CryptoParty
{{Short description|Grassroots-sponsored public workshops to introduce basics of practical cryptography}}
CryptoParty (Crypto-Party) is a grassroots global endeavour{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/privacy-ubuntu-1210-full-disk-encryption |title=Privacy in Ubuntu 12.10: Full Disk Encryption | Electronic Frontier Foundation |publisher=Eff.org |date=2012-11-06 |accessdate=2013-02-20}} to introduce the basics of practical cryptography such as the Tor anonymity network, I2P, Freenet, key signing parties, disk encryption and virtual private networks to the general public.{{cite web|last=Pauli |first=Darren |url=http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/314275,cryptoparty-goes-viral.aspx |title=Cryptoparty goes viral|publisher=Scmagazine.com.au |date=2012-09-04 |accessdate=2012-09-26}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/the-woman-behind-cryptoparty/24782719.html |title=The Woman Behind CryptoParty |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |publisher=Rferl.org |date= 27 November 2012|accessdate=2013-02-20}} The project primarily consists of a series of free public workshops.
History
File:SantiagoChileCryptoParty.jpg featuring Alice in Wonderland imagery.|right]]
As a successor to the Cypherpunks of the 1990s,{{cite web|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121009/06132920660/cryptoparty-like-its-1993.shtml |title=CryptoParty Like It's 1993 |publisher=Techdirt |date=2012-10-11 |accessdate=2013-02-20}} CryptoParty was conceived in late August 2012 by the Australian journalist Asher Wolf in a Twitter post{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/asher_wolf/status/238224764739653632|title=Asher Wolf on Twitter|newspaper=Twitter|access-date=2016-11-01}} following the passing of the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 and the proposal of a two-year data retention law in that country,{{cite web|url=http://newmatilda.com/2012/09/05/no-australian-will-live-privacy|title=Your Data Is Safe With Nicola Roxon|publisher=Newmatilda.com|access-date=2012-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919184730/http://newmatilda.com/2012/09/05/no-australian-will-live-privacy|archive-date=2012-09-19|url-status=dead}} the Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r4575 |title=Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 – Parliament of Australia |publisher=Aph.gov.au |date= |accessdate=2012-09-26}} The DIY, self-organizing movement immediately went viral,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA-D_kFfIRY |title=Ain't no party like a cryptoparty: privacy goes viral |publisher=YouTube |date=2012-09-21 |accessdate=2012-09-26}} with a dozen autonomous CryptoParties being organized within hours in cities throughout Australia, the US, the UK, and Germany.
{{cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/crypto-partys-eins-ist-unsicher-unsere-daten-11909519.html |title=Crypto Partys: Eins ist unsicher: Unsere Daten - Debatten |newspaper=Faz.net |publisher=FAZ |date= |accessdate=2013-02-20|last1=Küchemann |first1=Fridtjof }} Many more parties were soon organized or held in Chile, The Netherlands, Hawaii, Asia, etc. Tor usage in Australia itself spiked,{{cite web |url=https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=direct-users&start=2012-02-01&end=2012-09-28&country=au&dpi=72#direct-users |title=Tor Metrics Portal: Users |publisher=Metrics.torproject.org |date= |access-date=2013-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222052658/https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=direct-users&start=2012-02-01&end=2012-09-28&country=au&dpi=72#direct-users |archive-date=2014-02-22 |url-status=dead }} and CryptoParty London with 130 attendees—some of whom were veterans of the Occupy London movement—had to be moved from London Hackspace to the Google campus in east London's Tech City.
As of mid-October 2012 some 30 CryptoParties have been held globally, some on a continuing basis, and CryptoParties were held on the same day in Reykjavik, Brussels, and Manila.{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1701745/Cryptoparties-teach-privacy-to-the-public |title=Cryptoparties Teach Data Privacy To The Public | Cryptoparty Sydney | SBS World News |publisher=Sbs.com.au |date= |accessdate=2013-02-20 |archive-date=2012-10-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018185625/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1701745/Cryptoparties-teach-privacy-to-the-public |url-status=dead }}
The first draft of the 442-page CryptoParty Handbook (the hard copy of which is available at cost) was pulled together in three days using the book sprint approach, and was released 2012-10-04 under a CC BY-SA license.{{cite web |date=2012-10-11 |title=CryptoParty Like It's 1993 |url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121009/06132920660/cryptoparty-like-its-1993.shtml |publisher=Techdirt |accessdate=2013-02-20}}
= Edward Snowden involvement =
In May 2014, Wired reported that Edward Snowden, while employed by Dell as an NSA contractor, organized a local CryptoParty at a small hackerspace in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 11, six months before becoming well known for leaking tens of thousands of secret U.S. government documents. During the CryptoParty, Snowden taught 20 Hawaii residents how to encrypt their hard drives and use the Internet anonymously. The event was filmed by Snowden's then-girlfriend, but the video has never been released online. In a follow-up post to the CryptoParty wiki,{{cite web |date=2012 |title=Snowden's Post in the CryptoParty Wiki |url=http://besva.de/mirror-cryptoparty.org/wiki/Oahu.html |accessdate=2015-03-01}} Snowden pronounced the event a "huge success."{{cite magazine |last=Poulsen |first=Kevin |date=2014-05-21 |title=Snowden's First Move Against the NSA Was a Party in Hawaii |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/05/snowden-cryptoparty/ |magazine=Wired |accessdate=2014-05-21}}
Media response
In 2013, CryptoParty received messages of support from the Electronic Frontier Foundation{{cite web |first=Seth |last=Schoen |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/2013-review-encrypting-web-takes-huge-leap-forward |title=2013 in Review: Encrypting the Web Takes A Huge Leap Forward |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation |date=2013-12-28 |accessdate=2014-05-29}} and (purportedly) AnonyOps, as well as the NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, WikiLeaks central editor Heather Marsh,{{cite web |last=Marsh|first=Heather|title=CryptoParty Melbourne |url=http://georgiebc.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/cryptoparty-melbourne/ |publisher=GeorgieBC's Blog|accessdate=September 22, 2012|date=2012-09-22}} and Wired reporter Quinn Norton.{{cite web |url=https://soundcloud.com/cryptoparty |title=cryptoparty's sounds on SoundCloud |publisher=Soundcloud.com |date=2012-09-23 |accessdate=2013-02-20}} Eric Hughes, the author of A Cypherpunk's Manifesto nearly two decades before, delivered the keynote address, Putting the Personal Back in Personal Computers, at the Amsterdam CryptoParty on 2012-09-27.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/DrWhax/status/251361545790033921 |title=Twitter / DrWhax: I might as well reveal the |publisher=Twitter.com |date=2012-09-27 |accessdate=2013-02-20}}
Marcin de Kaminski, founding member of Piratbyrån which in turn founded The Pirate Bay, regarded CryptoParty as the most important civic project in cryptography in 2012,{{cite web |url=http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/cryptoparty-bewegung-die-cypherpunks-sind-zurueck-a-859473.html |title=Cryptoparty-Bewegung: Die Cypherpunks sind zurück |work=Der Spiegel |date=2012-10-09 |accessdate=2013-02-20}} and Cory Doctorow has characterized a CryptoParty as being "like a Tupperware party for learning crypto."{{cite web |first=Cory |last=Doctorow |url=http://boingboing.net/2012/10/12/cryptoparty-like-a-tupperware.html |title=CryptoParty: like a Tupperware party for learning crypto |publisher=Boing Boing |date=2012-10-12 |accessdate=2013-02-20}} {{Lang|de|Der Spiegel}} in December 2014 mentioned "crypto parties" in the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks in an article about the NSA.[https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/inside-the-nsa-s-war-on-internet-security-a-1010361.html Iinside the NSA's war on Internet security, Der Spiegel, Dec 2014]
See also
{{Clear}}
References
{{Portal| Anarchism | Australia | Freedom of speech | Politics }}
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://cryptoparty.in CryptoParty Wiki]
- [https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=0AQvNeBGHrxYbZGhoY3gzdHJfNDMyNzNycnF4Z3M An Australian crypto primer preso]
- [https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1JIaqy-AngwSUC9uUvjfg7YNePzoM7leAimcm07iCCNE&start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000#slide=id.p14 Beginning of CryptoParty London's slideshow]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140810042044/http://cryptohub.nl/cryptoparty/eric_hughes_cryptoparty.ogg Eric Hughes's keynote address at the Amsterdam CryptoParty]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK6Cx7zxlDc Asher Wolf on privacy concerns and the origin and spread of CryptoParty]
- [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/dsausa/pages/2866/attachments/original/1499803591/DSAInformationSecurityRecommendations_June2017.pdf?1499803591]