Well it is good that NSA have never heard about zero day exploits. Otherwise think of all the nasty stuff they could do to a machine.
Stop with the proofing stuff already. Security is hard and relative. Having a very hardened system can only take you so far. Also it makes you visible - a lot of encrypted traffic is red flag for these kind of agencies. By claiming something is "Villain of the month" proof you just may put someone that really needs security in hot water. In some parts of the world literally.
Not quite. The HN crowd loves encryption and security porn. We love the feeling of sticking it to the man (almost every technologist has anarchistic streak in them). No key is big enough for us and you could always throw 1000 more PBKDF2 rounds. But for the majority of us encrypting our communications is low stake poker game at worst. And for the majority of that majority no adversary is even present. For us the snowden leaks are a matter of principle.
I hope for the day that all traffic over the net will be encrypted and outside of the peeping toms reach. We are not there yet.
But for now - out there - there are people that really need their communications concealed. And it is serious matter for them. Being invisible right now is better defense than having impenetrable fortress.
Will you recommend the setup described in the article for someone who can get in real trouble if the government is able to read her communications or even the learn that she is just communicating (this alone could be damning) with someone?
Stop with the proofing stuff already. Security is hard and relative. Having a very hardened system can only take you so far. Also it makes you visible - a lot of encrypted traffic is red flag for these kind of agencies. By claiming something is "Villain of the month" proof you just may put someone that really needs security in hot water. In some parts of the world literally.