How can people be made more aware of the existence of dangerzone, beyond journalists?

[DeltaEpsilon19498]

Every so often, I see news about either malware in pdfs or more commonly, malware that was pretending to be a pdf but actually was not a pdf. This is a problem that affects a lot of people in general, not just journalists. For example, maybe a year ago, the SaveAFox YouTube channel was hacked due to pdf malware (or malware pretending to be a pdf- I do not know which) being opened in an email by one of the owners of that YouTube channel. Dangerzone might have protected these people, but I am sure they have never heard of dangerzone or linux or anything like that.

What can be done to raise awareness of dangerzone, so that everyone who uses a desktop computer regularly knows about it as an antimalware tool in their arsenal?

[apyrgio]

Just an FYI, I've written and erased an answer here many times. Mostly because whenever I try to answer this question, I'm drawn to answering some adjacent ones, that are of equal importance.

In any case, yes, that's something that we do have in mind, but we don't have a concrete action planned right now. Naturally, we want to make sure first that activists, whistleblowers, and journalists learn about this tool, and I'm really proud by the educational work that FPF's DigiSec team is doing in this field. At the same time, us devs are trying to lower the barrier to entry for this tool, by removing the Docker Desktop dependency in 0.10.0, and hopefully making it easier for Windows / macOS users to use us. As you have already alluded to in #1259, we can further improve this tool and make it even easier for people to use it.

I'll leave the floor open for ideas though, it would be interesting to know your perspectives here.

[DeltaEpsilon19498]

I do not know if installing Docker Desktop is a big accessibility barrier for Dangerzone or not. It seems simple enough for me. But the people I deal with would not necessarily get far enough to learn that they have to install Docker Desktop. Let me explain.

For one group of people, I tell them that the FBI says that the Chinese has hacked the U.S. telecommunications system. I tell them that the FBI recommends using encrypted communication (such as Signal). They tell me, "What would the Chinese want with me?" And so they stick with completely unencrypted text messages and phone calls, and they probably always will unless encryption is a default that is unknowingly forced upon them by Google or Apple. Such a person is unlikely to ever want to install Dangerzone. Even the authority of the FBI will not incentivize them to install Signal.

Then there is another group of people. This group of people avoids using a desktop or laptop computer at all. Either they are not technical, or they simply cannot afford both a smartphone and a laptop, or both. That is understandable, given the prices. This group of people cannot install Dangerzone, but to be fair they might not need it as much. Allegedly, Android and iOS are much more "secure" operating systems than desktop operating systems, even though stock android is proprietary malware in itself that spies on the user.

Then there is another group of people. Technology is genuinely very hard for them. They are at the point where they need someone like me, either to install software for them, or even to operate it for them. I can install Dangerzone for them, but they will not use it when they are on their own.

The above three groups of people are probably lost causes, unfortunately. They are also common, at least in my life.

There are groups of people who could benefit from knowing about technology like Dangerzone though. A youtuber could definitely use it to keep themselves safer. By the way, a youtube tutorial on Dangerzone was recently released by a small channel. https://youtu.be/yWgwm2IqMqU

Ideally, people could be indoctrinated into learning/using Dangerzone if they were taught to use it in schools, just like Microsoft Windows is/was. I do not know if Freedom of the Press Foundation has any plans to cultivate relationships with schools, in order to spread its values to schools and teach the software. Sometimes the ACLU might do a lecture at a school, but ACLU is a long-established organization. Well regardless, many schools use Chromebooks and iBads instead of Windows now, as far as I am aware.