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You’re invited to a cryptoparty

Running as part of the SteelCon conference, this event is a chance to learn about how to make your online life more secure.

[alert style=”dark”]This is a guest post from Robin Wood, part of the team that runs SteelCon, the North’s premier hacker conference.[/alert]

On Saturday 16th July we are having a party but not just any old party, it’s a cryptoparty and you are all invited.

If you haven’t heard of cryptoparties before, they are a global movement to help everyday people become more aware of cyber security in everyday life.  The idea came out of Australia on the back of the Snowden revelations and was about hooking up security experts with everyday people to answer questions about what steps they can take to help make themselves more secure.  Maybe a better name would be “SecurityHintsAndTipsFromExpertsParty” but cryptoparty is more catchy and the one that stuck.

We will be covering things like what is the best instant messenger to use if you need to keep your communications private, how to surf the web securely when you expect what you are doing to be monitored and how to use email in a way that only you and the person you are talking to can read the messages. As well as talking about the things we think are important, we encourage you to ask questions about areas of personal security that you are interested in. This isn’t a lecture, more a discussion group where everyone can learn from each other.

The party is ran by Arron “Finux” Finnon who has been involved in running a number of cryptoparties over the past two years. He has helped many individuals learn about different types of software they can use on their phone and computers to help protect their digital lives, but, more importantly, he has acted as someone with technical experience in security who people can ask questions about their everyday cyber security.  There is barely a week goes by when there isn’t some mention in the press about a web site getting hacked or a mobile phone being intercepted. If you hear these and  want to learn more about how they happen and how you can protect yourself against these attacks then this is for you. This may also be of interest to journalists who want to learn more about personal cybersecurity.

The event is at Sheffield Hallam University on Saturday 16th July from 2pm to 4:30pm and is running alongside the SteelCon conference. This is a computer security conference that brings together over 400 security experts from around the country and beyond for a weekend of talks and training. So, if you find something that Arron can’t answer, there will be someone around who can.

If you want to come along, please register for a ticket here (click Get Tickets and scroll to the bottom). Tickets are free but they are limited, so if you get one and then find you can’t attend, please release it back so someone else can come in your place. As we’ve already said, no technical experience is necessary and you don’t need to bring anything along, so no laptop or phone required, just an open mind and an interest in learning.