Saying journalists "are under unprecedented threat of physical and technological harm," the Committee to Protect Journalists has launched a SecureDrop connection to protect journalists and their sources from nation state attackers, including "the U.S. and China," says the group.
The system anonymizes submissions to CPJ, as well as to newspapers or watchdog groups, to provide robust protection from network-based surveillance.
U.S. government surveillance exposed by Edward Snowden has prompted concerns from journalists and a years-long debate in Washington over national security vs. privacy.
Blogging about the new encrypted information submission system, Tom Lowenthal, CPJ staff technologist, and Geoffrey King, technology program coordinator, said: "There has never been a safer way to tell CPJ about press freedom violations anywhere in the world – or request direct support when you're under fire for your reporting."
"The goal of all this technical cloak-and-dagger is to protect the contents of submissions and the identities of sources from even a nation-state attacker like the U.S. or China, which have immense resources and capabilities," they said.
Submitters can remain anonymous, even to CPJ.
The SecureDrop was created by the late Internet activist Aaron Swartz and journalist Kevin Poulsen.
