BitTorrent's Highly Secure Messenger Service
BitTorrent announced today in a blog post that the company plans on making a completely secure chat messaging service. How secure? Completely secure. So secure that nobody but the sender and recipient can actually read a chat message. Wait — regular chat messages aren't secure?
Not in the least! Does that surprise you? Did you think that sending messages via a chat messenger meant your thoughts and ideas were kept under wraps? I hate to burst that bubble, but you have more to worry about than the NSA! When it comes to chat services, your messages aren't secure at all. Here's why.
BitTorrent's Highly Secure Messenger Service: Collecting Data
Have you ever wondered why some messenger services are completely free of charge? There's no such thing as free! Companies that offer these so-called free services are actually collecting information about you. Why? It's all about marketing. The most information that they can collect, the more information that they can sell – or, worse, use to target you when trying to sell something.
Even phone messenger services aren't free and clear of spying woes. If your company owns your phone, you can bet that the information you send and receive is not as secure as you think it is. Even if your company doesn't own your phone, developers and government organizations alike can read what you're writing. Yikes! What about cloud-based services that you use to send data?
BitTorrent's Highly Secure Messenger Service: Is the Cloud Secure?
Service like Dropbox are supposed to be highly secure, but even Drop-box has faced its share of issues before. Plus, we have to remember that the NSA exists. This is precisely why BitTorrent has decided to create a chat that is truly impenetrable. How?
BitTorrent plans to use a hash table, forward secrecy, and public key encryption to keep your messages safe. Basically, it will be really hard for anyone to tap into your messages no matter how hard they try. The messages sent through the new Bit-torrent service aren't stored on a server, so they are completely secure.
BitTorrent's Highly Secure Messenger Service: Where to Get It
The Bit Torrent messenger service is still in development phase, and that means that you can't test it out right now. But, you can go to the Bit Torrent site and ask to be admitted to the beta program. From there, you may be able to snag a testing spot. There's no doubt that the new private messenger service will be in high demand when it is unveiled.
With the NSA still operational and hackers cutting into messenger services daily, nothing that you send is secure anymore. So, the next time you wonder if the message you've sent is a secure one, just remember this: nothing in this world is still private. I know, it's a scary thought, but it's one that you'll want to keep in mind whenever you decide to send a message that could get you fired, or otherwise.
What do you think about Bit-torrent's new messenger service? Is this something that you will start to use right away once it's released?
