We continue to follow the stories about the alleged compromise of Skype as a secure means of communication. See, for example,
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/02/surveillance-of-skyp.html
Note that if one were to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to log onto Skype in the USA, one might theoretically be able to assume a greater degree of privacy since it is presumably only the *overseas* Skype nodes that are compromised (through the sale of Skype technology to overseas governments). By logging onto Skype via USA nodes, we would bypass monitoring equipment totally. Your thoughts? Just click “Comment” below. (Thanks for your input on this Bill!)
Is this new?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_(FBI)
“Carnivore is a customizable packet sniffer that can monitor all of a target user’s Internet traffic. It is a form of policeware. Carnivore was implemented during the Clinton administration with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno. U.S. government officials have neither confirmed nor denied much about the physical or logical workings of Carnivore, but there are some facts that are generally agreed upon.”
PGP IPretty Good Privacy) users have been saying, for decades, that the Internet is NOT a secure method of communicating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy
Illegal in some countries, PGP, or similar, may hold the answer to secure internet communication.
I once heard of an M who upon departing the country in “East Asia” was handed a written transcript of his conversations that he had over Skype.
A possible tool for missions and their supporters and families: “pidgin.” It is a chat or “IM” tool that communicates with all of the popular IM’s – including Skype IM. I can communicate with my friends and family, soldiers and missionaries via
http://www.pidgin.im/
The Skype plugin is here: http://eion.robbmob.com/
Related, and based on the same open-source protocol (libpurple) is http://www.mebeam.com If you have a webcam, simply create a “room” and give the link to others. Instant voice-and-cam conference.