In-Security Bytes

Introduction

This announcement was written by me, Brandon Nolet. A few days ago I decided that I would publish an e-zine. An e-zine is an electronic magazine; simple enough I would think.

Inspiration for the Project

The inspiration for this project came from something that I had already looked through a while ago when they were published/declassified.

Back in the 1950s and 60s the NSA used, and still uses, security posters to make sure that workers didn’t spill the beans about what goes on at the three letter agency. These ones are particularly interesting because they take place towards the beginning of the cold war.

The posters themselves, due to the timing, often had the feeling of being political propaganda. They all speak something of security, privacy, and generally keeping tight-lipped about any secrets you may be privy to. It’s clear that they all came from a USA agency. Many themes were explored through the various published posters such as Christmas, religion, and other similar themes. One of the most common themes was that it was up to the poster’s viewer to keep America safe.

The posters were published after the Government Attic, who “provides electronic copies of thousands of interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act”, filed a Freedom of Information Act(FOIA). A FOIA is a request to fully or partially disclose previously unrelated information and documents that fall under the secrecy juridiction of the United States government. You can find these posters here on the Government Attic’s website.

Why?

After checking out the posters again I started to want to see more of them! Without filing another FOIA, I figured I could ask to see more from other people who do art like this. But then I realized I couldn’t really offer anything in return.

So I figured what if I started a project where people could contribute their work of art, see other people’s art, have their art featured alongside informative content and get a change to promote their own projects/cause.

I know it’s still not much, but it’s the best I can offer, really.

The E-Zine

So you might be wondering what’s going to be in this e-zine. The short answer is art and written pieces. The long answer is that the e-zine will feature digital art and written pieces that will revolve around cybersecurity or information security. Some may argue that the two are one and the same, but I beg to differ. More on that in another post, I suppose.

The digital art will be interspersed with written pieces, with the digital art as closely matched to the written piece that falls prior, or vice-versa, depending on the results of voting procedures to be discussed at a later date.

As mentioned earlier, the digital art in this issue will focus on a propaganda-style poster that is meant to be inspired from the NSA posters of the 50s and 60s.

The written pieces will focus on data privacy in modern days, good security hygiene, and the data leaks that are so prevalent.

Goals

There are several goals that I have with publishing this e-zine.

The first of which is to be able to facilitate new productions of art. I’m a big fan of criticism via the medium of art and this is one of the ways someone who isn’t talented in the space, gets to observe more of it.

The second goal is to bring several artists and writers/journalists together and gather around and contribute to a single project.

Next, I’d like to also foster discussion regarding cybersecurity, privacy on the internet, and good security hygiene practices.

This issue is focusing on the data leaks that seem to have become commonplace in the last decade and are ever-increasing in quantity and size.

The last, and probably most humanitarian, goal is to accept donations that will go toward a related cause or organization dedicated to fighting a related cause. The recipient of the donation will be decided based on a democratic vote, with submissions coming from potential readers of the e-zine.

Conclusion

There’s a lot more information and documentation that I have to publish within the next month or so and slowly but surely things will begin to build up. The projected publication date is October 31st, but if hiccups occur between now and then, the publication date may be moved.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected].