Snowden leaks leads to more "secure" phone tech

[WillBrink]

No surprise companies would be looking to capitalize on the Snowden leaks and other sources exposing the fact people's info is gathered and stored. Personally, I take the claims made by such companies as to how truly secure the info is with a grain-o-salt, but no doubt better than nothing:



Snowden leaks spur new crop of secure phones, communications

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Public concerns about the U.S. government's secretive surveillance programs exposed by Edward Snowden have spawned a slew of encryption products and privacy services that aim to make electronic spying more difficult.

Two products brought out in the past five weeks illustrate the rapid development of the new marketplace: Blackphone, a handset which started shipping on June 30 for $629, and Signal, a free app that appeared on the iPhone app store last week.

They are among an array of offerings to emerge since Snowden, a former National Security Agency contractor, last year leaked documents that showed the U.S. government harvested enormous amounts of data from the likes of Google Inc, Yahoo Inc, Microsoft Corp, AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc.

Though they have different business philosophies, target markets and tactical approaches, the companies behind Blackphone and Signal share an underlying encryption technique, world-class cryptographers, and an anti-government stance.

"In an environment of increasingly pervasive surveillance, we want to make it as easy as possible for anyone to be able to organize and communicate securely," Signal maker Open Whisper Systems wrote on its blog.

Secure communications will be a major topic at two key hacking conferences in Las Vegas this week: Black Hat, which is aimed at professionals, and Def Con, which attracts many amateurs.

Blackphone uses software from one of its backers, Silent Circle, that allows users to send encrypted voice calls and texts to one another. Silent Circle's software is already available for iPhone and Android phones, but the company says Blackphone is more secure because it uses a new operating system - based on Android - that makes it harder for hackers to take control of the phone and eavesdrop.

Silent Circle recently expanded its service by allowing encrypted calls to landlines. That feature has helped its sales rate triple in the past three months, said Silent Circle Chief Revenue Officer Vic Hyder. He declined to give subscriber figures but said Chevron Corp and Walt Disney Co were among the company's major corporate customers.

Supported mainly by grants, Signal maker Open Whisper Systems was co-founded by security researcher Moxie Marlinspike and already has a compatible Android version called RedPhone. The company said Signal had 70,000 downloads on the first day.

Marlinspike said the company may charge in the future for extra services, but the basic functions of the app should remain free forever. "Open Whisper Systems is a project rather than a company, and the project's objective is not financial profit," he wrote on his personal blog.

An encrypted chat service popular with security professionals is Wickr. The free service relies on heavy encryption that is considered unbreakable for the foreseeable future if implemented correctly.

Wickr does not use the open-source software that is the industry standard, which means security experts cannot inspect its software code. But Wickr says it will soon post results of security audits by well-regarded firms, and it is offering a$200,000 reward for anyone who breaks its system.

Wickr Chief Executive Nico Sell, a longtime official at Def Con, said she plans to add a desktop version of Wickr soon.

Cont:

http://news.yahoo.com/snowden-leaks-...--finance.html

[ABNAK]

They'll just turn around and buckle to .gov pressure to allow the NSA to "pick the lock" on any new technology, all the time paying lip service to how "secure" their new gadget is.

[Belmont31R]

They'll just turn around and buckle to .gov pressure to allow the NSA to "pick the lock" on any new technology, all the time paying lip service to how "secure" their new gadget is.

They just NSL anyone who gets in the way. Threema is an app I've used and is located in Switzerland. No NSL's there.

[SeriousStudent]

I have a pair of Blackphones in the lab at work. Interesting concept, a challenge to execute on a corporate/organizational level.

Moxie is a sharp dude. I've used his software. It's doable if you use a specific set of phones, with specific conditions. But eventually you want to talk to unsecured people, on unsecured networks.

Bottom line is that if you are using electronic communications you are not secure.

[Honu]

as they say what can be done can be undone its a constant game

don't put the data out and it won't get hacked ? but these days its tough to do

[TriviaMonster]

I have a pair of Blackphones in the lab at work. Interesting concept, a challenge to execute on a corporate/organizational level.

Moxie is a sharp dude. I've used his software. It's doable if you use a specific set of phones, with specific conditions. But eventually you want to talk to unsecured people, on unsecured networks.

Bottom line is that if you are using electronic communications you are not secure.

Have you guys tried pigeons? That's about all we are left with.

We need to figure out these methods now since the future may hold different beliefs of free speech.

[Belmont31R]

The business world is already figuring it out as are other countries. Expect a lot less business with enterprise grade services in the US as well as more undersea cabling that avoids the U.S.

There's a good 2 part Frontline series on this. Plenty of interviews from many sides of the story and a lot of history. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...es-of-secrets/

After you watch both parts watch Terms of Service May Apply which is on Netflix and online.

Opens people's eyes to what is happening around them they never realized. Both of those are about 2 years behind the curve. There is a lot of in store tech being deployed such as cameras, wifi sniffers, facial recognition, ect. Just imagine if you walked into a store, looked at an item, and 15 minutes later after you walked out you started getting targeted ads for that same product you picked up in a store when you did an unrelated search for something on your phone. That tech is already here.