Text for 12/9

Feel free to use this in an announcement.

Topic for Dec 9: Public-key cryptography and digital signatures with OpenPGP

This meeting will talke about public-key cryptography -- what it is, why
there is such a high demand for it, and how to use it.  Public-key
cryptography allows people to send encrypted messages without first having a
secure channel to exchange a password.  We'll also talk about digital
signatures, web-of-trust, and how you can use these tools to verify the
authenticity of a message, whether it's encrypted or not.  Finally, there
will be a discussion of ways that this (or any) cryptosystem can be
subverted and how to exercise a healthy sense of paranoia.

The second half will be a keysigning.  This, in a nutshell, helps us build a
web-of-trust so we can have certainty that we are communicating with the
person we think we are, rather than an eavesdropper.  If you want to
participate in the keysigning (and we encourage everyone to do so), please
read the instructions AND register online BEFORE December 8 at:

  http://master-www.complete.org/keysigning.html

That page also has links to additional information about what a keysigning
event is, and what you need to bring with you on the evening of December 9.

-- John