Putin’s brutal aggression in Ukraine has put cyberwar back in headlines. Recently, Carey Parker, host of the Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons podcast, reached out to us at Tech Learning Collective to talk through some of the issues the war in Ukraine has once again raised for laypeople who may be newly concerned about the reliance we’ve developed as a society on digital infrastructures. So, late last month, we sat down with him for another conversation about what anyone and, arguably, everyone could be doing not only to keep themselves safer online, but also prepared in the event of an escalation of hostilities in a cyber theater, rapid shifts in political climates, or even just natural disasters that affect telecommunication abilities.
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Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons: Luck Favors the Prepared
The Enragés: Next Time the Pendulum Swings, Part 2
Earlier this month, we republished part 1 of our interview with The Enragés, where we discussed our blog post, Imagining an Optimistic Cyber-Future. In this post, you’ll find the conclusion of our conversation along with a (somewhat rushed) transcript of the same. Here, we touch on ways in which capitalism has constrained people’s telecommunication abilities, we describe some of our inspiration from earlier political thinkers, and we even answer a couple of listener questions.
Testimonials
“heighten[ed] my own digital defense practice”
During the anti-globalization movement of the early 2000s, tech collectives such as Riseup and Autistici came into existence to provide autonomous, non-corporate communication tools and “How-Tos” for social movements to organize safely and securely with emerging new media. In South Africa, the Right2Know campaign was initiated in 2010 in response to the Protection of State Information Bill, which aimed at weakening the rights of journalists and whistleblowers to access information. As part of their work, R2K has published guides for activists to protect themselves digitally.
To heighten my own digital defense practice, I recently took a virtual workshop offered by the New York-based Tech Learning Collective. This collective provides technology education for radical organizers and revolutionary communities with special attention to underserved groups. These groups, which design tools and training for activists, are not a new occurrence.
“I really appreciate the femme-friendly communications”
When I attended Tech Learning Collective’s “Securing Email” PGP workshop, I was expecting more of a simple how-to, but the instructor was detailed and informative, and went deeper to show us what encryption really is, how keys work, and where to find more information. The workshop was thorough but unintimidating and the instructor did a good job of checking the group’s temperature and staying in tune with our respective paces of learning and skill set. Also I really appreciate the femme-friendly communications and price structure.
“inspired me to check out my packets while surfing the web on Tor”
Read what
had to say about
Tech Learning Collective
on
October 29, 2019:
Jackie and I attended a workshop about Tor by the Tech Learning Collective this weekend, and it inspired me to check out my packets while surfing the web on Tor.
“they describe things really well”
Read what
Sidepocket,
Co-Founder, DEFCON 201
had to say about
Tech Learning Collective
on
June 19, 2020:
Sidepocket,
Co-Founder, DEFCON 201
I can attest to, real quick, I’ve been to a couple of [Tech Learning Collective’s] events and they really not only describe things really well, but they truly start off at a very beginner level and then ramp it up.