WASHINGTON and SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Silent Circle, an encrypted telecommunications firm, today launched its suite of state-of-the-art encryption services that makes it much easier for individuals to keep their digital communications private. Co-founded by Mike Janke, former Navy SEAL operator, and Phil Zimmermann, creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the world's most widely used email encryption software, the Silent Circle suite includes encrypted text messaging, mobile video phone calls and VoIP video teleconferencing. Encrypted email will be made available later this year. The company is comprised of a unique combination of U.S. Navy SEALs and world-renowned encryption pioneers. Rounding out the Silent Circle executive team are CTO Jon Callas, inventor of PGP Universal, former CTO of PGP and a creator of Apple's Whole Disk encryption, and COO Commander Vic Hyder, U.S. Navy (retired), a combat decorated 20-year Navy SEAL and security expert.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121016/LA92632LOGO)

With growing online and mobile platform security breaches, intellectual property and identity theft, and increased government and corporate surveillance, Silent Circle offers a simple and affordable solution for individuals who want to mitigate the risk they've had to accept until now. The service is designed for use by all sectors including privacy-conscious individuals, large and small businesses, corporations, celebrities, government workers, military families, human rights groups and NGOs, to name a few.

"Secure communications is everyone's right in a free society, but the rising tide of surveillance is getting worse and worse and needs to be halted," said Phil Zimmermann, president and co-founder of Silent Circle. "Silent Circle uses state-of-the-art encryption technology operating on our custom-built network with our own software and equipment, making secure communication available to people around the world. You should be able to whisper in your friend's ear, even if their ear is one thousand miles away."

"Silent Circle's team includes U.S. Navy SEALs, British Special Forces, and Internet encryption pioneers who came together to create a unique service and product, offering private communications to individuals around the world with absolutely no back doors," added CEO and co-founder of Silent Circle, Mike Janke. "More people than ever are using their own devices to access secure business systems, putting more individuals and businesses at risk of cyberattacks."

About Silent Circle's suite of apps:

• Silent Phone: Easy to use encrypted voice and video calls on mobile devices. The app is available for iOS now and Android soon to come. It can be used with WiFi, Edge, 3G or 4G anywhere in the world. App Store link: http://bit.ly/TtApbS
• Silent Text: Improved control over text messaging. Take control with the "burn" feature and determine when private texts will be burnt (deleted) from both sender and recipient's route registries. App Store link: http://bit.ly/Ryjc1Q
• Silent Eyes: Encrypted VoIP (video & voice) teleconference from laptops and business conference systems through Silent Circle's custom HD network. Available for Windows, Mac coming soon.
• Coming soon - Silent Mail: Encrypted email on a custom-built, proprietary network. The Silent Circle email account (username@SilentMail.com) will work in current email clients (Outlook, Mac Mail, etc.).

The Silent Circle suite of services is available for $20/month and includes all three encrypted products, with Silent Mail soon to come. Each Silent Circle subscriber will receive a personal phone number and all calls within the "Circle" are 100 percent free worldwide. Additionally, Silent Circle will soon be offering a secure calling plan for calls outside the Circle for $39/month and a secure business package for $49/month. For more information on pricing and bundled packages please visit https://silentcircle.com/web/products/.

How it works:

Silent Circle operates on a custom-built, multi-million dollar network, with servers set in Canada. There is no use of third-party software anywhere within the network, and Canada's privacy laws are the most stringent in the world – giving Silent Circle users the ultimate value in protection.

Silent Circle's encryption works on a peer-to-peer basis; therefore, the ideal situation includes both parties using the service for communication to be encrypted at all times versus just one way.  This also means that encryption keys are held on users' devices, not by Silent Circle, ensuring all data going through the Silent Circle network is completely encrypted.

Users can sign up for Silent Circle through the company's website – https://www.silentcircle.com. Once registered, the Silent Circle suite of apps will be available for download to iPhones, Android (coming soon), desktops and laptops via the Silent Circle website, and iTunes App Store (http://bit.ly/TtApbS & http://bit.ly/Ryjc1Q).

ABOUT SILENT CIRCLE

Silent Circle is a private encrypted communications firm based in Silicon Valley and Washington DC, providing worldwide cutting edge encrypted text, email, mobile video phone, and video teleconference services and software apps.  Silent Circle was co-founded by Mike Janke, former Navy SEAL and best-selling author, and Phil Zimmermann, the world famous Silicon Valley creator of Internet encryption for voice and data and a recent inductee into the Internet Hall of Fame. For more on Silent Circle, go to: https://www.silentcircle.com.

SOURCE Silent Circle