It seems like these days I can't eat breakfast without reading about some new encryption app that will (supposedly) revolutionize our communications -- while making tyrannical regimes fall like cheap confetti.
This is exciting stuff, and I want to believe. After all, I've spent a lot of my professional life working on crypto, and it's nice to imagine that people are actually going to start using it. At the same time, I worry that too much hype can be a bad thing -- and could even get people killed.
Given what's at stake, it seems worthwhile to sit down and look carefully at some of these new tools. How solid are they? What makes them different/better than what came before? And most importantly: should you trust them with your life?
To take a crack at answering these questions, I'm going to look at four apps that seem to be getting a lot of press in this area. In no particular order, these are Cryptocat, Silent Circle, RedPhone and Wickr.
Chiffrer tout ce qui passe à travers votre smartphone. C'est le pari de Silent Circle, dont l'un des fondateurs, Philip Zimmermann, n'est autre que le célèbre pionnier en matière de protection de la vie privée - créateur du logiciel de chiffrement PGP. Nous l'avons interviewé.
We have created an “ALL-STAR Team” of the world’s top cryptographers and security engineers who are the creators of the world’s most widely-used encryption products (PGP, Apple Whole Disk Encryption, ZRTP). We also believe that a sound understanding of physical security measures and real-world knowledge of the newest threats all over the world are critical. That’s why we have two Navy SEALs and three British 22nd SAS Special Forces communications experts within the fold. They have crossed borders, communicated on every conceivable medium, navigated around hostile surveillance methods and used both commercial and government secure communication platforms to stay private and evade detection. We have a “fingertip feel” for the degradation of individual privacy around the world and have seen at first hand what happens when the rights to free speech, association and exchange of opinions are curtailed. That is not the future that we seek for our children.