All about the Wickr cryptomessaging system (of the Amara case)
What it is, how it works and the associates of Wickr, considered one of the safest messaging apps
In recent months, in addition to the well-known Whatsapp, Telegram, WeChat etc. there's a new instant messaging app that's making a lot of talk: Wickr. Launched by the US company of the same name, founded in 2012 by a group of privacy and security experts, Wickr makes security its strength.
WICKR: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS
Wickr is considered one of the safest messaging apps, so much so that it is also used by the United States Department of Defense and defined by the National Security Agency as the "safest collaboration tool in the world".
Available for iPhone and Android, Wickr also has desktop application for Windows and Linux. When registering, the app does not require a phone number or an email address, you just need to choose a nickname. This system therefore makes it difficult to recognize a user, but there is an option (optional) to enter your phone number and be found more easily by other users.
Wickr was one of the first apps to launch pop-up messages (Expiration Timer): once the duration of the messages sent has been set (from 6 hours to 6 days), they cancel themselves when they expire.
The app is also equipped with an additional option, called Burn-On-Read Timer, to be set before sending a message: if activated, the message sent, immediately after being read by the recipient, is automatically deleted. This second timer can be set between 3 seconds and 6 days.
The application – which implements E2E encryption also on calls, video calls and voice messages – is among the most secure as it has very strong encryption: the Wickr Secure Messaging Protocol . This system uses both symmetric AES 256 encryption and asymmetric elliptic curve encryption: in summary, the encryption used prevents anyone who would steal or seize the device – for example a police authority with a warrant – from reading the messages, precisely because Wickr doesn't know them. The principle conceived and used by the company is called “ignorance by design”.
WICKR: MEMBERS AND TOP OF THE COMPANY
Wickr was founded in 2012 by Kara Lynn Coppa (former defense contractor), Christopher Howell (former forensic investigator for the state of New Jersey), Robert Statica (director of the Center for Information Protection at the New Jersey Institute of Technology) and Nico Sell , security expert and longtime organizer of Defcon, an annual hacker convention.
In March 2014, a $ 9 million funding round led by Gilman Louie of Alsop Louie Partners was announced that also included investments from Juniper Networks and the Knight Foundation. Three months later, in June 2014, comes a second $ 30 million funding round led by Breyer Capital, including CME Group and Wargaming.
Today the company sees Joel Wallenstrom (President and CEO), Christopher Howell (CTO) and Christopher Lalonde (COO) in key positions.
WICKR: THE BITTER CASE
In recent days Wickr has jumped to the honors of the Italian news for the case concerning Piero Amara , the Sicilian lawyer already convicted of corruption in judicial acts in the investigation into the phantom "lodge Hungary" and since yesterday in prison, on the order of the court of Potenza, accused of having bribed prosecutors and public officials to obtain court favors for his clients.
According to the magistrates, Amara would have continued to do business until a few months ago and, to avoid the investigation , "he had loyal to all the subjects who had intense relationships with him by communicating with the Wickr cryptomessaging system which, using military encryption algorithms, makes secret the chats ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tutto-sul-sistema-di-criptomessaggistica-wickr-del-caso-amara/ on Sat, 12 Jun 2021 05:35:04 +0000.