Ciphr, Encrypted App That Served Organized Crime, Rebrands as Enterprise Software (vice.com) 11
The company behind Ciphr, an encrypted messaging platform that was especially popular among organized criminals and high tier drug traffickers, is beta testing a new app in an apparent rebrand from its long running reputation as a tech tool of the underground. From a report: The news shows the continuing ruptures across the underground encrypted phone industry after an escalating series of law enforcement hacks and investigations. The rebrand by OnyxCorp, the company that made Ciphr, is the latest episode in that fallout. Other companies in the space have died altogether, had their founders arrested and imprisoned, and had thousands of their criminal users arrested and charged. "There was talk of reinventing the app with a focus on enterprise customers," a former employee told Motherboard. Motherboard granted the source anonymity because they said they had signed an NDA. The new app is called Mode. "Privacy & Protection for Team Communication," the app's website reads. The website says Mode protects chats with end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages, and also includes video calling and file sharing.
Sounds good, but trust issues abound (Score:2)
On one hand, if you deal with people who can and will kill you if you blab about illegal activity, we know you can keep secrets.
On the other hand, if you deal with those types of people, can we trust you not to turn our data over to those same people?
I'd feel a lot more comfortable if the people behind this simply sold their intellectual property to an established non-crime-affiliated company that's already in this industry.
Criminals using app do not make company affiliated (Score:2)
On one hand, if you deal with people who can and will kill you if you blab about illegal activity, we know you can keep secrets.
The point of end-to-end encryption is that you cannot know anything, so there is no opportunity to blab. Hence you remain safe.
On the other hand, if you deal with those types of people, can we trust you not to turn our data over to those same people?
Again, with end-to-end encryption, criminals cannot read the data, just like law enforcement cannot read the data.
I'd feel a lot more comfortable if the people behind this simply sold their intellectual property to an established non-crime-affiliated company that's already in this industry.
What is a non-crime-affiliated company? If organized crime adopts your legal app that does not make you affiliated. Unless the "angel investors" behind Ciphr were the criminals, they are not affiliated.
Why (Score:2)
The only reason they got arrested and imprisoned is because they explicitly and knowingly did business with people they knew were using their product to commit crimes.
Was anone arrested (Score:2)
The only reason they got arrested and imprisoned is because they explicitly and knowingly did business with people they knew were using their product to commit crimes.
Did they get arrested? Or did they piss off the FBI? The latter only requires providing encryption services to all, see various Apple / FBI stories on this topic.
Beware of geeks bearing gifts (Score:2)
Cryptography in communications can help crime... (Score:2)
Same market, different name. (Score:2)
The difference between corporations and organized crime is that only one group will actually admit they hurt people.