[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]
osOpinion writes up Cryptobox, which came up on Friday in
conjunction with the halt of Linux-based versions of
Zero-Knowledge’s Freedom Internet Privacy Suite. Cryptobox is
intended to provide secure instant messaging with the possibility
of extending it to basic file-sharing and Voice over IP.
“Normal encryption methods are rather cumbersome,
involving two people using compatible software who must exchange
“keys,” or pieces of code for each exchange. There are also secure
e-mail services that have encryption built into Web browsers.With Cryptobox, users would first download a program. Then, in
order to communicate with another member, the user would enter the
user ID of the person he or she wanted to communicate with. The
system would automatically exchange encryption keys each time. Both
members would have to be connected at the same time; the program
can be left running in the background.Skeptics point out the inherent difficulty in combining such
sophisticated security with usability. However, the Cryptobox team
claims to have successfully tested it with an instant messaging
system earlier this year with 40 real users combined with 200
artificial clients on the network. The software is scheduled to be
released by the end of this year.”