Number: IRCNE2015102672
Date: 2015/10/25
According to “zdnet”, the Tor Project has launched the beta version of Tor Messenger, an easy-to-use encrypted message client for those concerned about their privacy and potential surveillance.
One of the non-profit's projects is Tor Messenger. The client, now released to the general public, is based on Instantbird, a messaging app which allows users to connect to separate messenger systems.
The Tor Project says Instantbird was chosen as its transport protocols are written in a "memory safe" language -- Javascript -- and already supports a number of languages, as well as the fact Instantbird is an XUL application. While the client lacked off-the-record (ORT) cryptographical protocol support, Tor has implemented the new features within the beta Tor messenger.
Jabber (XMPP), IRC, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter, Yahoo, and others are all supported through the beta client.
"This has traditionally been in a client-server model, meaning that your metadata (specifically the relationships between contacts) can be logged by the server. However, your route to the server will be hidden because you are communicating over Tor."
Tor Messenger beta is available for Windows, Mac and both 32-bit and 64-bit Linux.
In the future, the Tor Project team hopes to fix software issues and release updates on the same cycle as Mozilla's Extended Support Releases (ESR). There is also the possibility of future versions supporting encrypted Twitter direct messages, encrypted file transfer and automatic updates.
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