Wickr is an all-round free smartphone app for the iPhone with an Android version coming soon, it provides text, image, audio and video encryption with AES256bit, self-destructing messages with a timer regulating who can read text, photo or video messages and how long for they are available for retrieval but its best feature is possibly Wickr destroying files metadata erasing all attached personal information identifying the author and file creation details with a data shredder making sure that when you erase something it is really gone beyond recovery. The service also hides usernames and phone serial number by adding several random digits to each value and salting and hashing it to make it undecipherable.
Even thought you need an account with Wickr you can still use this app anonymously, you are not asked for any identifiable information, minimal connection logs are kept and they do not contain anything that could be linked to a user, the messages stored in Wickr servers are all encrypted, it would not be possible to force the company to reveal its content, the password to decipher the data is only kept in your own phone. Your mobile phone provider will see that your are connecting Wickr servers but they will not be able to read your messages or learn who you are communicating with, any logging from their part to spy on you would be unproductive.
Wickr antiforensics mobile app
The only weak spot Wickr has is that the phone screen capture utility can be used to copy a time restricted message, Apple does not allow developers to disable screen capture on their iPhones and there is nothing that can be done about this. The app complies with HIPAA requirements for encryption and privacy and encryption is FIPS 140-3 compliant, a U.S. government computer security standard issued by NIST, standing for Federal Information Processing Standards. The app is the brainchild of a former defense contractor and a former forensics investigator, these are people with the know how, not some some CEO expert in marketing learning about a product on the go as it often is, the antiforensics expertise of the people behind the app shows in the end product quality.
To secure your communications the app will have to be installed in both phones, sender and receiver, home users can use all features for free but if you would like to send a message to multiple people at once, a typical corporate use, you will be asked to upgrade. This app can punch a big hole in data retention laws.
