Who will be the first to create a convenient crypto program - will receive a prize from the EFF

In today's Internet, the use of robust cryptography should become commonplace for each user, the Foundation for Electronic Fronts (EFF) believes. The organization announced a usability contest for crypto programs with a cash prize.

The demand for simple but reliable cryptographic tools is huge now: even Pavel Durov is trying to make cryptographs. At the same time, dozens of similar projects are being created for encrypting email, chat, VoIP, etc. Key problems are solved: confirmation of the identity of public keys; communication from multiple devices, including mobile phones; storing logs and history in a protected form with reliable removal of this information; key exchange when one of the parties is offline, etc.

These problems have yet to be resolved. It is unclear which of the new projects will really meet the strict requirements for simplicity and reliability. It is clear only that past programs do not satisfy usability requirements. Today use software PGP, OTR, Tor, and so on. Only advanced users and IT enthusiasts can, but not ordinary people, journalists and activists all over the world, whose life and freedom depend on the security of communications.

The format of the EFF CUP competition is under discussion. A seminar on this topic was announced at the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) on July 9, 2014. Applications are accepted until May 15.
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EFF intends to establish objective criteria for identifying the winner (s). For example, the total number of users; the percentage of users who were able to install and start using the program within a few minutes (usability criterion); The percentage of users who successfully withstood the MiTM attack simulation or interlocutor interchange (impersonation attack, security criterion). There is no final list of criteria, everyone is invited to share their ideas. Especially, developers of cryptographic programs (who are not afraid to reveal their identity), software engineers, interface specialists and UX designers are invited to participate in the seminar.

Some of the workshop participants may be given some financial assistance in paying for transportation costs.