Get it right when it comes to your online privacy at CryptoParty

Learn how to make your online life as private as your irl personal life. That’s the idea this Saturday at a CryptoParty hosted by NYC Resistor.

This weekend’s CryptoParty will be “a night of learning about your digital defense in the age of mass surveillance from Fort Meade and Madison Ave,” according to NYC Resistor. “Stop by anytime between 3PM and 9PM and enjoy snacks and skills from a variety of online security practitioners and researchers.”

CryptoParties have taken place around the city, especially at the Brooklyn Public Library and NYC Resistor. They’re a chance for the general public to learn the basics of online privacy.

Join us for our next CryptoParty on April 22: https://t.co/QoxSaFeqzn

cc @CryptoPartyNYC

— NYCResistor (@nycresistor) April 14, 2017

Our own April Joyner went to a CryptoParty at NYC Resistor last year and here’s what she learned:

• There’s a good chance you’ve been affected by a data breach. Check out HaveIBeenPwned.com, which allows you to check whether any of your online accounts have been compromised. Joyner had indeed been pwned. Given that more than two billion accounts have been breached, according to the site, it’s likely you’ve been, too.
• VPNs aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Virtual private networks, or VPNs, enable users to shield their IP addresses, which signal their network locations, by appearing to log on from another location. But they don’t offer anonymity, and a badly configured one could actually heighten your security risk.