Privacy is hard to come by these days. Whether it is safety from hackers or the government, there is a new premium on secure communication.
One Sydney cocaine customer who has for years bought her drugs via simple text messages or phone calls says she is increasingly finding dealers want to use Wickr. 'It's very well known,' she told. Adding programs to TAILS could break the whole idea. The developers suggest not adding any programs at all and simply use what is provided. Everything on TAILS (except the unsafe broswer) is routed through the Tor Network. Adding a new program which potentially does NOT could break your anonymity.
Wickr is an app for that. Using heavy encryption and ephemeral or temporary messaging, Wickr ensures that any messages you send are read on a need-to-know basis.Wickr gives control of messaging to the sender rather than the receiver which means that everything from who can read it to how long it can be read is securely in your hands.
Luckily you don’t have to be a secret agent to ensure your security so setting up and using Wickr is easy for anybody with a smartphone and a paranoid streak.1. Install the Wickr App.
Find the Wickr App on either the or the depending on your particular device.2. Set up your account.
To ensure your privacy, the set up process doesn’t require much personal info. All you need to do is choose a unique username and password. The app will remind you that Wickr doesn’t store your password so make sure it’s one that you remember or write it down.MORE:3. Find and add friend s. You can add your phone number or email address to find any friends who may already be using Wickr. Once you enter one, you will be taken to a screen where Wickr will search for people in your contacts. If nobody you know has Wickr yet, you can use your contacts to invite people via text message or email.4.
Start a conversation. Once you’ve established some contacts and want to start a conversation tap Inbox to go to your messages. In the bottom right corner tap New.This will bring up a screen with all of your friends who use Wickr. Pick the contact you want to message and tap Go in the upper right corner. This will start a message thread with that person.5.
Select your messaging options. Wickr gives you, as the sender, several messaging options which are brought up by tapping the circular Wickr Logo in the bottom left corner.This will bring up a series of 5 red buttons. From the left, the first button allows you to set how long your messages will last before being automatically erased. By default, this is set at 1 day but can be adjusted as high as 6 days or as low as 3 seconds.The next 4 options pertain to the type of message you want to send. One allows you to take a photo with your phone’s camera and send it.
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The next option allows you to choose an existing photo from your camera roll. The next one is for recording and sending voice messages and the last option is for attaching files which you can pull from other apps like Dropbox or Google Drive.6. Send a message. If you’ve allowed notifications, the phone will alert you when your friends respond.7.
Tap “Settings” in the top right corner of the inbox to bring up the menu. You will see common options for changing your account, finding new friends, notifications, audio settings and others.Of note, there is a setting called Secure Shredder. This is an extra level of security where you can choose to shred an already deleted file and completely erase the information from your phone. Wickr automatically does this periodically but if you need to get rid of the information immediately, you can choose to do it manually.Wickr is all about security and peace of mind.
If you want to avoid prying eyes and need to have control over as many aspects of the message as you possibly could, it is the app for you.
Cocaine dealing is big business in Australia's capital cities; pictured are hundred dollar notes seized by Strike Force Northrop in an operation targeting drug supply in metropolitan SydneyThe technology, which is legal, also wipes messages from Wickr's servers, leaving few clues for law enforcement agencies gathering evidence.One Sydney cocaine customer who has for years bought her drugs via simple text messages or phone calls says she is increasingly finding dealers want to use Wickr.' It's very well known,' she told Daily Mail Australia. 'Most people I talk to have either used it or know about it.' Using Wickr was already widespread among dealers posting advertisements for drugs with online classified sites but it is now popular to conduct street level deals.In a typical operation, a customer uses the app to message a syndicate with their order.
A handler then forwards an address to a driver who communicates with the buyer before they reach the agreed meeting point.Using Wickr, no trace of those messages will be left.Wickr, which does not promote drug dealing, boasts about the security of the app on the company's website.' You're always in control of who has access to your messages and how long,' it says.
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'No one else can retrieve your data, including Wickr.' This text message featured in a recent drug trial; with Wickr encrypted messaging police would not recover an SMS like this one from a drug dealer or buyer's mobile telephoneDr Michael Kennedy, head of the University of Western Sydney’s Bachelor of Policing program and a former drug squad cop, said criminals always took advantage of technological advances such as Wickr.' The minute it becomes available the first people who are going to take advantage of it if it works for them are organised crime networks,' Dr Kennedy said.' Put your feet into the shoes of criminals and you wold be stupid not to use it.' It’s the same as doing an armed robbery with with an invisible gun.'
The head of the NSW State Crime Command, Assistant Commissioner Mal Lanyon, said drug crime investigators knew cocaine dealers were using apps such as Wickr to avoid detection.' The NSW Police Force is well aware of the use of encrypted telecommunication devices and applications by criminal groups to facilitate crime,' Assistant Commissioner Lanyon said. Cocaine dealing in Sydney is a serious and highly profitable business; pictured is a Glock 26 semi-automatic pistol seized by Strike Force Northrop targeting inner city drug dealers'We work in partnership with law enforcement agencies and industry, both locally and internationally, to circumvent the use of encrypted communications and target those who conduct criminal activities which impact on the community of NSW.'
It is not appropriate to comment further on the specific actions undertaken by law enforcement to combat encrypted communications.' Wickr's popularity soared in 2015 after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull - who was then Communications Minister - revealed he used the app to communicate with parliamentary colleagues.' I use Wickr as an application,' Mr Turnbull said in March that year. 'I use a number of others, I use WhatsApp, because they're superior over-the-top messaging platforms.
Hundreds of millions of people do.' Police sent this text message to about 2000 numbers found on mobile phones seized as part of Strike Force Northrop's crackdown on the supply of cocaine in Metropolitan SydneyWickr's co-founder Nico Sell told in November 2015 that Mr Turnbull's endorsement of the messaging app led to a spike in downloads.' We’ve seen about a 700 per cent increase in downloads since Turnbull first announced that he uses it,' Mr Sell told the newspaper.NSW Police attributed the huge increase in cocaine possession to 'the proactive work being conducted by police to target the supply and possession of these and other illicit drugs across NSW.' This week NSW police announced Srike Force Northrop had disrupted a number of dial-a-dealer cocaine supply operations after arresting almost 40 men and women in Sydney.From the mobile telephones investigators seized they located about 2000 numbers, every one of which was sent a text message alerting the owner police were aware of their previous communications.'
This ph no has been ID'd as part of a NSWPF Cocaine investigation in the Sydney area,' the text said.' If you have any information please contact Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000.'