general computer security questions

[jason87x]

Well, the professor of my Computer Ethics class has scared me enough to be very concerned about security. Mostly from the government spying on everyone. (everything from Echelon, FRA in Sweden, INDECT that the EU is proposing)

So I have a few questions:

1. First of all, is SELinux and related projects relevant to a normal desktop (non server) user? Does it really do much if you're not setting up servers?

2. Are there any encryption algorithms (for network transmission) that are fast and still effective?

3. What about steganography? Is it used much? How would something like that be implemented? This could get used given that governments crack down on cryptography.

[Rubberman]

Well, the professor of my Computer Ethics class has scared me enough to be very concerned about security. Mostly from the government spying on everyone. (everything from Echelon, FRA in Sweden, INDECT that the EU is proposing)

So I have a few questions:

1. First of all, is SELinux and related projects relevant to a normal desktop (non server) user? Does it really do much if you're not setting up servers?

2. Are there any encryption algorithms (for network transmission) that are fast and still effective?

3. What about steganography? Is it used much? How would something like that be implemented? This could get used given that governments crack down on cryptography.

Good questions.

1. SELinux - good if you are either running a server, or your system is not behind a pretty decent hardware firewall, or you want to poke a hole in the firewall in order to run some service that requires external access to some ports on your system.

2. There is PGP which is very robust and performs well on Linux. For network transmission of data, you can use secure sockets and the system will take care of the encryption of what goes on the wire across the internet.

3. Steganography - another means of hiding stuff in plain sight. It can be very effective when you don't want an eavesdropper to know you are sending secret messages, and it can be a two part process: first encrypt the message using a good encryption algorithm and strong key, second embed the encrypted message in a binary file such as image, video, or audio file. I don't know offhand what tools are available for that. Some Google searches should provide you with some leads, however.