“In the back and forth battle over consumer privacy, one tends to think of government cryptographers looking to outwit engineers at companies like Google and Apple who help churn out some of the most widely used software across the globe,” Yoni Heisler reports for BGR. “But playing an instrumental role in this cat and mouse game is a man you might not ordinarily expect to see in such a discussion.”
“Meet Moxie Marlinspike, a dreadlocked programmer and apparent encryption guru whose code has left government agencies like the NSA frustrated beyond belief,” Heisler reports. “In an extensive profile on Marlinspike, The Wall Street Journal details how an encyrption program he wrote was so robust, simple, and efficient that WhatsApp — one of the more popular messaging apps on the planet — ‘made it a standard feature for many of the app’s 800 million users.'”
Read more in the full article here.
“His encrypted texting and calling app, Signal, has come up in White House meetings, says an attendee,” Danny Yadron reports for The Wall Street Journal. “Speaking via video link last year as part of a panel on surveillance, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked troves of U.S. spying secrets, urged listeners to use “anything” that Mr. Marlinspike releases.”
“A few years ago, Matthew Green, a cryptographer and professor at Johns Hopkins University, unleashed his students on Mr. Marlinspike’s code,” Yadron reports. “To Prof. Green’s surprise, they didn’t find any errors. He compared the experience to working with a home contractor who made ‘every single corner perfectly squared.'”
“Technology companies, once cozy with Washington, sound increasingly like Mr. Marlinspike,” Yadron reports. “After Apple Inc. tweaked its iPhone software so that the company could no longer unlock phones for police, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation accused Apple of aiding criminals. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook counters that he is defending user privacy.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Send high-quality group, text, picture, and video messages, all without SMS and MMS fees. Make crystal-clear phone calls to people who live across town, or across the ocean, with no long-distance charges. Get Signal via Apple’s App Store here.