re: Scary thoughts
I'll spare you the GeekSpeak, if you'll just take my word for it that given sufficient resources, i.e., those of our government, even the Internet isn't entirely safe.
You may be right--I'm certainly no expert in that area. However, it's damn sure nobody is going to "take over the internet" without a lot of people noticing it. Those geek sources I do pay attention to are constantly on the alert for threats to privacy and freedom, and post constant notices to that effect.
This site is an excellent one in this regard.
I personally think the risk of terrorists using encryption is minor compared to the risks created by the government's ability to see everything we're doing through some kind of "back door."