PGP Creator Phil Zimmermann Has a New Venture Called Silent Circle

PGP is the reason Zimmermann is going to be inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame today, at a dinner in Geneva. Which, clearly, raises the question: What is he doing these days?

The answer: Launching a new venture. It’s called Silent Circle, for which Zimmermann has teamed up with two former Navy SEALs and one of his PGP Corp. co-founders. The plan is to offer encrypted email, encrypted mobile calls, encrypted VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) teleconferencing and encrypted instant messaging, all in one place.

Joining Zimmermann in Silent Circle are Mike Janke, a former Navy SEAL sniper, special operations communications expert and privacy advocate; Vic Hyder, another former Navy SEAL and founder of Maritime Security; and Jon Callas, a cryptographer and Zimmermann’s co-founder of PGP Corp., whose current day job is CTO at Entrust.

Silent Circle will offer services both to consumers and corporations, however also to human-rights groups, dissidents and nongovernmental organizations working in dangerous or sketchy places where governments tend to monitor communications. There’s as well a promise of no backdoors offered for any individual, organization or government.

Tagged with: cryptophy, encryption, Entrust, Industry Moves, Internet Hall of Fame, Internet Society, Jon Callas, Mike Janke, Navy SEAL, PGP, Phil Zimmerman, Phil Zimmermann, privacy, security, Silent Circle, Symantec, Vic Hyder