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Silent Circle Instant Message Protocol
Silent Circle is an encrypted communications firm based in Washington DC. Silent Circle provides multi-platform secure communication services for mobile devices and desktops. Launched October 16, 2012, the company operates under a subscription business model. The encryption part of the software used is free software/open source and peer-reviewed. For the remaining parts of Silent Phone and Silent Text, the source code is available on GitHub, but under proprietary software licenses. History In November 2011, Mike Janke called Phil Zimmermann with an idea for a new kind of private, secure version of Skype. Zimmermann agreed to the project and called Jon Callas, co-founder of PGP Corporation and Vincent Moscaritolo. Janke brought in security expert Vic Hyder, and the founding team was established. The company was founded in the Caribbean island of Nevis, but moved its headquarters to Le Grand-Saconnex near Geneva, Switzerland in 2014 in search of a country with "stronger privacy law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privately Held Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equity, company's stock is offered, owned, traded or exchanged privately, also known as "over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter". Related terms are unlisted organisation, unquoted company and private equity. Private companies are often less well-known than their public company, publicly traded counterparts but still have major importance in the world's economy. For example, in 2008, the 441 list of largest private non-governmental companies by revenue, largest private companies in the United States accounted for $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In general, all companies that are not owned by the government are classified as private enterprises. This definition encompasses both publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hacker
A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exploit (computer security), exploits to break into computer systems and access data which would otherwise be inaccessible to them. In a positive connotation, though, hacking can also be utilized by legitimate figures in legal situations. For example, law enforcement agencies sometimes use hacking techniques to collect evidence on criminals and other malicious actors. This could include using anonymity tools (such as a Virtual private network, VPN or the dark web) to mask their identities online and pose as criminals. Hacking can also have a broader sense of any roundabout solution to a problem, or programming and hardware development in general, and hacker culture has spread the term's broader usage to the general public even outside the pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackphone
The Blackphone was a smartphone built to ensure privacy, developed by SGP Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Silent Circle. Originally, SGP Technologies was a joint venture between the makers of GeeksPhone and Silent Circle. Marketing is focused upon business users, stressing that employees often conduct business using private devices and services that are not secure and that the Blackphone service readily provides users with options that ensure confidentiality when needed. Blackphone provides Internet access through VPN. The device runs a modified version of Android called SilentOS that comes with a bundle of security-minded tools. Versions of the Blackphone were sold from 2014 to 2016. While precise sales figures were not released, it is widely speculated to have been a financial disappointment due to the resulting near-bankruptcy of Silent Circle combined with Silent Circle canceling the phone. Background The concept of an encrypted telephone has been an interest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forward Secrecy
In cryptography, forward secrecy (FS), also known as perfect forward secrecy (PFS), is a feature of specific key-agreement protocols that gives assurances that session keys will not be compromised even if long-term secrets used in the session key exchange are compromised, limiting damage. For TLS, the long-term secret is typically the private key of the server. Forward secrecy protects past sessions against future compromises of keys or passwords. By generating a unique session key for every session a user initiates, the compromise of a single session key will not affect any data other than that exchanged in the specific session protected by that particular key. This by itself is not sufficient for forward secrecy which additionally requires that a long-term secret compromise does not affect the security of past session keys. Forward secrecy protects data on the transport layer of a network that uses common transport layer security protocols, including OpenSSL, when its long-te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
End-to-end Encryption
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a method of implementing a secure communication system where only communicating users can participate. No one else, including the system provider, telecom providers, Internet providers or malicious actors, can access the cryptographic keys needed to read or send messages. End-to-end encryption prevents data from being read or secretly modified, except by the true sender and intended recipients. Frequently, the messages are relayed from the sender to the recipients by a service provider. However, messages are encrypted by the sender and no third party, including the service provider, has the means to decrypt them. The recipients retrieve the encrypted messages and decrypt them independently. Since third parties cannot decrypt the data being communicated or stored, services that provide end-to-end encryption are better at protecting user data when they are affected by data breaches. Such services are also unable to share user data with governm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RedPhone
Open Whisper Systems (abbreviated OWS) was a software development group that was founded by Moxie Marlinspike in 2013. The group picked up the open source development of TextSecure and RedPhone, and was later responsible for starting the development of the Signal Protocol and the Signal messaging app. In 2018, Signal Messenger was incorporated as an LLC by Moxie Marlinspike and Brian Acton and then rolled under the independent 501(c)(3) non-profit Signal Technology Foundation. Today, the Signal app is developed by Signal Messenger LLC, which is funded by the Signal Technology Foundation. History 2010–2013: Background Security researcher Moxie Marlinspike and roboticist Stuart Anderson co-founded a startup company called Whisper Systems in 2010. The company produced proprietary enterprise mobile security software. Among these were an encrypted texting program called TextSecure and an encrypted voice calling app called RedPhone. They also developed a firewall and tools for e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signal (messaging App)
Signal is an American open-source, encrypted messaging service for instant messaging, voice calls, and video calls. The instant messaging function includes sending text, voice notes, images, videos, and other files. Communication may be one-to-one between users or may involve group messaging. The application uses a centralized computing architecture and is cross-platform software. It is developed by the non-profit Signal Foundation and its subsidiary Signal Messenger LLC. Signal's software is free and open-source. Its mobile clients, desktop client, and server are all published under the AGPL-3.0-only license. The official Android app generally uses the proprietary Google Play Services, although it is designed to be able to work without them. Signal is also distributed for iOS and desktop programs for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Registration for desktop use requires an iOS or Android device. Signal uses mobile telephone numbers to register and manage user accounts, thoug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TextSecure
TextSecure was an encrypted messaging application for Android that was developed from 2010 to 2015. It was a predecessor to Signal and the first application to use the Signal Protocol, which has since been implemented into WhatsApp and other applications. TextSecure used end-to-end encryption to secure the transmission of text messages, group messages, attachments and media messages to other TextSecure users. TextSecure was first developed by Whisper Systems, who were later acqui-hired by Twitter. The application's source code was then released under a free and open-source software license. In 2013, TextSecure's development was picked up by an independent group called Open Whisper Systems, who merged it with an encrypted voice calling application called RedPhone and renamed the product as Signal. History Whisper Systems and Twitter (2010–2011) TextSecure started as an application for sending and receiving encrypted SMS messages. Its beta version was first launched on M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cryptocat
Cryptocat is a discontinued open-source software, open-source Application software, desktop application intended to allow encrypted online chatting available for Microsoft Windows, Windows, OS X, and Linux. It uses end-to-end encryption to secure all communications to other Cryptocat users. Users are given the option of independently verifying their buddies' device lists and are notified when a buddy's device list is modified and all updates are verified through the built-in update downloader. Cryptocat was created by Nadim Kobeissi and further developed along with a community of open source contributors and is published under the terms of the GPLv3 license, although it has since been discontinued. History Cryptocat was first launched on 19 May 2011 as a web application. In June 2012, Kobeissi said he was detained at the U.S. border by the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS and questioned about Cryptocat's censorship resistance. He tweeted about the incident aft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbot
Orbot is a free proxy app that provides anonymity on the Internet for users of the Android and iOS operating systems. It allows traffic from apps such as web browsers, email clients, map programs, and others to be routed via the Tor network. This tool is used to keep the communications of users anonymous and hidden from governments and third parties that might be monitoring their internet traffic. Reception In 2014 Orbot was discussed in detail in an article on "reporting securely from an Android device". In January 2016, Lisa Vaas of NakedSecurity by Sophos described how to use Tor, including with Orbot on Android, to connect to Facebook. In July 2021, Tech Radar named Orbot one of 8 "Best privacy apps for Android in 2021" but warned of slower speeds. In July 2021 Android Authority discussed Tor Browser and Orbot in brief reviews of "15 best Android browsers". In November 2021, John Leyden of The Daily Swig described collaboration between the Tor Project and the Gua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ChatSecure
ChatSecure is a messaging application for iOS which allows OTR and OMEMO encryption for the XMPP protocol. ChatSecure is free and open source software available under the GPL-3.0-or-later license. ChatSecure has been used by international individuals and governments, businesses, and those spreading jihadi propaganda. As of July 2023 the app haven't received any updates in almost two years. History ChatSecure was originally released in 2011, and was the first iOS application to support OTR messaging. In 2012, ChatSecure formed a partnership with The Guardian Project and the Gibberbot app was rebranded to "ChatSecure Android". In late 2016, the Android branding partnership was ended, with ChatSecure Android becoming 'Zom', and ChatSecure iOS remaining as ChatSecure. ChatSecure iOS remains in active development and is unaffected by this change. Version 4.0 was released on January 17, 2017. ChatSecure is censored from the App Store in China. Reception In November 2014, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an American international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1990 to promote Internet civil liberties. It provides funds for legal defense in court, presents ''amicus curiae'' briefs, defends individuals and new Technology, technologies from what it considers abusive legal threats, works to expose government malfeasance, provides guidance to the government and courts, organizes political action and mass mailings, supports some new technologies which it believes preserve Liberty, personal freedoms and online civil liberties, maintains a database and web sites of related news and information, monitors and challenges potential legislation that it believes would infringe on Liberty, personal liberties and fair use, and solicits a list of what it considers are Patent misuse, abusive patents with intentions to defeat those that it considers are without merit (law), merit. History Foundat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
