Apple hires developer of World's Most Secure Messaging App

Developer behind world’s most secure messaging app joins Apple

Signal is the world's most secure messaging app. 
Photo: Open Whisper Systems

Apple is serious this time to enhance its iPhone security that even it can not hack. To achieve this the company has hired one of the key developers of  Signal — World's most secure, open source and encrypted messaging app.

Frederic Jacobs, who worked to develop Signal, announced today that he is joining Apple this summer to work as an intern in its CoreOS security team.

"I'm delighted to announce that I accepted an offer to be working with the CoreOS security team at Apple this summer," Jacobs tweeted Thursday.

 
One of the iPhone-maker’s most recent hires, Frederic Jacobs, was previously a lead developer for Signal, which has earned a name as one of the most secure messaging apps available. It’s so good, it’s become a favorite of former NSA-contractor Edward Snowden who says he uses it everyday.

Apple has not commented on the recent hire, but Jacobs sent out a tweet on Thursday morning detailing his new post with Apple’s Core OS security team. The position is an internship but no details were given on how long Jacobs will be working in Cupertino.

Plans to make the iPhone security tougher than ever were supposedly underway even before the FBI’s demands that Apple unlock the San Bernardino terrorist’s iPhone. In an appearance on ABC’s World News Tonight Tim Cook stated that creating such a tool would be like the software version of cancer.

Jacobs spent the last two and a half years as a security engineer at Signal-creator, Open Whisper Systems, where he worked on the end-to-end encryption for the iOS app. What Jacobs’ new role at Apple will entail is under wraps, but he could be part of the team that implements a new backup strategy for iCloud authentication that would make it impossible even for Apple to decrypt.

Apple to build 'Unhackable' Services

The reason behind the Apple's hiring is quite clear as the company is currently fighting a US court order asking Apple to help the FBI unlock iPhone 5C of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook.

Basically, Apple is deliberately forced to create the special, backdoored version of iOS, so that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) may be able to Brute Force the passcode on Farook's iPhone without losing the data stored in it.

However, Apple CEO Tim Cook has already refused to provide such a backdoor into the iPhone that would degrade the privacy and security of all iPhone users.

If comply with the court order, the company would be flooded by the FBI and the CIA requests to unlock more iPhones of criminals in near future and the recent request made by the United States government to unlock 12 more iPhones would be just a starter.

But, in an effort to eliminate the chance for government and intelligence agencies for demanding backdoors, the company is removing its own ability to do that, for which they are hiring new interns in its core security team.

Apple found Jacobs a good fit for this, as he had spent two and half years with Open Whisper Systems, the company behind Signal, before leaving the company earlier this year.

Signal 2.0 Free Private Messenger App for Encrypted Calls and Texts

Aternative Messenger

Facebook and WhatsApp are closer together in the future and once again raise the question of how to deal in future with the user data. In terms of privacy and end-to-end encryption in this country has been threema outsell that is to have a safe Messenger on iTunes and Google Play Store for. Open Whisper Systems has now with version 2.0 its free Messenger signal for iOS expanded.

Signal Messenger App

An open source software group, Open Whisper Systems, has announced the release of Signal 2.0 — the second version of its free and open source messaging application for iPhone and iPad users.

Signal app is specifically designed to make secure and easy-to-use encrypted voice calling. But that’s what the application was providing in its previous release introduced last July with Signal 1.0.

Apple’s iMessage also provides encrypted communication, but it was challenged by security researchers in 2013, revealing that Apple controls the key infrastructure and could, in turn, be compelled to change a key anytime they want, and read the content of your messages.

But there was no way to send secure messages from an iPhone iMessage to an Android phone, or vice versa, unless you signed up for a monthly subscription plan and got the person you wanted to communicate with to sign up for it too.

GAME CHANGER: SIGNAL 2.0

Signal 2.0 lets you send end-to-end encrypted messages to users on different platforms for free.

Signal 2.0 allows users to send end-to-end encrypted group, text, picture, and video messages between Signal on iPhone and TextSecure on Android.

Open Whisper Systems is both a large community of volunteer Open Source contributors, as well as a small team of dedicated grant-funded developers. Together, we're working to advance the state of the art for secure communication, while simultaneously making it easy for everyone to use.

"We’re going to unify TextSecure and RedPhone into Signal on Android, release a desktop version of Signal, and keep working to push the envelope of secure protocols and private communication,"said Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of Open Whisper Systems on Monday.

PRIVATE MESSAGING

• Say Anything - Send high-quality group, text, picture, and video messages, all without SMS and MMS fees.
• Be Yourself - Use your existing phone number and address book. There are no separate logins, usernames, passwords, or PINs to manage or lose.
• Stay Private - We cannot read your messages, and no one else can either. Everything is always end-to-end encrypted and painstakingly engineered in order to keep your communication safe.
• Get Organized - Archive functionality makes it easy to keep track of the conversations that matter to you right now.
• Pay Nothing - The development team is supported by community donations and grants. There are no advertisements, and it doesn't cost anything to use

"We cannot hear your conversations or see your messages, and no one else can either."  

PRIVATE CALLING

• Speak Freely - Make crystal-clear phone calls to people who live across town, or across the ocean, with no long-distance charges.
• Stay Private - We cannot hear your conversations, and no one else can either. No exceptions.
• Pay Nothing - The development team is supported by community donations and grants. There are no advertisements, and it doesn't cost anything to use.

Download : Itunes || Android 

 Washington-based software firm Silent Circle, offers encrypted calling and texting services for a monthly subscription, and is a partner in Geneva-based SGP Technologies which makes the BlackPhone, a security minded device that offers 'PrivatOS' that allows users to make and receive secure phone calls, exchange secure texts, encrypted file storage, secure video chat, and anonymize your activity through a VPN (virtual private network).

However, with Signal 2.0 you can send and receive strongly encrypted messages and voice calls for free via a simplest and easiest interface yet, making it usable for those users who doesn't know too much about encryption to use.

• The source code is available on Github for inspection.

Signal Desktop

Today we’re making the Signal Desktop beta available. Signal Desktop brings the trusted private messaging experience of Signal to the desktop, with a simplicity that allows you to seamlessly continue conversations back and forth between your mobile device and your desktop computer.

Private messaging, now with all ten fingers

As always, everything is end-to-end encrypted and painstakingly engineered in order to keep your communication safe – allowing you to send high-quality private group, text, picture, and video messages for free.