Security And Privacy Threat Model

Protecting your Security and Privacy - why does it matter? If you're a "normal law-abiding citizen", what do you have to hide?

People who might spy on you, what you might want to hide, sources of risk, tactics:

Your spouse/Significant Other, your kids, etc.

• what to hide?
  • strange ideas you don't want to share
  • private notes about them
• source of risk: sharing your hardware
• tactics
  • turn on basic privacy settings (swipe patterns, password) to log into your machines
  • use something like MacOs X Work Space-s to semi-hide your personal stuff that you keep open, for when letting someone use your machine "just for a minute"

Your teacher

• what to hide
  • casual/flippant remarks can get you in trouble ("bullying", "columbine risk", etc.)
  • insults about teachers can get you in trouble
  • maybe you don't want to do anything rude/illegal in front of your WebCam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_District
• sources of risk
  • school WiFi network
  • school-issued equipment
  • FaceBook posts shared with more than a few people (someone will leak it)

Your boss and his lawyers

Person at another table in the Coffee Shop

Your service provider (TelCo, CellCo/CableCo, HotSpot, Google, Apple Computer, Microsoft)

Your Health Insurance or Life Insurance company

Business competitors (esp via foreign governments)

Foreign governments (if/when you travel there)

BigGov/NSA

• what to hide
  • your public political beliefs, membership in "hostile" groups like ahem the ACLU, EFF, Green Peace, etc.
  • your "friend of a friend" who turns out to be a Person Of Interest
• sources of risk
  • things you post on Social Media sites, even if "private" to your FaceBook "friends"
  • your EMail
    • even if you run your own EMail server, Google probably has copies.
  • your email/phone Address Book, stored in a WebMail account or synched to your Mobile OS Back Up
  • even if you trust your service provider not to read your stuff for their own sake, that doesn't mean they won't hand it over to BigGov, even without a warrant
  • Note CALEA risk in the future.