How to remain secure against NSA surveillance

[Commentary] Now that we have enough details about how the National Security Agency eavesdrops on the Internet, we can finally start to figure out how to protect ourselves. I have five pieces of advice:

1. Hide in the network. Implement hidden services. Use Tor to anonymize yourself.
2. Encrypt your communications using TLS and IPsec.
3. Assume that while your computer can be compromised, it would take work and risk on the part of the NSA – so it probably isn't.
4. Be suspicious of commercial encryption software, especially from large vendors. Most encryption products from large US companies probably have NSA-friendly back doors, and many foreign ones probably do as well.
5. Try to use public-domain encryption that has to be compatible with other implementations. And the Linux operating system is safer than Windows.

The NSA’s surveillance capabilities may be powerful, but they're limited by the same economic realities as the rest of us, and our best defense is to make surveillance of us as expensive as possible. Encryption is your friend. Use it well, and do your best to ensure that nothing can compromise it. That's how you can remain secure even in the face of the NSA.