LEAP Encryption Access Project

One challenge with end-to-end email encryption is synchronization of user data among devices. A user wants to see all the contents of her email box on both her computer and her mobile phone, for example. From the technical perspective, this means that the content has to be stored securely (that is, encrypted) on each device, and also synchronized between devices without anyone other than the user being able to see its contents.

We are pleased to announce the Bitmask 0.9.4 release, codename “works for you”. This is a release focused on deep architectural changes, performance optimizations, and in response to feedback from many of you, a new user interface for the Bitmask client.

I am pleased to announce that we will be working on adding LEAP support to TorBirdy, the extension for Mozilla Thunderbird that configures it to make connections over the Tor network and enhances Thunderbird’s security and privacy settings. Over the next few months – thanks to a grant funded by NLnet – we will work on making general improvements to TorBirdy, and on integrating LEAP support using the Bitmask WebSockets API. Please subscribe to the leap-discuss mailing list to keep track of the development!

It is time for another release of the LEAP Platform. This time we are breaking free of the 0.8 release cycle into a new major version: 0.9.0. The new number is because of new features, instead of bug fixes, and it also marks a new stable version that we will support with critical fixes until our next major version.

We are releasing Platform 0.8.2 today. This is release fixes a potential security issue where VPN clients are able to communicate with other connected VPN clients. It is just a minor release to fix bugs, security issues and further stabilize the 0.8.1 release. This release has only a few, but important, changes. By design it does not contain any new features. Please see below for requirements and details for upgrading.

Today we release the Platform 0.8.1, a minor release to fix some issues that came up from the previous major (0.8.0) release. This release has only a few, but important, changes. By design it does not contain any new features. Please see below for requirements and details for upgrading.

We are pleased to announce the Bitmask 0.9.2 release, codename “Panis et Circenses”. Bitmask Encrypted Email is now available as a stable Beta, and bundled with a sleek mail client developed by the Pixelated-Project. Beta means that a deep refactor of our code base has brought us new stability, scalability and speed, but unforeseen issues are still expected to be found. We need you to test it hard, and report issues, but don’t trust it yet in situations where data loss, delivery problems or any other errors can put you at risk or otherwise cause major trouble. 

We are happy to announce the release of Platform 0.8! Although this release focuses specifically on email support, we also took care of nearly 200 other issues that were needed, including upgrading from Debian Wheezy to Jessie, BigCouch to CouchDB, and many other features and bug fixes. This is a biggest update yet, with 412 commits.

Honestly, I have always been a shill for DuckDuckGo, the search engine that doesn’t track its users. If you haven’t tried DuckDuckGo recently, you really should. It keeps getting better all the time, largely thanks to an army of volunteer hackers who keep adding nice instant answers for all sort of useful things. DuckDuckGo also gives tons of money to great free software and security projects, and this year LEAP was included. So, the next time I bump into you at the café, I better see DuckDuckGo as your default search engine or I am throwing your laptop into the street.

The LEAP webapp got accepted again this year for the Rails Girls Summer of Code. Rails Girls Summer of Code is a global fellowship program aimed at bringing more diversity into Open Source. Successful applicants are paid a monthly stipend, from July-September, to work on Open Source projects of their choice.