Category: Partnerships

Purism and Nitrokey Partner to Build Librem Key for Purism’s Librem Laptops

San Francisco (May 17, 2018) – Purism, the social purpose corporation which designs and produces security focused hardware and software, has announced today that they are partnering with Nitrokey, maker of Free Software and Open Hardware USB OpenPGP security tokens and Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) to create Librem Key, Purism’s own OpenPGP security token designed to integrate with its hardware and software. Librem Key embodies Purism’s mission to make security and cryptography accessible where its customers hold the keys to their own security and follows on the heels of their announcement of a partnership with cryptography pioneer and GnuPG maintainer Werner Koch.

Purism customers will be able to purchase a Librem Key by itself or as an add-on with a laptop order. For add-on orders, Purism can pre-configure the Librem Key at the factory to act as an easy-to-use disk decryption key and ship laptops that are pre-encrypted. Customers will be able to insert their Librem Key at boot and decrypt their drive automatically without having to type in a long passphrase. Customers will also be able to replace the factory-generated keys with their own at any time.

Librem Key will also be a critical component in Purism’s tamper-evident boot protection. Purism will tightly integrate Librem Key into their tamper-evident boot software so that customers will be able to detect tampering on their hardware from the moment it leaves the factory.

Enterprise customers have long used security tokens for easy and secure key management from everything from email encryption to code signing and multi-factor authentication. With Librem Key, IT departments will have an integrated solution out of the box for disk and email encryption, authentication, and tamper-evident boot security that’s easy to use.

“Often security comes at the expense of convenience but Librem Key provides a rare exception. By keeping your encryption keys on a Librem Key instead of on a hard drive, your keys never leave the tamper-proof hardware. This not only makes your keys more secure from attackers, it makes using your keys on multiple devices more convenient. When your system needs to encrypt,  decrypt, or sign something, just insert your Librem Key; when you are done, remove it and put it back in your pocket.” — Purism CSO Kyle Rankin

“We’re pleased to be working with the Purism team, who are very aligned with our commitment to open hardware and free software. The possibilities of this partnership are exciting, especially given the growing importance of secure key storage on hardware smart cards and Purism’s important work on tamper-evident protection.” — Nitrokey CEO Jan Suhr

“We are long-time fans of Nitrokey as they are the only smart card vendor that shares our commitment to open hardware and free software. Their company and security products are a perfect complement to Purism’s belief that ethical computing means privacy and security without sacrificing personal control over your devices.” — Purism CEO Todd Weaver

About Nitrokey UG

Founded as an open source project in 2008 and turned into a full corporate entity in 2015, Nitrokey develops and produces highly secure open-source hardware and software USB keys that provide cryptographic functions for protecting; emails, files, hard drives, server certificates, online accounts and data at rest, preventing against identity theft and data loss.

About Purism

Purism is a Social Purpose Corporation devoted to bringing security, privacy, software freedom, and digital independence to everyone’s personal computing experience. With operations based in San Francisco (California) and around the world, Purism manufactures premium-quality laptops, tablets and phones, creating beautiful and powerful devices meant to protect users’ digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use. Purism designs and assembles its hardware in the United States, carefully selecting internationally sourced components to be privacy-respecting and fully Free-Software-compliant. Security and privacy-centric features come built-in with every product Purism makes, making security and privacy the simpler, logical choice for individuals and businesses.

Purism Partners with Cryptography Pioneer Werner Koch to Create a New Encrypted Communication Standard for Security-Focused Devices

Koch’s GnuPG and Smartcard encryption innovations popularized by Edward Snowden to be implemented in Purism’s Librem 5 smartphone and Librem laptop devices.

SAN FRANCISCO, California — March 8th, 2018 — Purism, maker of security-focused laptops has announced today that they have joined forces with leading cryptography pioneer, Werner Koch, to integrate hardware encryption into the company’s Librem laptops and forthcoming Librem 5 phone. By manufacturing hardware with its own software and services, Purism will include cryptography by default pushing the industry forward with unprecedented protection for end-user devices. Read more

Purism Partners with Nextcloud to Build and Include End-to-End Encrypted Storage Products and Services

Purism Partners with Nextcloud to Build and Include End-to-End Encrypted Storage Products and Services

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 18, 2017 – Purism, maker of security-focused computing devices, is partnering with Nextcloud for a series of products and services. Nextcloud, author of a popular open-source self hosted, privacy-focused file sync and share solution, is looking to expand and become a default on Purism’s mobile and desktop computing products.

Purism, fresh off of successfully meeting their crowdfunding goal of $1.5 million to build and deliver the Librem 5, adds another partner in Nextcloud, fresh off the announcement of new end-to-end encryption upgrades in Nextcloud 13. This partnership adds to Purism’s roster of open-source partners that will aim to make the Librem 5 the most comprehensive free open-source smartphone to ever hit the market.

“Having Nextcloud applications built into the Librem 5, as well as default within PureOS, will help people have a convenient, ethical encrypted file storage service alongside other easy-to-use defaults” says Todd Weaver, Founder and CEO of Purism.

“Partnering with Purism gets our software directly into the hands of customers, making their lives easier with security and privacy protection built-in” says Jos Poortvliet, Co-founder and Head of Marketing at Nextcloud.

Purism plans to include Nextcloud in the Librem 5 phone, as well as within PureOS for its Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptops. Additionally, Purism will be discussing with Nextcloud about a future Purism NAS that runs completely free software including Nextcloud and services.

“Nextcloud follows our strict beliefs in digital rights for people, and this partnership is a clear win for users by merging convenience and ethics together into simple products” adds Weaver.

About Nextcloud

Nextcloud offers the industry-leading fully open source solution for on-premise data handling and communication with an uncompromising focus on security and privacy and unprecedented scalability. Nextcloud brings together universal access to data with next-generation secure communication and collaboration capabilities under direct control of IT and integrated with existing compliant infrastructure. Nextcloud’s open, modular architecture, emphasis on security and advanced federation capabilities enable modern enterprises to leverage their existing assets within and across the borders of their organization.

About Purism

Purism is a Social Purpose Corporation devoted to bringing security, privacy, software freedom, and digital independence to everyone’s personal computing experience. With operations based in San Francisco (California) and around the world, Purism manufactures premium-quality laptops and phones, creating beautiful and powerful devices meant to protect users’ digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use. Purism designs and assembles its hardware by carefully selecting internationally sourced components to be privacy-respecting and fully Free-Software-compliant. Security and privacy-centric features come built-in with every product Purism makes, making security and privacy the simpler, logical choice for individuals and businesses.

Media Contact

Marie Williams, Coderella / Purism
+1 415-689-4029
pr@puri.sm
See also the Purism press room for additional tools and announcements.
 

Purism Collaborates with Cryptocurrency Monero to Enable Mobile Payments

Purism plans to utilize Monero’s privacy respecting platform to build a cash-like, digital payment system for Librem 5 smartphone users

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 13, 2017 — Purism, maker of security focused hardware and software, today announced a collaboration with Monero, the only secure decentralized currency that is private by default. Purism recently started accepting Monero for payments in its online store, and this is a continuation of the company’s support for the cryptocurrency.

As more central services like Equifax are hacked, exposing vulnerable user data in unprecedented ways that cause permanent damage to people’s privacy, it has become clear that centralized, individually identifiable, historic, and permanent digital footprints create a serious threat to digital privacy and human rights. Purism, on the heels of its successful smartphone crowdfunding campaign which has raised more than $1.5 million, is looking to address this threat by incorporating cryptocurrencies by default into its mobile phone design, beginning with Monero.

“We must proactively plan for and address digital rights issues in the here and now, because by the time we face them in the future the damage will be irreversible,” said Todd Weaver, Founder & CEO of Purism. “Collaboration with Monero allows us to offer users a much lower barrier to entry for leveraging the benefits of a cryptocurrency, and our aim is to make it incredibly simple to use your Librem 5 smartphone to make secure, cash-like payments that safeguard your private information.”

Monero’s cryptocurrency offers a fungible, decentralized, private currency that is created to be identical to centuries of physical world transaction processes, primarily that cash given for goods or services is a one-time, non-recorded, mutual transaction.

“Collaborating with Purism addresses a major pain point for Monero. The Librem 5 makes it easy for the average user to use Monero for real world transactions on a mobile platform. In addition, the Librem 5, by using Free Libre Open Source Software provides the user with the opportunity to verify to a very high level its end point security, privacy and decentralization. This is in sharp contrast to many mobile platforms where the user has to trust a proprietary implementation. I am very excited to see the Librem 5 planning to have Monero support by default,” Francisco Cabañas, Core Team Member, The Monero Project.

“Creating a future where a person can buy or sell digital goods or services and still respect their privacy, similarly to cash but on the Internet, is a long-time dream that we plan to make a reality,” says Weaver.

Integrating Monero into Purism’s Librem 5 smartphone as part of its default mobile payment system can solve the problems plaguing the online transaction space, removing banks from the transaction, removing all central storage of private user data, keeping transactions private between two parties, all backed by the strength of an immutable cryptographic blockchain ledger.

About Monero

The Monero Project is a grassroots, community-driven initiative that advocates for privacy on a global scale by producing several free libre open source software projects, with the flagship offering being Monero, a fungible and decentralized cryptocurrency. The important guiding philosophies of Monero are security (ensuring that users are able to trust Monero with their transactions, without risk of error or attack), privacy (ensuring that users can transact Monero without fear of coercion, censorship, or surveillance), and decentralization (ensuring that no single person or group can control the network or reverse transactions). The goal is to provide a level of fungibility and privacy that is analogous to that of cash for the digital world.

About Purism

Purism is a Social Purpose Corporation devoted to bringing security, privacy, software freedom, and digital independence to everyone’s personal computing experience. With operations based in San Francisco (California) and around the world, Purism manufactures premium-quality laptops and phones, creating beautiful and powerful devices meant to protect users’ digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use. Purism designs and assembles its hardware by carefully selecting internationally sourced components to be privacy-respecting and fully Free-Software-compliant. Security and privacy-centric features come built-in with every product Purism makes, making security and privacy the simpler, logical choice for individuals and businesses.

Media Contact

Marie Williams, Coderella / Purism
+1 415-689-4029
pr@puri.sm
See also the Purism press room for additional tools and announcements.
 

GNOME Foundation Partners with Purism to Support Its Efforts to Build the Librem 5 Smartphone

Orinda, CA/San Francisco, September 19, 2017 – The GNOME Foundation has provided their endorsement and support of Purism’s efforts to build the Librem 5, which if successful will be the world’s first free and open smartphone with end-to-end encryption and enhanced user protections. The Librem 5 is a hardware platform the Foundation is interested in advancing as a GNOME/GTK phone device. The GNOME Foundation is committed to partnering with Purism to create hackfests, tools, emulators, and build awareness that surround moving GNOME/GTK onto the Librem 5 phone. Read more

Purism Unveils Plans to Build Librem 5, the World’s First Encrypted, Open Smartphone Ecosystem Giving Users Complete Device Control

Security focused laptop maker launches crowdfunding campaign to gauge market demand and feature requests to begin fabrication

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., August 24, 2017 — Purism, the social purpose corporation which designs and produces popular privacy conscious hardware and software, has revealed its plans to build the world’s first encrypted, open platform smartphone that will empower users to protect their digital identity in an increasingly unsafe mobile world. After 18 months of R&D to test hardware specifications and engage with one of the largest phone fabricators, Purism is opening a self-hosted crowdfunding campaign to gauge demand for the initial fabrication order and add the features most important to users.

The plans to build the Librem 5 smartphone come on the tails of Purism opening general availability and inventory for its increasingly popular Librem laptop line in June 2017, which includes the Librem 13 and Librem 15 laptop models and has seen 35 percent average monthly growth in the past year.

Partnering with open source communications project Matrix, Purism is making the Librem 5 the first ever Matrix-powered smartphone, natively using end-to-end encrypted decentralized communication in its dialer and messaging app. Matrix is an open ecosystem for interoperable encrypted communication, supporting a rapidly growing community of over 2 million users for VoIP and Slack-style messaging.

As increasing concern among Android and iOS users grow around personal data they give up through WiFi connections, application installations and basic location services, Purism hopes to address those concerns by manufacturing phones that will operate with free/libre and open source software within the kernel, the operating system, and all software applications. Purism has built a strong reputation within the GNU/Linux community by delivering laptops designed to specifically meet user concern about digital privacy, chip-by-chip, line-by-line, to respect our common rights to privacy, security, and freedom.

Starting at $599—less than the cost of many popular smartphones—the Librem 5 will give users unprecedented control and security with features unavailable on any other mainstream smartphone, including:

  • Make encrypted calls that mask your phone number
  • Encrypt texts and emails
  • Set up VPN services for enhanced web browsing protection
  • Use the phone on any 2G/3G/4G, GSM, UMTS, or LTE network
  • Edit or develop on the source code, which will be made publicly available
  • Run PureOS or most GNU+Linux distributions
  • Enable hardware kill switches for the camera, microphone, WiFi/Bluetooth and baseband

“I believe digital rights should mirror physical rights. Our Librem 5 phone will get humanity closer to that goal by giving people choices about how they want to protect or share their digital identity,” said Todd Weaver, founder & CEO at Purism.

“Purism has been doing genuine and important work around making truly free yet desirable laptops. The communities I work with would very much like to see the same philosophy replicated in a phone that runs a GNOME based stack where community members can participate in equal terms and that ensures respect for the users’ privacy and security,” said Alberto Ruiz, GNOME & Fedora Laptop Enablement. “While pulling this off is hard, Todd seems like someone who sincerely cares about these issues and has a great track record executing. I think the efforts of Purism deserve the support of the free software community.”

A veteran of successful crowdfunding campaigns with more than $2.5 million raised over the past two years, Purism is self-hosting the Librem 5 crowdfunding effort on their web site. Users can back the project here: https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5

About Purism

Purism is a Social Purpose Corporation devoted to bringing security, privacy, software freedom, and digital independence to everyone’s personal computing experience. With operations based in San Francisco (California) and around the world, Purism manufactures premium-quality laptops and phones, creating beautiful and powerful devices meant to protect users’ digital lives without requiring a compromise on ease of use. Purism designs and assembles its hardware by carefully selecting internationally sourced components to be privacy-respecting and fully Free-Software-compliant. Security and privacy-centric features come built-in with every product Purism makes, making security and privacy the simpler, logical choice for individuals and businesses.

Media Contact

Marie Williams, Coderella / Purism
+1 415-689-4029
pr@puri.sm
See also the Purism press room for additional tools and announcements.
 

Meet the development team at the 2017 Debian Conference

We are proud to announce that we will be sponsoring and attending the 2017 Debian conference from August 1st to August 12 in Montréal, Canada. As PureOS is a derivative of Debian and various members of the team come from the Debian community, it is with great pleasure that we will support this event.

Many Purism team members will be present, including Zlatan Todorić (our CTO and an official Debian developer) with Matthias “Ximion” Klumpp, Jonas Smedegaard (Debian Developer) and Chris Lamb (current Debian Project Leader) for the full duration of the event, including the workshops (“Debcamp”) and core conference days.

Purism CEO Todd Weaver will also be attending from August 4th to August 8th.

On the “Open Day” on Saturday August 5th, we will be showcasing a couple of our newest Librem production models and prototypes.

Participation in the Debian conference and “open day” is free and no registration is required. Come and say hi! See the important dates for more information.

Jeff will also be available in the days before and after the event, to handle any logistics needs, or to answer any business or press inquiries. Should you want to meet before or after the event, please get in touch with us at pr@puri.sm.

Celebrate GNOME’s 20th anniversary with us at GUADEC 2017

We are proud to announce that we will be attending the GNOME flagship conference, GUADEC, from July 28th to 30th, and co-sponsoring GNOME’s 20th anniversary celebration event at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday the 29th.

The local GUADEC organizers make a beautiful parallel between the local heritage of Manchester and the bleeding edge technology we are all developing:

“We’ll be planning the future of computing in the same city where some early breakthroughs in computing were made. The world’s first stored-program computer was developed at the University of Manchester in the late 1940s and the Museum has a working replica in the Revolution Hall where we’ll be holding the event, along with other amazing exhibits from the city’s industrial legacy.” — GUADEC 2017 organizers

We’re happy to be contributing to the party event on Saturday—where there will be food, lively discussions, and much rejoicing!

You will also be able to see a couple of our newest Librem production models and prototypes on display there—not that they “belong in a museum”,  but we do think they are interesting enough to be exhibited in a venue that honors science and industry.

During the rest of the conference’s core days, we (Jeff, Matthias, François, Todd) will be roaming around the Manchester Metropolitan University’s “Brooks” building to discuss topics of interest with fellow contributors and old friends. We’re particularly interested in:

  • Mobile and touch graphical user interfaces and input handling (including multitouch, gestures, etc.)
  • Power optimization (for laptops, tablets and phones)
  • Sandboxing, privacy and security in general
  • OEM desktop environment, applications and contents customizability
  • Extensions robustness
  • Graphics performance
  • Apps and Package robustness and user experience
  • Firmware updates management

Purism advisory board member Matthew Garrett will also be attending.

Come and say hi! We’ll be happy to meet GNOME enthusiasts—whether veterans or newcomers—and to answer any questions attendees may have for us.