Part One of the Contributions of the Modern Men of Tech
Moxie Marlinspike. To some, that name brings hope. Those in repressive governments, where the internet and many or perhaps all phone apps are either tightly controlled or the content surveilled, he comes forth as a beacon of freedom, and perhaps even light. But, to a few people, he is considered the reason for certain spaces of the internet "going dark", to quote current FBI Director James B. Comey, Jr. These contradicting views and thoughts have spawned from the same creations, believe it or not. Mr. Marlinspike is the creator of some very cool code thats being used in some great ways. The most recent of his contributions is an iphone download called Signal, which is an encrypted and fully open source SMS and phone calling app, available for free.
While Moxie is simply making software that he enjoys making, it's being targeted. The Signal app for example, which allows anyone to safely and securely send texts without fear of interception, has caught the attention of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and he goes as far to say that these "protected-messaging apps are a safe space for terrorists", and President Obama has been heard calling the app "a problem". While on the other end of the spectrum we have people such as former NSA contractor Edward Snowden going as far as to urge people to use any and everything that Marlinspike releases.
Mr. Marlinspike sees Snowden's attention to his code as an opening to demystify, and simplify encryption on the users end, so more people will be inclined to at least try it.
In an equally huge endorsement of the greatness of Marlinspikes software, Johns Hopkins Professor, Matthew Green, had his cryptography students attempt to break through or even just find a crack in the Signal app, but none were able to find any errors, and to great surprise. Signal was even considered for use by the San Francisco PD.
This Interest and desire for encryption based software isn't new or recent, it goes back a couple decades to 1997 when the paper "The Risks of Key Recovery, Key Escrow, and Trusted Third-Party Encryption" was written by several of the leading researchers in the field of cryptography. Its just now, ever since the so called Snowden Documents have come to the public eye, that the public is now demanding more simple encryption options. So, Moxie Marlinspike obliges by keeping up the brilliant work of creating other encryption based software.
Just a few of his offerings include:
TextSecure - Android platform of Signal, for SMS and MMS
Redphone - offers secure calling option on android platform
Mr. Marlinspike has also built a Firefox add-on called Google-sharing. Its designed to provide a level of anonymity that prevents Google from tracking our search results, our Google Maps queries, and the retention of DNS lookups.
Many more programs are available from Mr. Marlinspike at his website, link provided at the bottom. From reading on his site, it can be gathered that not all encryption software can be considered equal. For example, Moxie seems to have concerns about the Telegram app due to the fact that when asked for proof of their level of encryption, Mr. Marlinspike was simply offered some academic credentials of their programmers.
For all that we know about his software, Mr. Moxie Marlinspike remains a bit of a mystery himself. We know hes somewhere in his 30's, and we aren't really sure what name is on his birth certificate. Kind of fitting for a privacy advocate if you ask me.
We do know that when it comes to encryption options, Mr. Marlinspike points out the difference between a service that "can't read" and a service that "won't read" it's info, and the importance of being choosy and choosing the "can't read", because that's truly the only path towards real security.
There are many great men and women out there trying to help people reclaim their privacy, and maybe even their safety, and Mr. Marlinspike is certainly among that group that should be thanked for their brilliant service. We will see whom else is in this group in future posts. So until then, stay safe, and encrypt.
By: Derek Overly
Marlinspikes website: thoughtcrime.org
Love the start of the series.
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