Encryption model & independent audits
How this is scored
What the vendor can prove about its security design: end-to-end encryption with named algorithms and key derivation, which fields are encrypted on the device and which are not, independent audits and penetration tests with published results, a bug bounty, and incident history disclosed.
0 — Security described in adjectives ("bank-grade", "military encryption") with no architecture, no audit and no statement of what the vendor can read.
3 — Encryption algorithms named and "zero knowledge" claimed, but no whitepaper, no statement of which fields stay unencrypted, and audits mentioned without dates, auditors or results.
5 — A published security whitepaper naming algorithms, key derivation and the client-side encryption model, a stated list of what is and is not encrypted (including URLs and metadata), and a named independent audit or certification (ISO 27001, SOC 2) with its date.
8 — Recurring independent penetration tests or code audits with reports or summaries published, a public bug bounty or vulnerability disclosure policy, past security incidents documented with their impact, and open-source clients or cryptography that can be reviewed.
10 — The design is verifiable end to end: full source or cryptographic design public, every field encrypted client-side including metadata, audits by named firms repeated yearly with full reports, a threat model that states what a compromise of the vendor's servers would expose, and incident post-mortems published.
The Skeptic
The encryption documentation is unusually candid — AES-256-CBC in the client, AES-256-CFB on the server, RSA-OAEP for vault keys, a field-by-field table and a threat model stating that names, logins, URLs, descriptions and tags stay server-side so the server can index them for search — so zero knowledge covers passwords and secrets but not the metadata, and the client-side layer applies only when it is enabled. Beyond an audits page in the sitemap, we found no public information on any named audit, auditor, date or published report, no bug bounty or vulnerability disclosure policy, and no incident history. 6 7