(2012-04-25) Zimmermann Silent Circle

Phil Zimmermann is launching a new venture. It’s called Silent Circle, for which Zimmermann has teamed up with two former Navy SEALs and one of his PGP Corp. co-founders. The plan is to offer encrypted email, encrypted mobile calls, encrypted VoIP teleconferencing and encrypted Instant Messaging, all in one place... Though Silent Circle is now running a private beta, the plan, as I understand it, is to launch a public beta on July 15.

Jul13 update: plans to release a beta version of an IPhone and Android app in late July that encrypts phone calls and other communications. A final version is scheduled to follow in late September.

Oct06: launches on October 15.. full desktop versions for Windows and Mac will be launched at a later date.

Oct09: a SlashDot commenter notes: There are already several solutions [cellcrypt.com] out [whispersys.com] there [securegsm.com] for encrypted VoIP. Even a free, open-source general-purpose Android SIP client C Sip Simple (google.com) supports ZRTP for key exchange.

Feb'2013: “We are not FaceBook. We are the opposite of Facebook.”... Mr. Zimmermann invented his own P2P encryption protocol to avoid the risk that Silent Circle’s communications could be intercepted by someone faking a certificate from one of the authorities that guarantee communications are secure... There are now a number of apps that promise to secure communications. Wick R, a mobile app, performs a similar service that encrypts video, photos and text messages. Security researchers, however, complain that not enough is known about the app’s protocols. Anticipating that criticism, Silent Circle has published its source code for review to prove that its encryption is secure and that there are no back doors.