Secure Direct Messages

Here is a secure way of exchanging instant messages.

XMPP is an (open standard) instant messaging protocol that runs on multiple servers without any central authority. OMEMO is an extension of XMPP that implements the “Signal Protocol” as an open standard. The Signal Protocol (advertized by Ed Snowden around 2015) provides fully end-to-end encrypted instant messages between two or more parties.

Advantages:

• no central authority such as Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp involved that has access to all meta-data, can censor content, can lock out participants, or maintain back-door keys
• fully end-to-end encrypted messages between two or more participants
• every user can have several client programs (mobile app and desktop program, say), the encryption keys remain on the individual devices, and the protocol keeps messages synchronized between devices even if some devices are off-line some of the time

What you need to do:

• obtain a mobile app such as Conversations (Android) or ChatSecure (iOS) or a desktop programm such as Gajim or Dino
• register an XMPP account with a public XMPP server that implements the OMEMO standard – usually you can create new accounts from within the app (see the first reference below for how to find a server).
• add my temporary account, victorthecleaner@jab.im, as a contact and identify youself through another channel (email, etc.). I’ll then tell you my real XMPP account. Don’t use jab.im for your account. Find another server using the first link below.

References:

• https://compliance.conversations.im/ – suggests OMEMO capable XMPP servers and verifies protocol compliance, chose a server and then register your account with that server
• https://conversations.im/ – Conversations (Android app) – if you use F-Droid, it’s free
• https://chatsecure.org/ –  ChatSecure (iOS app)
• https://dino.im/– Dino (desktop program, Linux)
• https://gajim.org/ – Gajim (desktop program, Windows, Apple, Linux)
• https://xmpp.org/ – XMPP standard
• https://conversations.im/omemo/ – OMEMO standard

Hope to see some of you soon.

 

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