Re: Introducing newbies to encryption (was: Re: anonymous credit)

[Toto <toto@sk.sympatico.ca>]

Eric Nystrom wrote:
>  What are some effective strategies for securely introducing
> "newbies" to the world of cryptography and anon remailers? 

  I have found that rather than promoting encryption and anony
remailers, that it is much more effective for me just to be aware
of when someone mentions a problem they are having that can be
solved by crypto/remailers.
  I always try to give them a short list of what is required to
use various options, and what is gained by them.
  The biggest thing to me is to try to point them toward a level
of technology that they are capable of using, or will be capable
of learning, given the level of their problem.

  The following remailers are ones I recommend for totally newbie
computer wrestlers who need a graphic interface and have access
to a browser.
http://www.myemail.net/anonymous.htm
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~geoffk/anon/anon.html

> My question is this -- is it better for the crypto community in the long
> run to have more people using encryption, but perhaps insecurely, or
> to have fewer users whose communications are more cryptographically secure?

  My opinion is that the more people who use encryption with an
understanding of what level of security they are getting, then
the more people who will eventually graduate to higher levels
of security when using crypto.
  If teenagers use crypto to keep their private diary safe from
little brother or sister's prying eyes, then they will begin to
learn more about it at an early age. If little brother or sister
is a computer whiz, and cracks their diary open, then they will
get a valuable life lesson that may save them from  more costly
lessons in the future.

  Also, if a wide range of people are using crypto, whether it
is strong and secure or not, then there will be a larger group
of people interested in the government or their employer not 
interfering with their use of it.
-- 
Toto
"The Xenix Chainsaw Massacre"
http://bureau42.base.org/public/xenix/xenbody.html