OK, the governments of some countries (I live in one of them myself, Sweden) suddenly thinks it's perfectly acceptable to listen to my cross country phone calls and read my cross country e-mail, and are now establishing laws to permits this. Personally, as the freedom loving and hardcore liberal individualist I am, *I* don't approve with this idea. My mail is intended for my destined readers, my phone calls are for the person at the other end of the line, and *not* for the Swedish "FRA" or the American "NSA" or whoever they trade information with in order to map individuals social networks and political preferences, and I feel that this is a stab in the back of the Personal Integrity, the Rule of Law and Freedom of Speech, which are key corner stones in the very concept of Democracy.

So, if I want to encrypt my...

1) E-mail
2) Instant messages
3) Computer based IP telephony and/or video conferencing
3) Stationary phone calls
4) Mobile phone calls

...what HW and SW solutions exists for it today (any platform (including MorphOS of course, but really *any*))?

What standards are reliable? What standards are proprietary, and who owns them?

Simply put - what options are there, and what are their respective pro's and con's?

Well, would encryption help here? If someone really wants to read or listen (to) your messages, all it takes is some impressive processing power (like the named NSA has) Any encryption is pretty much moot, at least when it comes to E-mail, Instant messages, Computer based IP telephony and/or video conferencing, Stationary phone or Mobile phone calls.

[ Edited by Stevo on 2008/7/19 22:36 ]

Why, what have you got to hide?


Nawh, only joking, it's disgraceful isn't it?

Quote:

It can? *All* kinds?

That's what I want to discuss...

Quote:



That entire post of yours sums it all up pretty good!

Stevo:
"..all it takes is some impressive processing power (like the named NSA has)"

I don't know what computing power NSA has but Swedish FRA
is currently running the 11th fastest super computer in the world!
(Was #5 when it was listed in November 2007..)

You could always have some kind of software program that scrambles your messages, but the person on the other end would need the same program to decode it. It's not much different than when the U.S. used native american (Indian) language over radio in WW2, so Japan wouldn't understand what was said.

@ takemehomegrandma

Quote:

So as to not confuse any Northern American visitors of MorphZone, you might want to use the term "libertarian" instead

Or just "terrorist spam" them silly
[list]Send twelve dozen encrypted messages every day at the same time to seemingly random recipients[/list]
Encrypted mail sticks out, with an obscure algorithm even more
Make sure these messages don't contain the standard flagged words like bomb or Jihad as these are let through. Be creative, inspired by a few lines from any substandard children's book you too can write 100% authentic evil schemes. Buahaha!

@takemehomegrandma

Learn Klingon, Narn or some other sci-fi language and teach your friends. May the force be with you.

You could also Protest . .

I don't think you can do anything to protect yourself. Maybe, not even tor is enough to hide your browsing. Kudos to the swedish gov, that is telling his citizens what it is going to do, while any other west gov does it illegally.

The "official" members of the Fiber-cable-eaves-droppers are:

USA
UK
Germany
Sweden (2009-2010)

Just like Alfie said, there are probably numerous of
democratic countries that does it in secrecy.

Keep in mind that this is only for listening in cables. The
air has always, and will always be free to listen to.

----------

EDIT: To protect my e-mails I use Thawte's Web of Trust (WOT).
With this certificate I digitally sign all my e-mails and anyone who
wants to encrypt communication can use my public key when they
reply. The e-mail can then only be decrypted with my private key.

WOT uses the S/MIME standard which is an Internet standard supported
in all major e-mail clients.

If anyone wants some WOT-points, I am a notary currently giving 25
points. I am available in the Gothenburg-area in Sweden.

[ Edited by ironfist on 2008/7/20 10:26 ]

[ Edited by ironfist on 2008/7/20 10:28 ]

A very good and open solution is called PGP. Its free and works very well. The only problem with this, and all other encryption methods out is both ends need to have it installed and have your public key. I recommend you check it out.

www.pgp.com

Acill:
How well is PGP supported in Outlook? I've never
tried it. From where I've read the S/MIME standard
is more commercially supported than PGP.

I could be wrong, though.

Anyway, the recepient's public key is necessary in both
standards. There are no easy ways to encrypt e-mails
to your mom or friends..