I just finished a beginners’ encryption workshop with the Vancouver chapter of Hacks and Hackers and wanted to share this with you all.
Why should journalists encrypt emails?
It offers an added level of protection for confidential sources and protects your emails from surveillance.
Why should everyone encrypt their emails, even if they’re not that sensitive or top secret?
If you want to avoid electronic surveillance, especially with the passing of Bill C 51, consider encryption. Also, the more people who use encryption, the safer the internet becomes as it’s more difficult to zero in on sensitive correspondence because it’s encrypted. If everything is encrypted, surveillance agencies can't just find the juicy stuff by going after encrypted exchanges.
Here’s how you do it:
If you’re on a Mac, use this tutorial.
If you are using Windows, click here.
Passwords are pretty easy to hack, so use a pass phrase instead of a password. For example, combine a few random words, like the name of your pet, your partner, the street you live on and you favourite food, or think up some other categories. Write that pass phrase down and don’t share it, obviously.
Once you create your key, other people can use it to decrypt your emails. They can look your key up using your email. But to send a reporter an encrypted email, you have to create your own key first and make it public so she can find you using your email address. Here’s an example: Vice reporter Justin Ling’s public key is 6EC56D89.
My public key is F4A46B75. Now, start sending me some Snowden-style emails with top secret information and know you are safe using encryption: [email protected].
Directory of Canadian reporters using PGP
1. Justin Ling - VICE - 6EC56D89
2. Matthew Braga - VICE - 7CD8FF01
3. Rafael Katigbak - VICE - 34FDA8EB
4. Patrick McGuire - VICE - 6DA995F
5. Alasdair McKie - The Globe and Mail - D08A27C2
6. Doug Saunders - The Globe and Mail - 6248E447
7. Matt Frehner - The Globe and Mail - 02D85891
8. Mickeler, Steve - The Globe and Mail - C076DAEB
9. Tom Cardoso - The Globe and Mail - 49427340
10. Colin Freeze - The Globe and Mail - 8A557769
11. Kevin O'Gorman - The Globe and Mail - 38064D82
12. Peter Armstrong - CBC - E8ACE03E
13. "J. McDonald" - CBC - FA7229D6
14. Amber Hildebrandt - CBC - 5ED385D1
15. Dave Seglins - CBC - 4466227E
16. Valerie Boyer - CBC - 4D15752F
17. Sheena Goodyear - Sun Media - C3C3A215
18. Eric Gravelle - Sun Media - FA8DB155
19. Francis Lavalliere - Sun Media - 5817C970
20. Pascal Johnson - Sun Media - E584B2DE
21. Richard Ackad - Sun Media - F4AB5169
22. Christian Tremblay - Sun Media - E8BCA2FD
23. Jérôme Martel - Sun Media - 3958CA8C
24. Marco Chown Oved - Toronto Star - F1F82211
25. Alex Boutilier - Toronto Star - 87D30DB2
26. Devin Patel - Toronto Star - F42400C3
27. Michelle Shephard - Toronto Star - 6D16C174
28. Tanya Talaga - Toronto Star - A2403392
29. Bart LeDrew - Toronto Star - A8D1E993
30. Mathew Pinard - Radio Canada - 6F3864B6
31. Victor Yap - Quebecor - 2D0E785F
32. ishmael daro - Postmedia - F50E29A4
33. Glen McGregor - Ottawa Citizen - 7D76FD95
34. Lucas Timmons - Edmonton Journal - 7AFF4012
35. Ian Caldwell - CTV - 851C9A6E
36. Saleem Khan - Freelance - AAAAC800
37. Jesse Brown - CANADALAND - F6F8B30D
38. David P. Ball - Tyee- A12D5BF1
39. Phillip Smith - Freelance/Tyee - D63C5D49
40. Pierre Chauvin - Freelance - DCFF8B8F
41. Tim Groves - Freelance - AF971BCB
42. Martin lukacs - Freelance - A78DAC88
43. Chad Kohalyk - Freelance - D4325114
44. Bethany Horne - Freelance - Key
45. Caron, Benoit - La Presse - 393D1E5
46. Marceau, François - La Presse - 983396A
47. Tristan Péloquin - La Presse - CFD42B5F
48. Eric Lanouette - La Presse - 8C11D7DB
49. Luis Lopez - La Presse - 8B007C73
50. Christian Marineau - La Presse - 84AF945C
51. Marc Dufour - La Presse - 9BA2CB77
52. Barthélémy, Jonathan - La Presse - 8CD92FBC
53. François Rompré-Lanctôt - La Presse - 8EFABB09
54. Simon Plourde - La Presse - A0959781
55. Guillaume Germain - La Presse - F76FF19F
56. Zach Dubinsky - CBC - 331CD594
57. Anita Elash - CBC - 29FD7441
58. Caroline Barghout - CBC - B78372CD
59. Julian Sher - CBC - 3073BB69
60. lynne chichakian - CBC - A344F9FB
61. Vanmala Subramaniam - CBC - 22277070
62. Pete Evans - CBC - 020F5524
63. Lisa Mayor - CBC - F2418A18
64. John Lancaster - CBC - 4A85DB60
65. John Nicol - CBC - F5C32D37
66. Vera-Lynn Kubinec - CBC - 417CC74F
67. Holly Moore - CBC - F40FB18
68. Katie Nicholson - CBC - 8815D534
69. Joanne Levasseur- CBC - ABC43CC8
70. Pereira, Michael - Globe and Mail - 8D8B1279
71. Justin Andrews - PostMedia - 3DDD7586
72. John Meulendyk - PostMedia - 454C9B44
73. Adrian Humphreys - National Post - D7CCE7BB
74. Harley Rustad -The Walrus - 43A26F4E
75. Sean Craig - CANADALAND - D5AAA2FB
76. Nigel Todman - NAAIJ - C30C4BA1
77. David Weisz - Freelance - 6861A852
78. Meulendyk, John - PostMedia - 8AE38087
79. Bart LeDrew - Toronto Star - 785DCA6F
Directory updated as of May 10th 2015
