Top 20 Encryption and Anonymity Software Providers

In cryptography, ENCRYPTION is the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that only authorized parties can read it. Encryption doesn't prevent hacking but it reduces the likelihood that the hacker will be able to read the data that is encrypted. In an encryption scheme, the message or information, referred to as plaintext, is encrypted using an encryption algorithm, turning it into an unreadable ciphertext. This is usually done with the use of an encryption key, which specifies how the message is to be encoded. Any adversary that can see the ciphertext should not be able to determine anything about the original message. An authorized party, however, is able to decode the ciphertext using a decryption algorithm, that usually requires a secret decryption key, that adversaries do not have access to. For technical reasons, an encryption scheme usually needs a key-generation algorithm to randomly produce keys.

Encryption News, Reviews & Resources

• 7 benefits of using a VPN (spoiler: it could save you money) - "We all regularly use the internet nowadays for a variety of different purposes. Whether it’s to keep in touch with friends and family, to work from home, or to conduct our banking and bill paying online, it’s important to be secure. One of the best ways to keep yourself secure and your activity private is to use a VPN."
• 7 Easy Steps to Protecting Your Digital Life - The New York Times.
• 10 BEST VPN SERVICES 2018 - PCMagazine.
• A DECADE-OLD ATTACK CAN BREAK THE ENCRYPTION OF MOST PCS - Wired.
• After Paris Attacks, Here’s What the CIA Director Gets Wrong About Encryption - Wired.
• An Open Source Effort to Encrypt the Internet of Things - "IoT is a security hellscape. One cryptography company has a plan to make it a little bit less so."
• Anonymity application - Wikipedia.
• APP THAT ENCRYPTS YOUR PHOTOS FROM CAMERA TO CLOUD - Wired.
• Apple's statement to Congress on the FBI warrant fight - The Verge.
• Apps to Encrypt Your Smartphone Communications - The New York Times.
• Atlas VPN Launches Its Free Mobile Service to Protect Security Online - "A new, reliable and free VPN will combat shady players for free VPN market share. All this, while keeping a strict no-logs policy and not pushing ads to its users."
• Building a new Tor that can resist next-generation state surveillance - Tor is an imperfect privacy platform. Ars meets the researchers trying to replace it.
• CIA controlled global encryption company for decades, says report - "Swiss government orders inquiry after revelations Crypto AG was owned and operated by US and German intelligence."
• Crypto AG - was a Swiss company specialising in communications and information security. It was secretly jointly owned by the American CIA and West German intelligence agency BND from 1970 until about 1993, with the CIA continuing as sole owner until about 2018.
• ENCRYPTION - Wikipedia.
• Fastest VPNs of 2018 - Our top 5 for speed - "All VPNs slow down your internet to some degree, some much more than others. It’s a sacrifice you make for a more private and secure internet connection or for streaming your favorite shows from any location. We’ll show you the fastest VPNs along with a few tricks to maximize your speed that won’t cost you anything."
• Hashing - transformation of a string of characters into a usually shorter fixed-length value or key that represents the original string.
• HOW TO ENCRYPT ALL OF THE THINGS - Wired.
• How to Send Secret Encrypted Messages Using Your iPhone Notes App - "You can send and receive secret messages straight from your iPhone. The built-in Notes app for iOS is a secret weapon for private conversations."
• How to Tell a Secret in the Digital Age - The New York Times.
• how weakened encryption jeopardizes 'secure' sites - The Guardian.
• If Jeff Bezos’ iPhone Can Be Hacked Over WhatsApp, So Can Yours - "How is it that even the richest man in the world can have his phone hacked with a simple WhatsApp message?"
• Is Law Enforcement “Going Dark” Because of Encryption? - The Intercept.
• Meet Moxie Marlinspike, the Anarchist Bringing Encryption to All of Us - Wired.
• MI5 chief Ken McCallum accuses Facebook of giving ‘free pass’ to terrorists - "Facebook has given terrorists a “free pass” by allowing stronger encryption on its network, the head of MI5 has said in his first criticism of Mark Zuckerberg’s company. Ken McCallum said that the social media giant’s plans to install end-to-end encryption would block hundreds of counterterrorism investigations by the Security Service."
• Onion routing - Wikipedia.
• ONLINE ANONYMITY - Wikipedia.
• Quantum encryption is now fast enough for voice calls - engadget.
• Signal, secure messaging app: a guide for beginners - Freedom of the Press Foundation.
• Spies, lies & data thieves: It's time to get a VPN - "Cover your assets."
• steganography - the practice of concealing a file, message, image, or video within another file, message, image, or video.
• The Father of Online Anonymity Has a Plan to End the Crypto War - Wired.
• Top-Shelf iPhone Hack Now Goes for $1.5 Million - Wired.
• True Private Messaging - 7 Apps to Encrypt Your Chats.
• Trusted third party | TTP - entity which facilitates interactions between two parties who both trust the third party.
• Two Tips to Keep Your Phone’s Encrypted Messages Encrypted - Wired.
• VPN Beginner’s Guide - "What is a VPN and how does it work (Explained)."
• What Is a VPN? The Complete Beginner’s Guide to VPNs in 2019 - WizCase.
• When Phone Encryption Blocks Justice - The New York Times.
• YOU CAN SEND INVISIBLE MESSAGES WITH SUBTLE FONT TWEAKS - Wired.
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• YubiKey NEO - "NFC Security Key." In a single device, the YubiKey NEO has both contact (USB) and contactless (NFC, MIFARE) communications. It supports one-time password, smart card functionality, including OpenPGP and PIV, and the emerging FIDO Alliance Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) protocol. Takes two-factor authentication to the next level. Use it along with a username and password to prove your identity and prevent hackers from breaking into your accounts. It’s specially designed to fit on a keychain, which means it goes wherever they (and their car keys) go." - (Wired.)

Top 20 Encryption & Anonymity Providers

• ANONYMIZER - email & Internet anonymity.
• Atlas VPN - "Fastest Free VPN Service." Atlas VPN is a free VPN app that ensures private browsing by changing your IP address and encrypting your connections.
• Crypto AG - since 1952. "High-security products and services from a single company. End-user, network & radio security: 25 products, 7 systems, 5 services." Swiss company specialising in communications and information security. The company is a long-established manufacturer of encryption machines and a wide variety of cipher devices.
• GOOGLE SHARING - how to hide from Google. A special kind of anonymizing proxy service, designed for a very specific threat. It ultimately aims to provide a level of anonymity that will prevent google from tracking your searches, movements, and what websites you visit.
• Hotspot Shield - since 2005. "Free VPN Service." Allows users to surf the Internet privately by creating a virtual private network so the user can gain secure access to all internet content, while staying in control over their personal privacy.
• HTTPS Everywhere - Firefox and Chrome extension that encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.
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• I2P - "The Invisible Internet Project." Since 2003. Computer network layer that allows applications to send messages to each other pseudonymously and securely. Uses include anonymous web surfing, chatting, blogging and file transfers. The software that implements this layer is called an I2P router and a computer running I2P is called an I2P node. The software is free and open source and is published under multiple licenses.
• iMessage - instant messenger service developed by Apple Inc. for iOS and OS X Mountain Lion. Not to be confused with Messages (application). iMessage allows users to send texts, documents, photos, videos, contact information, and group messages over Wi-Fi, 3G or LTE to other iOS or OS X users, thus providing an alternative to standard SMS/MMS messaging for all users with devices running iOS 5 or later. On iPhones, green buttons and text bubbles indicate SMS-based communication; on all iOS devices, blue buttons and text bubbles indicate iMessage communication. All iMessages are ENCRYPTED and can be tracked using delivery receipts. If the recipient enables Read Receipts, the sender will be able to see that the recipient has read the message. iMessage also allows users to set up chats with more than two people - a "group chat".
• MEGA - User Controlled Encryption. "Cloud storage will never be the same." Kim Dotcom's new cloud storage service. "The Privacy Company. Bigger. Better. Faster. Stronger. Safer."
• PGP | PRETTY GOOD PRIVACY - data, email & hard drive encryption.
• Proof of Existence - Provides Intellectual Property Rights. Can be used to demonstrate document ownership without revealing the information it contains, and to provide proof that a document was authored at a particular time. The key advantages are anonymity, privacy, and getting a decentralized proof which can't be erased or modified by anyone (third parties or governments).
• PSIPHON - develops a wide range of tools and solutions aimed at preserving security, privacy, and access to content.
• ROBOFORM - password manager and management, form filler, encrypt your passwords, generate random passwords, and more.
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• Secure Drop - open-source whistleblower submission system managed by Freedom of the Press Foundation that media organizations use to securely accept documents from anonymous sources.
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• Silent Circle - since 2012. "The World’s Solution to Mobile Privacy." In a digital world with eyes and ears everywhere, privacy is hard to find. Get in the Circle. Encrypted communications firm providing multiplatform secure communication services for mobile devices, desktop and email.
• Tails - "Privacy for anyone anywhere." Live operating system, that you can start on almost any computer from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card. It aims at preserving your privacy and anonymity, and helps you to: use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship; all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network; leave no trace on the computer you are using unless you ask it explicitly; use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt your files, emails and instant messaging.
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• Tor | The Onion Router - system intended to enable online anonymity. Tor client software directs internet traffic through a worldwide volunteer network of servers to conceal a user's location or usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it more difficult to trace Internet activity, including "visits to Web sites, online posts, instant messages and other communication forms", back to the user and is intended to protect users' personal freedom, privacy, and ability to conduct confidential business by keeping their internet activities from being monitored.
• TorGuard - "Online privacy protection services." Anonymous VPN Service: Anonymize and Encrypt all web Traffic through Private VPN Service. Anonymous Proxy: Keep Your Personal Identity Anonymous & Private on Bittorrent. Stealth VPN: Bypass DPI Firewalls and VPN Blocks with TorGuard Stealth VPN. Private Email: Communicate in Complete Security with OpenPGP email Encryption.
• TRUECRYPT - "Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Encryption." TrueCrypt is free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X and Linux. In case an attacker forces you to reveal the password, TrueCrypt provides and supports two kinds of plausible deniability.
• Wickr - "Top-Secret Messenger. The Internet is Forever. Escape the Internet with Wickr!" Proprietary instant messenger for iOS and Android and of the company that produces it. Wickr allows users to exchange end-to-end encrypted and self-destructing messages, including photos and file attachments.