App to Give "Military-Grade" Security to iPhone Messages

Bangalore: Wickr will be the new solution for celebrities to stop annoying texts and pictures getting leaked into the media. This very problem became the inspiration for The San Francisco-based startup to work versions of Wickr for smartphones or tablets powered by Google-backed Android software. Since the launch of this app on 27^th June it has been downloaded more than thousands of times. As of now this software is available only for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices.

Nico Sell, startup co-founder says that "Now by default, all our personal and business communications are traceable. We think that by default your communications should be untraceable."

Wickr is built to function in such a way that it encrypts the files and unlike a normal email service, no copies are left on the computer server. Thus making sending and receiving messages highly secure. The messages sent through Wickr are programmed to self-destruct at the end specified by the user. So the user has a say as to how long the message should remain and by when should it delete itself.

According to the co-founder Robert Statica, an engineering professor specializing security technology, after the user views the message the application is programmed to erase the message or the picture on the phone so that would ensure that no one will be able to even find a trace of the mail or picture. Even if someone were to contact the server to retrieve the data all they would end up with is garbage and nothing useful.

To develop this app The Startup’s included into their team Kara Coppa a military network security veteran and Christopher Howell who is a computer crime investigation specialist. Right now the Wickr version is available for Apple products. Right now they are working on developing Wickr for laptop and desktop computers and as Web browser "plug-ins" to augment popular email programs such as Gmail or Outlook with the security features.

According to the developers the starting point that led to the creation of wickr was the fact that the most secure file is a file that doesn’t exist. This app is available globally but in France the app is waiting to get the license.

This app will prove to have a lot of security fall outs as well as the Yellow Journalists might soon find themselves out of jobs.