Big Seven Study

More about the book

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of seven notable open-source encryption applications for email and instant messaging, conducted by security researchers David Adams and Ann-Kathrin Maier. Their audit, based on eight international IT-audit manuals and spanning 20 dimensions, highlights significant trends in the crypto-messaging landscape. Among these, the ability for users to manually define an end-to-end encryption password stands out. The software GoldBug, which serves as both an email client and instant messenger, received particularly high marks for its reliability and compliance with safety standards. It excels in detailed evaluations compared to other open-source crypto messengers. Maier emphasizes the thoroughness of their audit, confirming GoldBug's trustworthiness through extensive code reviews. The study also analyzes and compares various applications, including CryptoCat, OTR-XMPP clients like Pidgin, RetroShare, Signal, Surespot, and Tox, providing insights into the current encryption discourse. The findings contribute valuable perspectives to ongoing discussions in the field of cryptography, underscoring the importance of robust security features in digital communication.