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Encryption

Submission + - Phil Zimmermann's New App Protects SmartPhones from Prying Ears 1

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Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Neal Ungerleider writes that cryptography pioneer and Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) creator Phil Zimmermann has launched a new startup that provides industrial strength encryption for Android and iOS where users will have access to encrypted phone calls, emails, VoIP videoconferencing, SMS text messages, and MMS multimedia messages. Text and multimedia messages are wiped from a phone's registry after a pre-determined amount of time, and communications within the network are allegedly completely secure. An “Off-Shore” company with employees from many countries, Silent Circle's target market include troops serving abroad, foreign businesspeople in countries known for surveillance of electronic communications, government employees, human rights activists, and foreign activists. For encryption tools, which are frequently used by dissidents living under repressive regimes and others with legitimate reasons to avoid government surveillance, the consequences of failed encryption can be deadly. "Everyone has a solution [for security] inside your building and inside your network, but the big concern of the large multinational companies coming to us is when the employees are coming home from work, they're on their iPhone, Android, or iPad emailing and texting," says Zimmermann. "They're in a hotel in the Middle East. They're not using secure email. They're using Gmail to send PDFs." Another high-profile encryption tool, Cryptocat, was at the center of controversy earlier this year after charges that that Cryptocat had far too many structural flaws for safe use in a repressive environment."

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