[technology taskforce] Fwd: [IP] EFF: Which Messaging Technologies Are Truly Safe and Secure?

Tue Nov 4 21:07:04 UTC 2014

Not quite so important for the TTF but interesting.
Kind regards,

Olivier

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	[IP] EFF: Which Messaging Technologies Are Truly Safe and Secure?
Date: 	Tue, 4 Nov 2014 10:50:30 -0500
From: 	David Farber via ip <ip at listbox.com>
Reply-To: 	dave at farber.net, David Farber <farber at gmail.com>
To: 	ip <ip at listbox.com>

Begin forwarded message:

Date: November 4, 2014 at 10:00:45 AM EST
From: EFF Press <press at eff.org>
To: presslist at eff.org
Subject: [E-B] EFF: Which Messaging Technologies Are Truly Safe and Secure?
Reply-To: press at eff.org

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 04, 2014

Contact:

Peter Eckersley
 Technology Projects Director
 Electronic Frontier Foundation
 pde at eff.org
 +1 415 436-9333 x131

Rebecca Jeschke
 Media Relations Director
 Electronic Frontier Foundation
 press at eff.org
 +1 415 436-9333 x177

Which Messaging Technologies Are Truly Safe and Secure?

EFF's 'Secure Messaging Scorecard' Rates Digital
Communication Tools

San Francisco - In the face of widespread Internet data
collection and surveillance, we need a secure and practical
means of talking to each other from our phones and
computers.  Many companies offer "secure messaging"
products - but how can users know if these systems actually
secure?  The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) released
its Secure Messaging Scorecard today, evaluating dozens of
messaging technologies on a range of security best
practices.

"The revelations from Edward Snowden confirm that
governments are spying on our digital lives, devouring all
communications that aren't protected by encryption," said
EFF Technology Projects Director Peter Eckersley.  "Many
new tools claim to protect you, but don't include critical
features like end-to-end encryption or secure deletion.
This scorecard gives you the facts you need to choose the
right technology to send your message."

The scorecard includes more than three dozen tools,
including chat clients, text messaging apps, email
applications, and technologies for voice and video calls.
EFF examined them on seven factors, like whether the
message is encrypted both in-transit and at the provider
level, and if the code is audited and open to independent
review.  Six of these tools scored all seven stars,
including ChatSecure, CryptoCat, Signal/Redphone, Silent
Phone, Silent Text, and TextSecure.  Apple's iMessage and
FaceTime products stood out as the best of the mass-market
options, although neither currently provides complete
protection against sophisticated, targeted forms of
surveillance.  Many options--including Google, Facebook,
and Apple's email products, Yahoo's web and mobile chat,
Secret, and WhatsApp--lack the end-to-end encryption that
is necessary to protect against disclosure by the service
provider.  Several major messaging platforms, like QQ,
Mxit, and the desktop version of Yahoo Messenger, have no
encryption at all.

"We're focused on improving the tools that everyday users
need to communicate with friends, family members, and
colleagues," said EFF Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo.  "We
hope the Secure Messaging Scorecard will start a
race-to-the-top, spurring innovation in stronger and more
usable cryptography."

The Secure Messaging Scorecard is part of EFF's new
Campaign for Secure and Usable Cryptography, and was
produced in collaboration with Julia Angwin at ProPublica
and Joseph Bonneau at the Princeton Center for Information
Technology Policy.

For the full Secure Messaging Scorecard:
https://www.eff.org/secure-messaging-scorecard

For this release:
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/which-messaging-technologies-are-truly-safe-and-secure

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading
organization protecting civil liberties in the digital
world. Founded in 1990, we defend free speech online, fight
illegal surveillance, promote the rights of digital
innovators, and work to ensure that the rights and freedoms
we enjoy are enhanced, rather than eroded, as our use of
technology grows. EFF is a member-supported organization.
Find out more at https://www.eff.org.

   -end-

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