As President Donald Trump warns of a crackdown on US government leaks to media, interest is growing in technology tools that allow sources to share information anonymously. One such tool called SecureDrop, being used by at least 30 US and global media organisations, offers a way for sources to anonymously communicate via encrypted servers.
"We've seen an explosion of interest in SecureDrop in the past two months," said Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which created the tool.
Timm said "dozens" of news organisations had expressed interest in using the tool which enables sharing without leaving digital traces.
"Ever since the election there seems to be an urgency within these organisations to set up a more secure way to get information from whistleblowers," he told AFP.
While news leaks have come from a variety of sources, Trump, who took office on January 20, has denounced the release of classified information by officials as "criminal" and vowed to punish leakers.
Timm argued however that the news leaks have been important in holding elected officials accountable and helping the truth emerge.
He said the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, caught lying about his contacts with Russia, was an important example.
"Not only are leaks allowing the public to put pressure on the government to pull back awful policies, but it's even informing other people within the Trump administration," Timm said in a blog post for the Columbia Journalism Review.
Though the methods for leaks are not always known, some news organisations have acknowledged using SecureDrop, including the Associated Press and First Look Media's investigative site The Intercept.
SecureDrop "is the system easiest to use for newsrooms to facilitate communication that allows a back-and-forth exchange while allowing the source to remain completely anonymous," said Intercept editor-in-chief Betsy Reed.
The system "has become an increasingly useful source of genuinely newsworthy documents for us," Reed noted.
"In the current political environment there can be tremendous risks to co-operating with a journalist and becoming a whistleblower, and it makes sense to offer this as protection."
Reed said she expects the media to rely more on these kinds of sources, with the Trump administration seeking to control the flow of information.
"We're going to have feistier independent journalism that depends on cultivating these kinds of sources," she said.
"Whistleblower journalism will have its heyday, and access journalism is on the decline."
Meanwhile some government officials, fearful of monitoring, have taken to using encrypted mobile applications to share information.
Some newsrooms use a secure chat app called Signal. Another application called Confide, which takes a cue from Snapchat by allowing people to send messages that disappear after being read, also is gaining popularity.
The app offers "the digital equivalent of a face-to-face conversation," according to Confide co-founder Jon Brod.
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