NSA-resistant Android app encrypts and erases sensitive messages

Silent Circle, a company specializing in encrypted communications, released a messaging application for Android devices that encrypts and securely erases messages and files.

The application, called Silent Text, lets users specify a time period for which the receiver can view a message before it is erased. It also keeps the keys used to encrypt and decrypt content on the user's device, which protects the company from law enforcement requests for the keys. Silent Circle also offers a subscription service, Silent Phone, an encrypted VoIP (voice over IP) application for secure phone and video calls over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G LTE over its peer-to-peer network. The Silent Text application generates a new encryption key for each new message. The key is then destroyed "so even if your device is examined, there are no keys to be had after the conversation is complete," according to the company's website. Only the sender and receiver can view a message. If it was intercepted in transit, it would be unreadable unless the interloper could obtain the encryption key or use brute-force computing power to decrypt the content.