For years, my parents called me
because the computer was slow,
he was planting and he had become unusable.
I do not know, they must have thought of my place
that it had become my passion to spend complete weekends
to dislodge completely corrupted Windows.
I got fed up and put them on Linux.
My dad moaned: World of Warcraft, my mom plays Sims.
All of a sudden, it was magic,
they could open all the attachments,
Word, PowerPoint they received by email,
no virus could settle on it.
But do you think that’s enough?
No, of course, you had to explain to them the basic rules
digital hygiene.
That by hacking a computer or an account on a server on the internet,
we can empty your bank account,
you can also take out a loan for you.
We can ransom the data you care about.
And we can also try to scam your dearest friends
pretending to be you.
As I was often asked for these issues,
the concept of CryptoParty that appeared in 2012
fell right.
In a CryptoParty, people who know computers
meet the general public
to explain how a computer works,
how is built internet,
What is privacy and how to protect it?
One of the rules is not to install
any program on his computer or smartphone.
Why ?
We do not really know the intentions of the person who provides it to us.
Maybe she wants to get as much information about you as possible
and resell them to someone else?
Yes, a program is like a candy: from a stranger, we do not accept.
Fortunately, there is a European regulation that will be implemented in May 2018
which will strongly moralize the data industry.
It will not do everything,
it will mainly concern European companies
and those who have representation in Europe,
but that will make it much easier for us
to explain to the general public what privacy is.
But let’s say you do not install any program, that is,
but take your tablet that you bought two years ago,
does its manufacturer still provide updates on it?
Or the baby monitor, you know the connected camera on the internet
which diffuses permanently
what happens in the baby’s room,
are you sure it was not designed for the economy
and that it is not piratable by anyone?
It turns out that last year,
criminal groups managed to take control
hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras connected on the internet.
And with all that power,
they attacked big companies
making some of them unusable
for several hours or even days.
That’s why it’s important to put pressure on manufacturers
and ask them to do the maintenance
in the medium and long term.
It’s not just about computer security
but also ecology.
That means we’re not going to throw a camera after a year
because he became unusable, because he was hacked.
Unfortunately, our privacy is sometimes really treated lightly.
Sorry, excuse me, there is a nice public,
we are in a very beautiful room, I allow myself:
I dream of a bank that really protects my money,
(Laughter)
a bank that thinks twice before offering me a service,
which does not impose the contactless payment.
No, that, I do not want to.
Why ?
Last year in England,
eight million euros were diverted by this means of payment.
This is a tripling from [2015].
In fact this figure, it is highly undervalued
because you do not think you’re going to complain for a small amount.
Fortunately, we have a means of pressure and it is financial.
If you do not buy a service because it’s objectively bad,
it does not sell, and therefore, the manufacturer will review his copy.
Let’s say you pay attention to what you buy,
what you install,
to perform the updates.
an update too
of your connected cars, to have a strong password,
not to give any information on the internet.
but what happens when an intelligence service
discover a security breach and do not communicate on it?
When this same service will see a manufacturer
and asks him to install a backdoor in his products
for state reason?
And with these security holes,
this intelligence service builds software
we call digital weapons,
in order to eventually attack “evil enemies”?
This intelligence service will store these tools somewhere,
and unfortunately, get them stolen, get hacked,
and these weapons end up in the hands of criminals.
It’s SF? Not really.
This is exactly what happened last May with the WannaCry worm.
The NSA was fully aware of a critical security breach
and did not warn the manufacturers
so that they can correct this problem as soon as possible.
And so, they let millions of computers infect themselves
like that, out of sheer negligence.
It may be time to put pressure on our politicians and tell them
that we could pay attention to that,
that the fight against terrorism should not excuse anything,
and we do not want our tools to be used for that either.
Where does this story come from?
It’s from this gentleman, Michael S. Rogers,
the director of the NSA in 2001.
It’s him with his absolutely charming smile
who made our computers and smartphones
have become sneaks,
fantasies that the Gestapo and the Stasi would have dreamed of.
And in fact, wearing this costume, I try to challenge people,
and I try to make them understand that the fight against terrorism
should not justify a fight against our privacy.
These people declared war on us all,
the citizens of the internet.
It’s time for us to say, “Stop,
do not transform the digital tools we use every day
in arms against our individual liberties. “
It’s time for our generation to get the CNIL
found the mission for which it was originally founded in 1978:
to protect all citizens against abusive state registration.
And besides, it’s time to ask our government
to demand accountability to other states
who practice global surveillance vis-à-vis us
and whatever that state is.
It is also time to welcome and listen
the real specialists on the subject like Edward Snowden,
it should not be difficult, he speaks French.
To say all that,
I must be pessimistic but in fact, not at all.
I am convinced
that we can live a transition to a digital society,
in complete confidence.
That we can go towards a future that is laughing, free, creative.
Not towards a dystopian dictatorship, where in fact one is afraid to think.
I am confident that we can continue to communicate confidentially
with our loved ones.
And if you want to know more, come to CryptoParties.
If you know all that, come to CryptoParties and create them.
(Applause)
”
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