Mozilla develops game to learn encryption using emoji

Mozilla has started a website to make the importance of encrypting messages clearer to ‘regular internet users’. Codemoji should therefore be a ‘fun, educational tool’ to explain the basics of encryption.

The Codemoji site allows users to send messages to each other using emoticons. According to Mozilla’s executive director Mark Surman, it’s important for more people to understand the importance of message encryption and why “it matters to them too.”

Surman also states that encryption is increasingly threatened by governments, because they are increasingly enacting regulations that jeopardize security by weakening encryption. Mozilla wants to spread its ideas about the importance of encryption.

Codemoji actually works as if letters are scrambled, but with emoticons, for example ‘Hello’ becomes ‘Tpqqn’. In order to send and decipher messages to each other, the emoji alphabet must therefore be agreed with the other person by linking at least one emoticon to a letter. Mozilla warns that methods to crack such “encryption” are readily available and that the game should not be used for serious communication.

In addition to Codemoji, Mozilla has set up a more serious encryption site called ‘Encrypt’.

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