[kwlug-announce] Meeting Monday: E-mail Security

[Paul Nijjar]

SCENE 1:

(ALICE and BOB are in a broom closet, crammed inbetween the mops and 
buckets and cleaning supplies. ALICE is twisted around a mop. BOB is 
hunched over an overturned bucket. The only light seeps dimly under the 
broom closet's door.)

   ALICE: We can't keep meeting like this.

   (A bottle of toilet bowl cleaner falls on BOB's head.)

   BOB: Ow.

   ALICE: ... but what can we do? Our adversary EVE has the rest of our 
office bugged! How else can we communicate privately?

   BOB: Maybe we can send e-mails.

   ALICE: Don't be silly. Emails are sent through the Web in plaintext! EVE 
can sniff our network traffic and read all the messages we send each other!

   (A can of floor wax falls on BOB's head.)

   BOB: Ow! These secretive meetings are going to give me a concussion. I 
say that we go to this month's KWLUG meeting! LUG member Andrew Cant will 
explain the principles of e-mail encryption using GPG. With GPG we can 
sign, encrypt and send mails while making it difficult for EVE to listen 
in.

   ALICE: But you use Thunderbird and I use Mutt to send mails. Surely 
setting up GPG on those systems is different!

   BOB: That's okay! Andrew will show us how to set up GPG on both! He'll 
also give us a primer on public-key cryptography, so we can learn why it 
works.

   (A bottle of window cleaning fluid falls on BOB's head.)

   BOB: Ow. Yes! Let's go to the meeting for the sake of my head! The 
presentation will start at 7pm, but if we get there between 6pm and 7pm we 
can engage in some pre-meeting discussion and training for new Linux 
users. We can sign out KWLUG library books to make us smart, too.

   ALICE: You've convinced me! Where do we meet?

   BOB: At the Working Centre in Kitchener:
43 Queen Street South
(Between King and Charles Streets)

   BOB: You can visit the KWLUG website to get pictures and maps.

   ALICE: Sounds like a plan!


SCENE 2:

(EVE leans against the outside of the broom closet door, her ear flush 
against a glass cupped against the closet door.  She is 
dressed in a top hat and a Snidely Whiplash moustache.)


   EVE: Ha! So those two are going to learn about GPG, are they? I'll go to 
the KWLUG meeting as well and discover all their secrets!

   (EVE twirls her moustache in glee, cackling quietly to herself.)

   EVE: While I'm there maybe I will sign out some library books or 
contribute to the KWLUG FLOSS Fund. Last month the fund raised $155.00 to 
the Open Source Labs, and this week they will collect money for FreePBX, 
a standardized implementation of the Asterisk phone box system featured in 
KWLUG's January meeting! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha!

   ALICE: (Muffled, from inside the closet) Was that your evil laugh, 
Bob?



A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR:

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--
Paul Nijjar - http://www.fairvotecanada.org/WaterlooRegion
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org
(This is my new personal account. Please send personal correspondence here.)