Wikileaks; it's a name that has been in the news a lot recently. Some say the founder of Wikileaks is a terrorist, while others say he is a hero. We choose to stay out of the politicts of it but we would like to talk about the issue of keeping secrets.
As we have written many times, there are some secrets that need to be kept. Of course, for everyone who wants to keep a secret, there is usually someone else who would like to know that secret.
It has been said before, when two people know a secret, then it is no longer a secret. This was actually the weak link in the recent Wikileaks case. The data made public was from cables between embassies and Washington. These cables are encrypted (just like when one TrulyMail user sends a message to another TrulyMail user). Intercepting these message is no easy task and, in the recent Wikileaks case, it was not done at all.
We want to draw people's attention to this simple fact. The recent classified information which was published by Wikileaks was not obtained because of a failure of encrypted messaging. Rather, it was the people inside the embassies who felt the information should not be kept a secret.
How does this affect you, as a TrulyMail user? It should remind you that TrulyMail can prevent someone from intercepting your messages, since they are encrypted, but if you send a secret to someone else, that other person now knows that secret. If a third party later finds out that secret, it could well be because the other party revealed the information in question.
What can you do? Sadly, no much. There are companies who offer you the illusion of additional security. One example is the 'non-forwardable message.' In this case, the recipient cannot click the 'Forward' button and cannot copy the text from the message to paste it into a new message. Seems secure, right? Well, you must always remember the basic rule: If you give someone some information, they will be able to pass that information on to a third party, whether you like it or not. There are plenty of technical and non-technical ways to accomplish it. For example, someone could just re-type what you wrote. They could also read it into a voice message and send the information that way. They could even use screen-capture techniques (not complicated) and send an image of your message. Whatever way they choose, the end result is the same…your information is given to someone without your consent.
Is there a way around this? Not really. It is a fundamental truth that if you tell someone something, they can tell it to someone else. So, instead of trying to solve an insolvable problem, your time would be much better spent simply ensuring you are giving information only to those you trust and to use a secure system to ensure that a third party cannot intercept your messages.
We should be releasing TrulyMail 3.0 very soon. If all goes as planned, you should see something around the end of January. If you are interested in getting a beta version, please let us know and we will let you know when it is available.
Always keep your eyes open.
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