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Subject: [ISN] =?iso8859-7?q?When_Secrets_Aren=A2t_Safe_With_Journalists?=
From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews ! org>
Date: 2011-10-28 5:32:05
Message-ID: alpine.DEB.2.02.1110280031550.4065 () infosecnews ! org
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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/opinion/without-computer-security-sources-secrets-arent-safe-with-journalists.html
By CHRISTOPHER SOGHOIAN
The Opinion Pages
The New York Times
October 26, 2011
Washington -- BRAVE journalists have defied court orders and have even
been jailed rather than compromise their ethical duty to protect
sources. But as governments increasingly record their citizens' every
communication - even wiretapping journalists and searching their
computers - the safety of anonymous sources will depend not only on
journalists' ethics, but on their computer skills.
Sadly, operational computer security is still not taught in most
journalism schools, and poor data security practices remain widespread
in news organizations. Confidential information is sent over regular
phone lines and via text messages and e-mail, all of which are easy to
intercept. Few journalists use secure-communication tools, even ones
that are widely available and easy to use.
Government officials often attempt to get journalists to reveal their
sources by obtaining subpoenas and compelling testimony and the required
telecommunications records. But sometimes that's not even necessary,
because sources have already been exposed by their own lax
communications. And then there is illicit monitoring — I believe that
American journalists should assume that their communications are being
monitored by their government — and possibly other governments as well.
As an expert on privacy and government surveillance, I regularly speak
with journalists at major news organizations, here and abroad. Of the
hundreds of conversations I've had with journalists over the past few
years, I can count on one hand the number who mentioned using some kind
of intercept-resistant encrypted communication tools.
Even when journalists try to do the right thing, they still make
dangerous mistakes, like relying on Skype. Skype is slightly more secure
than phones but is by no means safe from snooping -- which can be done
with commercially available interception software.
[...]
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