Gryphn Secure Messaging: SMS Messages Secure Enough for SWAT

September 19, 2012
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Sometimes a text is just a text. But, sometimes a text contains confidential, time sensitive information about Abbeville County, South Carolina’s SWAT team’s rallying point. When you’re worrying about bad guys with guns, you’d rather not dwell on the security of your text message. The three friends who founded the mobile security company Gryphn are working to make texting more secure for the Abbeville SWAT team, and all Android users with Gryphn’s ArmorText

Gryphn Secure Messaging isn’t an addition to your texting app, the application replaces your native text messaging application and gives you the ability to securely encrypt your text messages . The app uses Twilio for two factor authentication which is used  to verify the user’s identity. Gryphn Secure Messaging’s “Smart Predict” feature automatically encrypts conversations you pick up again, even if you haven’t texted them in a while.

Without a shared love of motorcycles, Gryphn might not exist. CEO, Navroop Mitter first met CTO Aaron Huttner at a local Washington D.C. tech meetup called Mo Dev, where Aaron rode in on a Ducati. Eventually, their conversation shifted from imported motorcycles to tech. Navroop introduced Aaron to CMO Bobby Saini and one week later they had founded Gryphn. A few weeks after that, they had a prototype of ArmorText.

Sure, you might not be communicating sensitive data but the SWAT team in Abbeville, South Carolina sure is. The SWAT team needed a more secure way to communicate aside from radio transmissions that could be easily intercepted. They turned to ArmorText to make sure their data stays secure and their missions are not compromised.

Word of mouth spread quickly in Abbeville. Soon Bobby, Aaron and Navroop were fielding calls from the local EMS & hospitals which wanted a way to encrypt medical information sent via text to comply with strict HIPAA laws.

On September 18th, The Defense Innovation Network in Washington, DC named Gryphn as one of this year’s most Innovative Startups for National Security and endorsed Gryphn as a secure messaging platform. Prescott Paulin of the Defense Innovation Network said, it is “the only encrypted DRM-enabled solution we know of that can protect our member communications over standard mobile carrier networks in near-real-time.”

The three friends and their team are working on a few additional features for Gryphn Secure Messaging including controlling how long your text is available for, and how many times it can be read. Rumor has it they’ve been showing investors a new product that focuses on real time bio-metric identification for mobile devices.

Recently, the Gryphn team has added an encrypted media database to the app so your videos and pictures cannot be downloaded to your friend’s phone after you’ve sent them. The new app feature also disables screenshots.

You can learn more about Gryphn here.

Navroop (left) Bobby (center) and Aaron (right)