Encryption app on a mission to raise eyebrows
Lately, Mike Janke has been getting what he calls the "hairy eyeball" from international government agencies. The 44-year-old former Navy SEAL commando, together with two of the world's most renowned cryptographers, was always bound to ruffle high-level feathers with his new project - a surveillance-resistant communications platform that makes complex encryption so simple your grandma can use it.
This week, after more than two years of preparation, the finished product has hit the market. Named Silent Circle, it is in essence a series of applications that can be used on a mobile device to encrypt communications - text messages, plus voice and video calls. Currently, apps for the iPhone and iPad are available, with versions for Windows, Galaxy, Nexus and Android in the works. An email service is also soon scheduled to launch.
The encryption is peer to peer, which means that Silent Circle doesn't centrally hold a key that can be used to decrypt people's messages or phone calls. Each phone generates a unique key every time a call is made, then deletes it straight after the call finishes. When sending text messages or images, there is even a "burn" function, which allows you to set a time limit on anything you send to another Silent Circle user - a bit like how "this tape will self destruct" goes down in Mission: Impossible, but without the smoke or fire.
