Pentagon Personnel Now Talking on 'NSA-Proof' Smartphones

The Defense Department has rolled out supersecret smartphones for work and maybe play, made by anti-government-surveillance firm Silent Circle, according to company officials.

Silent Circle, founded by a former Navy Seal and the inventor of privacy-minded PGP encryption, is known for decrying federal efforts to bug smartphones. And for its spy-resistant “blackphone.” Apparently, troops don’t like busybodies either. As part of limited trials, US military personnel are using the device, encrypted with secret code down to its hardware, to communicate “for both unclassified and classified” work, Silent Circle chairman Mike Janke said. The blackphone’s operating system and software options enable customers to essentially log in to the same phone under multiple personas, each with separate security restrictions. Specifically, a feature called “Spaces” insulates data activity in one profile from the actions happening in other compartments.