The most widely trusted method of encryption, industry veteran Pretty Good Privacy, has a pretty steep learning curve, both in understanding the abstract concepts involved and the actual step-by-step process. Why can’t it just be easy?
This is the challenge that the LEAP Encryption Access Project might just meet. Established by a grant from the Open Technology Fund, LEAP is a nonprofit group of developers working to make encrypted digital communication easy, and free.
It has a core staff of five developers working full-time on the project and another handful working part time, and eventually they hope it will be run by volunteers, with its source code overseen by anyone and everyone. But the beta version should be ready to try out in the next few weeks.