Tech Learning Collective

Technology education for radical organizers and revolutionary communities.

  • May 4, 2020 3:30 PM (-0400) May 4, 2020 5:00 PM
  • Remote
  • Status: CONFIRMED

Tickets are no longer available for this event.

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Event description

This introductory cybersecurity workshop will show you why Signal, a free, secure, private message app is simple enough to schedule drinks with, yet secure enough to use for planning a protest. As dragnet surveillance practices are legalized at alarming speed, there has never been a more important time to flex your digital civil liberties muscle than right now.

Workshop Description

Whether you’re an individual chatting with friends or an organizer planning a political action, all effective coordination depends on safe and reliable communication. Lacking integrity for our communications dooms any effort from the outset, whether mundane or revolutionary. As dragnet surveillance practices are legalized at alarming speed and continue to be fueled by a dramatic expansion of the law enforcement and private defense contractor economies, there has never been a more important time to flex your digital civil liberties muscle than right now.

Signal is the name of a Free Software, secure, private message application built on a cryptographic protocol of the same name. Formerly known as the Axolotl Ratchet or, more commonly, the Double-Ratchet Algorithm, its features are robust enough for the revolutionary activist (i.e., end-to-end encryption, message authentication, plausible deniability or message repudiation, perfect forward secrecy, and more) and yet simple enough to use as a drop-in replacement for your existing text messaging application. Signal also sports Skype-like voice and video calling, location- and file-sharing features, and even iMessage-style large font emojis!

If you’ve never heard of Signal before, now’s the time to switch. If you think you already know how to use Signal, let us show you some pro-tips (trusted third-party Safety Number verification, disappearing messages, registering Signal accounts with pseudonymous phone numbers, inactivity lock-outs, and Signal relay server IP address protection). This introductory cybersecurity workshop will show you why Signal is simple enough to schedule drinks at the bar with, yet secure enough to use for planning a protest.

As this is a remote/online-only event, there is no physical class space, but attendance is still limited to 15 students, so purchase your ticket now to reserve your spot.

To participate in our webinars, you will need access to a modern Web browser such as an up-to-date copy of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. You will also need a reliable Internet connection. We recommend disabling Wi-Fi and plugging your computer in to a hard-wired Ethernet network cable for the duration of the webinar, if possible.

If you would like to share your video screen or appear on camera, you will need to have and activate your own camera, such as the one built-in to many modern laptops. Similarly, to speak with the rest of the webinar participants, you will need a microphone. If you do choose to activate your microphone, we ask that you please plug in headphones/ear buds or use a headset in order to help reduce audio feedback loops that can degrade the webinar experience for other participants.

Please refer to our workshops and webinars FAQ for additional tips and advice before you join the video conference.

As with all Tech Learning Collective events, racism, queerphobia, transphobia, sexism, “brogrammer,” “manarchist,” or any kind of similarly awful behavior will result in immediate removal from class without a refund. Please refer to our lightweight social rules for details on our strictly enforced no-tolerance policy against bigotry of any kind.

About Tech Learning Collective

Tech Learning Collective is an apprenticeship-based technology school that trains politically self-motivated individuals in the arts of hypermedia, Information Technology, and radical political practice. We offer unparalleled free, by-donation, and low-cost computer classes on topics ranging from fundamental computer literacy to the same offensive computer hacking techniques used by national intelligence agencies and military powers (cyber armies). For more information and to enroll, visit TechLearningCollective.com.

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