By Michael Dagan
Many veteran journalists, but not only these, surely noticed that we are all of
a sudden bombarded again from all-over with mentions of Watergate. Books like
George Orwell’s 1984 are on display at bookstores and an air of danger to
freedom of speech and freedom of the press is spreading slowly like a dark
cloud over the Western Hemisphere, raising old fears.
When
an American serving president accuses a former president of surveillance; when
he prevents central US media outlets access – so far always granted, and taken
for granted – to press conferences he holds; and when he incessantly knocks and
accuses the media of being the country’s enemy number one, it isn’t surprising
that memories of President Nixon surface up more with every self-pitying tweet
about SNL, and that even Republican Senators such as John McCain express fear
for the future of democracy.
And
McCain is not alone. Many journalists whom I have spoken with recently,
expressed concern for whatever lays ahead for the freedom of the press. At a
time when it’s possible to express the following statement – “Donald Trump
controls the NSA” – and not be held a liar, anything’s possible. Add that to
the fact that recent news on CIA taught us that almost all encryption systems
can be compromised, if someone has the perseverance to crack them – and you are
en route to envisioning an utterly Dystopian world, where you cannot even get
too comfortable laying on your sofa, in front of your own smart TV.
The
good news is that it is nevertheless possible to make it difficult for anyone
to try and intercept your emails, the text messages you’re sending or your
phone calls. You can take measures to make the lives of those who want to
uncover your sources and the information being revealed to you, much harder. Of
course, the degree of effort you’re prepared to take to protect your privacy,
your sources’ anonymity and your data’s safety, should be commensurate to the
likelihood of a real threat, be that hacking or spying.
“The
old-fashioned promises – I’m not going to reveal my source’s identity or give
up my notes – are kind of empty if you’re not taking steps to protect your
information digitally”, says Barton Gellman of the Washington Post, whose
source, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, helped uncover the scope of the
NSA’s and British GCHQ’s operations, to his interviewer Tony Loci. Loci herself,
who covered American judicial system for AP, The Washington Post and USA Today,
and was herself held in contempt of court for refusing to identify sources,
would probably endorse that.
So,
what is it that needs to be done to ensure that a journalist’s sources and data
are secure and well? Grosso modo, the tips can be described as falling within
the following categories:
1.
Securing on-device applications and functions- This is known as reducing the “attack surface”, i.e. limiting the installed
apps to the bare minimum, installing only from trusted sources, selecting apps
that require minimal rights, keeping the system fully patched and updated, and
having as many security controls (based on recent best-practices white papers)
on the device.
2. Isolating
your devices and/or their environment–
For example, the physical insulation of a computer for the purpose of checking
files, or the use of prepaid mobile devices.
3. Acting cautiously both in the digital and
real world- This has a lot to do with
common sense and a little less to do with software: For example, never write
down the name of the source, certainly not on any app or on any document that’s
stored on your computer – and most certainly not on anything stored on the
cloud.
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Michael Dagan is currently
transitioning to content strategy and content marketing for startups, after
some 25 years in senior editing positions in Haaretz group, the leading Israeli
media. In his last role, he was deputy editor of Haaretz, overseeing and
coordinating all operations: print, digital and Hebrew & English editions,
as well as related activity such as conventions.
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