TOR

tor is easily compromised, it works on bouncing your message through 4 computers, but with very few people offering computers to the network, the police can run computers in the system. for example if NETCU pay for 10 computers all interlinked to the system at anyone time, then the chances are your message is going to run through at least 2 of them, so they can identify where the message was sent from and the page it ends up as.
paranoid? well why do people use Proxys? generally people use ultra secure proxys for naughty things.
so theirs a good chance most people using them are committing offenses.

PGP

PGP's strength came from it being open source, now its a closed source program owned and maintained by AOL, so no one knows how many back doors their are.
lets have a look at some of the "technology alliance partners" to pgp*
Intel and IBM are amongst the main names, oh wait Intel and IBM both are heavily involved with EDO and don't all the latest bombs have Intel chips? so is it in their best interests to keep the "activists" data secret?
major users of PGP include the police and NHS, i'm fairly sure their better customers than the activist community.
at the end of a day PGP is now the PGP corporation, and corporations can't be trusted.

Windows and Microsoft

microsoft are so right wing it makes me sick.
their are hundreds of thousands of windows loop holes, it is about as secure as shouting your secrets into a megaphone outside a police station after telling them to turn on their Dictaphones.
and yet reports of groups like SHAC still using windows, and people who still think stuff like MSN is secure, its not at all!
linux is getting so user friendly, and so easy to use, it seems foolish that people aren't embracing it.

other notes and points of improvement.

i think what we can all start doing is using encryption as much as possible. decryption takes time and resources, if 5 minutes of NETCU's time is wasted decrypting a message to my mum about whats on telly, then thats 5 minutes more for the people who need encryption, and don't fall into the bullshit about hindering the police's attempts at catching pedophiles. the police have specialist units for catching pedophiles just as they do for activists.
remember what is super secure now, may not be in 5 years time. so if your discussing something illegal, don't do it by email. because in 5 years time when you think you got away with it, your door could come down.
encryption becomes useful against police repression, because you can organise legal things, like demos and meetings, and the police don't have time to order in stupid amounts of police and arrest everyone before they get their, or don't have time to bug the venue.

a few good ideas and programs
OTR (off the record) is a program that encrypts your messengers (msn, yahoo etc) it runs on a few programs, and provides basic encryption. it is VERY VERY weak, but is better than nothing, (think of it as putting your message in an envelope instead of on a post card).

live CD's - these are good because you can run your pc without your hard drive, the ultimate way of making sure no one scans your hard drive is not to have one!
some the the anonymous live cd's available are pact with cool things that let you stay hidden.

boot and nuke - if you realize you've got stupid things on a computer, download and burn this onto CD and nuke your hard drive, but make sure you've got a Linux (i'm not going to say or windows) to install afterward, as your pc will be a vegetable.

macchanger - not only does your pc have an IP address your wireless card or modem has a unique mac address which can be used to identify you.

not using a computer - at the end of the day, if you have something to hide, don't put it on your pc. don't email it, don't save it, don't type it, don't say it down the phone. because this stuff is made by the same companys you stand outside of with picket signs.

Their are so many groups like agenda-security (www.agenda-security.co.uk) who get payed to find you and find your secrets, so often all they have to do is check your myspace and facebook. and low and behold, all your secrets. your name, address, date of birth, your favorite color, who you know, what you do, where you've been, who you fancy and to top it off, they get a big stack of photos to identify you with. all without braking the law and without a warrent.

nowerdays the police can listen to your conversation via hacking your mobile phone thats in your pocket, it would be stupid to think they can do that, but can't decrypt messages encrypted with publicly available software.

if any of the information here is incorrect then i apologize, i'm not an expert. please correct me.

thanks
sue denim


* http://www.pgp.com/partners/technology_alliance/index.html