How safe do you feel?
How much do you really think about it?
Do you ever think about it?
Why or why not?
What’s odd is that as things move to being online, it’s amazing to think about the fact that people seem to expect they’re getting privacy but the reality is, they’re not. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Most of the time people are sending sensitive information via e-mails without encrypting them, or without secure connections to the net. Same goes for sending Instant Messages.
I like to think I’m pretty savy when it comes to tech stuff, despite my musical creativeness. So I know that I already do as much as I can when it comes to connecting to the net. I use SSL connections for my e-mail client. I already have a couple of friends whom have Keys from places like Thawte.com so that we can encrypt the messages we send. What surprises me is that banks, credit card companies, and other businesses will send out e-mails with account information but refuse to get encryption keys for their customers. This is negligence in the highest degree. Someone ought to start a company that gets these businesses to correct that problem. I’d sure feel a lot better with my bank sending me something when I have their encryption key and they have mine.
Then comes Instant Messaging. Several messaging clients allow for encryption between chatters, this is a good thing. Getting people to use it is another. I finally found an encryption process that works with iChat – I sure wish Apple would open this up beyond that silly .Mac stuff. Anyway, I got it installed and got one person I chat with a lot to install it as well. The real reason is not so much for what we chat about but rather when we transfer files of song mixes. I do not want AOL to gain access or rights to that stuff when it’s my creation. Unfortunately their TOS covers them so well that they can take what I transfer (a work in progress) and make use of it for themselves. That’s an icky feeling. Fortunately now I can encrypt it and it no longer matters. At this point, I’ve set it up so that my encryption will tell future chatters that I would prefer them to also start getting encryption to chat with me.
BTW – the main reason for the encryption is for the work in progress file transfers.
Today’s song is about that ever present weakness. For now know that without encryption, you’re at the mercy of someone holding Kryptonite.
(** Disclaimer: If 3 Doors label decides to shoot me with Kyrptonite, I’ll have to throw it into space via Lois Lane. The post will remain to show that I take my communications security into my own hands. **)