[liberationtech] Tailored Crypto Workshops in Brussels

[Jan Weisensee]

Hello,

Thanks everyone for the replies. I agree with Piotr that such things
should ideally not be done by random volunteers. Unfortunately, this is
not happening in many parts of the EU institutions.

Some critical departments do indeed use secure communication and data
encryption tools (for example the Council secretariat, the External
Action Service, EUMC/EUMS and some units in DG Trade and Competition).
But many others do not and those others are often part of the
decision-making process.

For example, in my experience the following kinds of communication are
usually done over the internet without any protection:

- DG Trade informing EU member states about the state of play in trade
defence proceedings;
- Foreign affairs committee members (or their staff) discussing foreign
policy developments among each other;
- Trade committee members (or their staff) discussing their positions on
free trade negotiations among each other;
- Journalists approaching EU decision-makers on whatever topic.

And then remember that it took Snowden several months to get in touch
with Greenwald because the latter was unable to receive encrypted
emails. So all in all yes, I think there is good reason to be shocked.
But I do not see the Parliament setting up a strict encryption policy
any time soon. Of course, volunteers cannot replace a professional IT
sec department, but we can at least help out those interested to protect
themselves.

I look forward to getting back to the PMs soon!
Thanks again,
Jan





Am 31.08.2014 um 00:32 schrieb J.M. Porup:
> On Sat, Aug 30, 2014, at 19:21, Cristina wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I'm a bit shocked by the content of this email.
>>>
>>> Securing data of persons as important as the European Commission
>>> Officials should be the full time work of a dedicated elite infosec
>>> crew. I would be very surprised if there were no such things in place.
>>> Piotr Chmielnicki
>>>
>> you can continue shocking because as far as I could know, that's not
>> only an EU problem: the same issue exists across Sudamerica and we fight
>> hard to awaken lawyers, top level officials and EVEN the Press (so
>> proud, nothing would ever happen to them!) about the importance of
>> security measures.
> Have to concur. A couple of months ago, I met with the head of one of 
> Latin America's leading digital rights organizations, and found myself 
> giving him an impromptu course in OpSec. I was shocked.
>
> Meanwhile in Colombia, journalists get murdered by all and sundry,
> and no one seems to give a damn...
>
> Jens
>
> --
> J.M. Porup
> www.JMPorup.com

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