Twitter buys Android security firm Whisper Systems

MICRO-BLOGGING COMPANY Twitter has bought Android security firm Whisper Systems, which could lead to safer Twitter apps on mobile devices.

Whisper Systems makes five products for Android, including Textsecure, an encrypted text message service, Redphone, an encrypted calling service, Flashback, an encrypted backup product, Whispermonitor, a network security product, and Whispercore, a data and device security product.

The company's tagline claims that its software can "transform consumer phones and tablets into enterprise-ready devices", and with such a broad array of encryption products it appears to have plenty to back up that claim.

Whisper Systems' software works on multiple levels, from enhancing app security to delivering a hardened version of Android and adding kernel modifications to address security issues.

"Now that we're joining Twitter, we're looking forward to bringing our technology and our expertise into Twitter's products and services," the company said in a statement.

Whisper Systems said that it did not like the poor state of mobile security and wanted to reinvent the security features that never really worked on PCs.

The transition will lead to some disruption for existing Whisper Systems users, with a number of services and products being taken temporarily offline. This includes Redphone, which will suffer immediate interruption, and Flashback, which will be taken down in a month's time.

It is not yet clear what Twitter will do with the software it acquires, but a high-profile social network like Twitter can definitely do with all of the extra security it can get its hands on. The company might add the software to its apps or could alter it to become part of the core Twitter service.

The firms did not disclose the financial details of the transaction. µ