Middle-School Dropout Codes Clever Chat Program That Foils NSA Spying

The National Security Agency has some of the brightest minds... But a new chat program designed by a middle-school dropout in his spare time may turn out to be one of the best solutions to thwart those efforts... 

John Brooks, who is just 22 and a self-taught coder who dropped out of school at 13, was always concerned about privacy and civil liberties. Four years ago he began work on a program for encrypted instant messaging that uses Tor hidden services for the protected transmission of communications. The program, which he dubbed Ricochet, began as a hobby. But by the time he finished, he had a full-fledged desktop client...

“Ricochet is idiot-proof and anonymous.” (more)