Monday, August 12, 2013

Online Security

Sometimes I wish Lifehacker did a little bit more research. Here's a graphic ostensibly showing how to secure your online communication.

I'm no expert, but let's go through some of these recommendations.

DuckDuckGo... no. As has been revealed recently, they are essentially an open book to intelligence agencies. If you want security, use Google!

FireFox... yes. Good suggestion.

Opera... no. See here.

Tor... too much work and probably not effective.

Chrome... what is with the unsubstantiated (and as far as I know) false rumor?

HTTPS everywhere... yes. Good suggestion.

Secure email... are there any services left? and were they ever really secure?

Avoid hotspots... really???

Encryption... may be a good idea, but probably not truly effective since the government can always jail you until you tell them the key.

And what's with the repeated mention of advertising. Who cares if ads are displayed? This is supposed to be about keeping your communication private, not about preventing advertising.