SafeSwiss

SafeSwiss
Developer(s) SafeSwiss Secure Communication AG.
Initial release December 1, 2016 (2016-12-01)
Development status Active
Operating system Windows, Android, iOS
Type VoIP communications, instant messaging and social media
License Proprietary freeware
Website safeswiss.com

SafeSwiss is a proprietary freeware VoIP instant messaging application that runs on Windows, Android, and iOS. In addition to one-to-one and group text messaging, users can send multimedia, locations, voice messages and files. [1]

History

A privately-owned company, SafeSwiss was formed in 2009 by Kerry Bird, Tim Gallagher and Emir Rizvanovic. The company originally began by developing a USB-based “digital media card” that could be topped up with media such as movies and ebooks, in order to avoid piracy issues involved with digital distribution.[2]

After consulting with a large movie studio in LA, SafeSwiss switched to microSD as a technology and began development work on encrypted file transfer.

While developing the encrypted file transfer solution, SafeSwiss pivoted to focus on developing an app to handle encrypted messaging and voice calls.[3]

The SafeSwiss app was originally released for Android in December 2016, ahead of a release for iOS.[4]

SafeSwiss claims it received a 78 per cent spike in downloads in the week following the WannaCry ransomware attack in May 2017.[5]

The company has been highly critical of attempts by the UK and Australian governments to force mobile instant messaging app developers to include encryption backdoors in their software.[6] [7] [8] [9]

Features

Upon downloading the SafeSwiss app, users determine their own unique ID, and are not required to input a phone number or email address to set up an account.[10]

The app features end-to-end elliptical curve encryption using the open source NaCl cryptography library across voice calls, text chats, group chats, file transfers and other forms of ephemeral messaging. [11]

Encryption keys are generated and safely stored on user’s devices to prevent any backdoor access or copies, in order to eliminate the risk of a man-in-the-middle attack.[12]

The entire communication via SafeSwiss is end-to-end encrypted. During the initial setup, the application generates a key pair and sends the public key to the server while keeping the private key on the user's device. The application then encrypts all messages and files that are sent to other SafeSwiss users with their respective public keys. Once a message is delivered successfully, it is immediately deleted from the servers.

All message encryption and decryption happens directly on user devices, with users in control over the key exchange, to ensure that no third party (including server operators) can decrypt the content of any messages. [13]

Languages supported by SafeSwiss include Arabic, Bosnian, Croatian, Chinese (Mandarin) Chinese (Cantonese), English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. [14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "SafeSwiss Brings A New Alternative For WhatsApp, Telegram". http://www.cxotoday.com. Jan 31, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017. External link in |website= (help)
  2. ↑ "Christchurch startup SafeSwiss is responding to growing privacy concerns through an encryption app". Startup Daily. Jul 20, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Christchurch startup SafeSwiss is responding to growing privacy concerns through an encryption app". Startup Daily. Jul 20, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Christchurch startup SafeSwiss is responding to growing privacy concerns through an encryption app". Startup Daily. Jul 20, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Businesses turn to encryption apps to keep out cyber attacks and ransomware". The Daily Telegraph. May 20, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Encrypted Messaging Experts Say 'Nope' To Turnbull's Decryption Push". The Huffington Post. Jul 19, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Government’s encryption backdoor plan flawed: SafeSwiss chief". CIO.com.au. Jul 17, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "UK home secretary under fire for encryption comments". Mobile World Live. Aug 2, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  9. ↑ "NZ-founded SafeSwiss CEO slams Turnbull’s ‘flawed encryption backdoor plan’". IT Wire. Jul 17, 2017. Retrieved Jul 18, 2017.
  10. ↑ "UK home secretary under fire for encryption comments". Mobile World Live. Aug 2, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  11. ↑ "UK home secretary under fire for encryption comments". Mobile World Live. Aug 2, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  12. ↑ "SafeSwiss launches WhatsApp, Telegram competitor". My Broadband. Jan 30, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  13. ↑ "UK home secretary under fire for encryption comments". Mobile World Live. Aug 2, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Secure Messaging App Blasts Turnbull’s Encryption Plans". Which 50. Jul 19, 2017. Retrieved Aug 7, 2017.
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