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. The client, now released to the general public, is based on Instantbird, a messaging app which allows users to connect to separate messenger systems.
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Tor Messenger is compatible with the same protocol used by Google Talk, Facebook Chat, Twitter and Yahoo, so users can tap into their existing network of contacts rather than having to rebuild it from scratch.
“With Tor Messenger, your chat is encrypted and anonymous…so it is hidden from snoops, whether they are the government of a foreign country or a company trying to sell you boots”. Tor’s new app makes encryption the default, routing all your messaging traffic through it’s encrypting service without any effort needed on your part.
The team said their current focus is one security, robustness and user experience but future updates could bring such options as reproducible builds for Windows and OS X, sandboxing, automatic updates, improved Tor support, OTR over Twitter DMs, internationalized builds, secure multi-party communication (np1sec) and encrypted file-transfer.
The client is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Tor Messenger isn’t flawless, and its developers admit as much.
Depending on how you feel about Tor – and its ability to truly keep your actions private – this could be a good tool for those unwilling to give up on popular chat clients but still want safety. It integrates Off The Record protocol, a cryptographic messaging service, and instantly sends conversations over the network of Tor nodes across the world.
For the time being, Tor says the beta is a major work in progress so don’t expect everything to work perfectly. “As such, don’t rely on this product for strong anonymity just yet”.
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The Tor Messenger’s beta release is the culmination of several years of work.
