Striving for data security, researchers and cryptographers have been diligently working to figure out how information can be guarded as well as possible. Slate reports on one company that has been keeping its project something of a secret since October 2012. Startup firm Silent Circle said they were creating a “surveillance proof” smartphone application that will allow users to make secure phone calls and send truly private text messages. The company is now elaborating on its offerings, saying that an app will be available to allow people to send files safely and securely from handheld devices at the touch of a button.
“The technology uses a sophisticated peer-to-peer encryption technique that allows users to send encrypted files of up to 60 megabytes through a ‘Silent Text’ app,” Slate reported. “The sender of the file can set it on a timer so that it will automatically ‘burn’ – deleting it from both devices after a set period of, say, seven minutes. Until now, sending encrypted documents has been frustratingly difficult for anyone who isn’t a sophisticated technology user, requiring knowledge of how to use and install various kinds of specialist software.”
According to the website, a number of security hurdles have been removed with this app and the data security of diplomats, journalists and companies can be in much better hands. However, government intelligence agencies that rely on visibility will likely not be pleased with this, as minimal information will be stored about users and there will not be much of a way to look into what customers want and how they work with the business.
Slate said Janke is bracing for some heat from federal governments and authorities, but he said the advantages of a secure solution like this likely outweigh the negatives. The solution for the U.S. government wanting to close down their operations in his mind is to close up shop and move to a jurisdiction that will allow them to work as they would like.
“We feel that every citizen has a right to communicate,” Janke says, “The right to send data without the fear of it being grabbed out of the air and used by criminals, stored by governments, and aggregated by companies that sell it.”
According to a post on Forbes, the pressure has been upped for Silent Circle to release its application source code as security researchers try to inform themselves on the implementation of this app. The Apple version of the app is set to come soon, but the website said many want to perform independent verification of how this app works. Businesses and governments alike seem curious by wary about how this app will work for them.
Not a first for government concern; India had problems with privacy too
This isn’t the first time government officials and mobile industry players have butted heads over data privacy issues. Research In Motion has had to face a consistent stream of federal requests to access encrypted emails hosted on its BlackBerry Enterprise Servers. Reuters had a recent report that even though the Indian government was requesting access to the company’s encryption keys, they were denied by BlackBerry.
“RIM is providing an appropriate lawful access solution that enables India’s telecom operators to be legally compliant with respect to their BlackBerry consumer traffic, to the same degree as other smartphone providers in India, but this does not extend to secure BlackBerry enterprise communications,” said RIM in a statement.
According to the Reuters report, India officials got access to the consumer services, including messaging {private citizens messaging}, after they expressed concerns that BlackBerry could be used to foster militants to carry out attacks, but the company did not allow them to monitor the enterprise email services.
Data Security News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro.
