Snowdon is a dummy

How paranoid does one have to be to encrypt files? What could possibly be worth encrypting?

Best question of the year!

How paranoid does one have to be to encrypt files?

How paranoid does one have to be to encrypt files? What could possibly be worth encrypting?

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/not-just-for-paranoids-4-reasons-to-encrypt-your-digital-life/

Not Just For Paranoids: 4 Reasons To Encrypt Your Digital Life
March 29, 2013
By Chris Hoffman
why you should encrypt your dataEncryption isn’t only for paranoid conspiracy theorists, nor is it just for tech geeks. Encryption is something every computer user can benefit from. Tech websites write about how you can encrypt your digital life, but we’ve all done a poor job of explaining why you should actually care.

We’ve covered a variety of ways to encrypt everything on your computer, encrypt files you store in the cloud, have encrypted online conversations, and do lots of other things with encryption. Now we’ll get back to basics and explain the many threats encryption can help protect you from.

Protect Your Data From Thieves

Encrypting your storage protects the data on it from thieves. If someone steals your laptop, smartphone, or tablet, encryption can prevent them from accessing the sensitive data on your hard drive. The media is full of reports from business employees who lose laptops containing sensitive customer information, including credit card numbers – if only they had used encryption, they wouldn’t have embarrassed their employers and given their customers’ information over to identity thieves.
This is a dramatic example, but it’s true even for the average person. If you store financial data, business plans, or other sensitive documents, such as scans of tax returns with your social security number and other sensitive data on them, you should ensure your computer’s hard drive – or at least the sensitive files – are stored in an encrypted form. Encryption can also help protect any other type of private data that you don’t want someone else seeing.
why you should encrypt your data
Store Files Securely in the Cloud
Cloud storage gives us a great way to keep our files in sync across all our devices, storing a backup copy on the cloud storage corporation’s servers so we won’t lose it. It’s also a great way to share files with other people.
However, storing sensitive data – like financial documents and other personal information – in a cloud storage account could be a mistake. Dropbox once allowed anyone to log into any account without a password for four hours, and this would have allowed anyone to access your Dropbox account and view your files. Your files could also be accessed if someone gained access to your account through other means, such as using a leaked password that you re-used on several website
Encrypting sensitive files prevents them from ever being accessed without the encryption key, even in a worst case scenario when your cloud storage provider’s security fails or someone else gains access to your account. Encrypthion also allows you to securely share sensitive data with other people – just agree on an encryption key ahead of time (you could even do this in person) and then use that key to share sensitive files over email or a cloud-storage service without others being able to access it.
There are even cloud storage services that automatically encrypt your data before uploading it, decrypting it locally when you access it. Not even the cloud storage provider’s employees

For a social butterfly, none.

But that isn't the point, though the usual idiots have seized on it. The point is, the US government does not have the right to do what they are doing. It's unconstitutional and illegal.

If you do not like my answer we can go with this article.

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http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/not-just-for-paranoids-4-reasons-to-encrypt-your-digital-life/

Not Just For Paranoids: 4 Reasons To Encrypt Your Digital Life
March 29, 2013
By Chris Hoffman
why you should encrypt your dataEncryption isn’t only for paranoid conspiracy theorists, nor is it just for tech geeks. Encryption is something every computer user can benefit from. Tech websites write about how you can encrypt your digital life, but we’ve all done a poor job of explaining why you should actually care.

We’ve covered a variety of ways to encrypt everything on your computer, encrypt files you store in the cloud, have encrypted online conversations, and do lots of other things with encryption. Now we’ll get back to basics and explain the many threats encryption can help protect you from.

Protect Your Data From Thieves

Encrypting your storage protects the data on it from thieves. If someone steals your laptop, smartphone, or tablet, encryption can prevent them from accessing the sensitive data on your hard drive. The media is full of reports from business employees who lose laptops containing sensitive customer information, including credit card numbers – if only they had used encryption, they wouldn’t have embarrassed their employers and given their customers’ information over to identity thieves.
This is a dramatic example, but it’s true even for the average person. If you store financial data, business plans, or other sensitive documents, such as scans of tax returns with your social security number and other sensitive data on them, you should ensure your computer’s hard drive – or at least the sensitive files – are stored in an encrypted form. Encryption can also help protect any other type of private data that you don’t want someone else seeing.
why you should encrypt your data
Store Files Securely in the Cloud
Cloud storage gives us a great way to keep our files in sync across all our devices, storing a backup copy on the cloud storage corporation’s servers so we won’t lose it. It’s also a great way to share files with other people.
However, storing sensitive data – like financial documents and other personal information – in a cloud storage account could be a mistake. Dropbox once allowed anyone to log into any account without a password for four hours, and this would have allowed anyone to access your Dropbox account and view your files. Your files could also be accessed if someone gained access to your account through other means, such as using a leaked password that you re-used on several website
Encrypting sensitive files prevents them from ever being accessed without the encryption key, even in a worst case scenario when your cloud storage provider’s security fails or someone else gains access to your account. Encrypthion also allows you to securely share sensitive data with other people – just agree on an encryption key ahead of time (you could even do this in person) and then use that key to share sensitive files over email or a cloud-storage service without others being able to access it.
There are even cloud storage services that automatically encrypt your data before uploading it, decrypting it locally when you access it. Not even the cloud storage provider’s employees

A new study suggests that the direct losses to US tech companies from people and companies fleeing to other services (often overseas) is likely to be between $22 billion and $35 billion over just the next three years. Germany is already looking at pushing for rules in the EU that would effectively ban Europeans from using services from US companies that participate in NSA surveillance programs (which is a bit hypocritical since it appears many EU governments are involved in similar, or even worse, surveillance efforts). More

All the respect in the world, Bill, but it sounds as though the guy who wrote this article is paranoid also.

The fact is that big terrorist attacks are flashy and attention grabbing. They pack an emotional punch. I still remember quite clearly watching the towers fall in NYC over a decade ago. But we have to face facts: those things are extremely low probability events. A recent look at the probability of getting killed in a terrorist attack compared to almost any other cause of death shows that you're much more likely to be killed by a toddler than a terrorist.

A recent look at the probability of getting killed in a terrorist attack compared to almost any other cause of death shows that you're much more likely to be killed by a toddler than a terrorist.

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All the respect in the world, Bill, but it sounds as though the guy who wrote this article is paranoid also.

So you do not lock your door and you would have no problem posting your SS number and date of birth online and have taken no steps to guards you account accesses information and so on?[/quote[

Hello! Earth calling Bill. Hello Bill.

My date of birth is on line...in my bio here in A2K. It is today, August 9th.

No, I would not publish my SS number.



[quote]That anyone who lock their front door and have a safe deposit box for important papers and or a home safe are paranoid?

Strange thinking indeed as encrypting hard drives is just protecting the same kind of information in digits format that a safe deposit protected is non-digit format.

If I did not encrypted my hard drives I would not be a good guardian of not only my resources but family members resources that had placed some of their finances my hand to manage.

Encrypting everything seems to me to be extreme...and paranoidal.

The FISA Amendments Act, passed in 2008 and reauthorized in 2012, gives the National Security Agency almost unchecked power to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and emails. On October 29, 2012, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the ACLU’s challenge to the law. In February 2013, the Supreme Court dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit.

All the respect in the world, Bill, but it sounds as though the guy who wrote this article is paranoid also.

But that is just it, congress gave NSA the authority to do what they are doing with the passing of the Patriot Act and the 2008 FISA act which btw was just reauthorized in April of this year and extends until 2017.

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Encrypting everything seems to me to be extreme...and paranoidal.

Why is running a free program once for each drive to encrypted the drives and then typing in a password at boot up afterward extreme?

Seems like little in fact a very tiny effort to have top level security and removed the need to worry if one of your computer would fall into unfriendly hands.