NSA spying prompts open TrueCrypt encryption software audit to go viral
A unique effort to crowdsource a security audit of the popular TrueCrypt open source encryption software appears to be going viral three weeks after it was launched by two U.S. based researchers in response to concerns that the National Security Agency may have tampered with it.
The intiative has so far garnered more than $57,000 in donations and bitcoins and attracted over 1,000 volunteers from 30 countries, including a techncial advisory group comprised of some of the world's best regarded cryptographers.
The initiative's IsTruecryptAuditedYet website has received more than two million hits from users in 70 countries. "The response has been amazing," said Kenneth White co-founder of the TrueCrypt Audit Project and principal scientist at BAO Systems, a health information systems company. "Donations have ranged from as little as $3 to as much as $10,000, with the majority in the $10 to $25 range."
