On Mon, 2012-08-27 at 16:37 +0000, Paul's unattended mail wrote:
On 2012-08-27, Adam Tauno Williams <awilliam whitemice org> wrote:Yes, and why this whole notion of hidden and revolving and multiple addresses is just stupid;Certainly not. The rule of least privilege is state of the art. The philosophy is held in high regard by everyone sufficiently knowledgeable about network security.
Really... it is mocked in my knowledgeable circles! That is "security through obscurity". It is a dumb idea. Changing your address is not "least privilege" at all, it is just obscurity.
suddenly it is very difficult for me to contact someone I have a legitimate reason to communicate with.How so? If it's difficult for you, you have a broken or inadequite tool. A proper tool enables you to supply whatever email address is appropriate (which is not necessarily your internal address).
No, the person I want to communicate with has changed their e-mail address... that has nothing to do with the tool. My messages to them either disappears into the ether, or bounces. Communication then has failed.
I've had the address awilliam whitemice org for decades, never hidden it, it is published *everywhere* from PDF files to Usenet groups to mail list archives. The SPAM level is pretty minimal.This is because you've been forced to use an aggressive email firewall (whether you know it or not). If you need that kind of defense, you've already screwed up on the disclosure.
I don't fear disclosure. I want disclosure. HERE I AM! If you have something interesting to say - send it my way. If you are a real end-user the probability you will get blocked by the 'e-mail firewall' is extremely low.
Indeed, it's easy for simple users, but advanced users have better options. Although I have spamassasin score my email, it rarely finds anything malicious -- thanks to the rule of least privilege ensuring that spam doesn't come in the first place.
And that it is very hard for anyone to contact you; which introduces more of an impediment to communication than anything the EFF is whinging about. The EFF frequently borders on delusion regarding how users will use their computers; if they completely have their way everyone will be driven to proprietary services because the Open services will be impossibly tedious.
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