop on my communications than most criminals, all other governments, and Google/Microsoft/Apple/Facebook.
Obligatory slightly-related xkcd ref - http://xkcd.com/538/
Keeping things in perspective is always important, but if the OP wants to play cypherpunk, more power to him. Should his government come at him with a rubber hose, I won't begrudge him for revealing his private keys, because at least he will have offered some resistance to the current slide into a surveillance society.
In the end, the price of being connected (and convenience) is a loss of privacy and anonymity. You could always do a John Conner and live off-the-grid, though.
This is true, but the choice isn't binary. There are instances where we can use our tools to retain our privacy, yet enjoy much of the convenience. Yes, this requires work, but if someone is up to the task, I don't see any reason to discourage him from climbing out of the tar-pit. guns