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PGP founder's mobile privacy app goes live

Zimmermann & Navy SEAL pals unveil safe comms, at $20 a month

Updated Silent Circle, the secure mobile communications app backed by Phil Zimmermann, has gone live - offering protection from all but the most determined of government departments.

Silent Circle comprises a handful of iOS/Android/PC apps facilitating secure phone calls, text messaging and video calling, with secure email promised soon, all presented through an idiot-friendly interface aimed at corporate executives and international journalists rather than local freedom fighters who might find $20 a month a bit rich.

We discussed the product at length in June, and it hasn't changed significantly since then. Communication between Silent Circle subscribers is entirely secure, while calls made outside the Circle are secured to the edge (which is in Canada or Switzerland) and then enter the unsecure public networks, Secure Circle is also registered outside the USA to avoid lawful-intercept requirements.

Cryptography is very rarely broken, publicly-scrutinised algorithms such as those used by Silent Circle require enormous resources to crack, beyond the reach of all but the most determined government. Secure networks are generally broken through poor implementations or badly-designed systems around the cryptography.

A good example is Cryptocat, a web-based tool for secure communications which was lauded by Wired and the Wall Street Journal before analysts started pointing out that storing crypto* on a web server is inherently risky, as one's security is entirely dependent on the sanctity of that public-facing server.

Complete security is, of course, impossible, and given most of us couldn't spot a Chinese remainder theorem if it hit us in the face, we're required to place our trust in experts or the companies they endorse. Having been largely responsible for PGP, the crypto which got the US government so upset, Zimmermann is a brand most geeks will trust. Silent Circle will be hoping those geeks can convince their corporate colleagues that $20 a month is a small price to pay for secure communications. ®

*Cryptocat has been in touch to assure us that version 2, launched last month, fixes all the highlighted issues, securing instant text messages without dependence on the security of the web server.

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