[ale] OT fyi CryptoCat allows instant easy encrypted chat

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi all,

I wanted to pass along some info about a way to instantly set up an 
encrypted chat session.  I thought this had been on the list before, but 
I searched my email archive and couldn't find it in the ALE folder.  So, 
please forgive if this has already been mentioned.  Maybe I was on 
another list when it was mentioned.

Anyway, CryptoCat is a project that allows you to set up private 
encrypted peer to peer and group chats almost instantly.  It's very 
quick and easy to use after installing the browser plugin.

https://crypto.cat/

It's still a work in progress, so you would have to read the docs on the 
site and determine how much faith you want to put in it.

There was a weakness in prior versions from 2.0 - 2.0.42 which weakened 
the group chat.  Private chats were not affected.  The blog suggests 
upgrading to 2.1.* where the problems have been fixed.  Apparently there 
was a weakness in the random number generator.

https://blog.crypto.cat/

Some people on the DC-404 list recommended not using this for anything 
too sensitive, and I certainly wouldn't bet my life on it.  However, I 
would use it if I just wanted to do a quick chat that I didn't want 
snooped on and needed moderate security.  I have used it once after 
someone I was communicating with suggested skype and I mentioned 
misgivings about that.  The process was very painless and we were 
chatting to each other within 5 minutes after I got the link from him.

Here's the link to the Firefox plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/user/kaepora/

It also works on Chrome, Safari, and Mac.  I guess my IE friends and 
family are out of luck.

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
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