October 31st, 2011
onaissues

Brave journalists have defied court orders and have even been jailed rather than compromise their ethical duty to protect sources. But as governments increasingly record their citizens’ every communication — even wiretapping journalists and searching their computers — the safety of anonymous sources will depend not only on journalists’ ethics, but on their computer skills.

Sadly, operational computer security is still not taught in most journalism schools, and poor data security practices remain widespread in news organizations. Confidential information is sent over regular phone lines and via text messages and e-mail, all of which are easy to intercept. Few journalists use secure-communication tools, even ones that are widely available and easy to use.
Christopher Soghoian, doctoral candidate in security infomatics, argues that it’s critical that journalists learn to protect their data in his op-ed, Without Computer Security, Sources’ Secrets Aren’t Safe With Journalists - NYTimes.com

(Source: The New York Times)

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